When spring arrives, we all want to do our best to help the new life emerging around us.
By now, you might have blue tits occupying your nestbox, pigeons brooding in a nearby tree or a robin making itself at home in a garden shed (for some great nests in unusual places, see our latest Notes on Nature blog).
With all these mouths to feed, parent birds have a pretty busy time of it. Usually, both the male and female will expend a great deal of energy flying to and from the nest. One blue tit chick will happily finish off 100 caterpillars a day, so with ten in a nest, you're talking 1000 caterpillars every day. That's one heck of a grocery shop.
1. The right food
While birds will mainly be on the look-out for insects and grubs to feed their brood, they will also take food we put out. We’ve just got to make sure it’s the right kind. At this time of year, we'd advise live mealworms, dried mealworms, high-energy sprinkles, buggy nibbles or our favourites blend.
Avoid leaving choking hazards like whole peanuts on bird tables, and remember not to put out too much at one time or it may go stale.
2. Keep it clean
To prevent birds picking up and passing on diseases to their young, try to clean your feeders every two weeks. We recommend Ark-Klens and this long-handle brush.
3. Make a splash
It’s also helpful to leave out fresh water, especially on hotter days. This bird bath and stand is one of our most popular. Again, make sure water dishes are cleaned and refilled regularly.
4. Feathering the nest
In April, many birds will still be building their nests. Leave out natural nesting material like pet fur or scraps of wool (not the artificial stuff, though). Tie bundles of it up with string and deposit it around the garden, or keep it neat in this nice container.
5. Lay down your loppers
Try not to do too much intensive pruning of your hedges, ivy and shrubbery at this time of year, when birds may be nesting unseen beneath the foliage and relying on it for cover.
That done, and you should have a garden bursting with new life before long!
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I vouch for the container. We got two last year and it's been a delight to watch all the little birds coming to pull lamb's wool out of it. I also noticed our birds, particularly the goldfinches, loving the co-co coir from the hanging baskets. Have to replace it every couple of years as it goes all to nests.
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"Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way." John Muir