Hi there,So it seems we’ve got a pair of blue tits nesting in a birdhouse i attached the house last summer, she’s been in and out the past few days with moss etc is there anything specific I can put in my garden or on the feeders that’ll help with keeping them well fed? It’s the first time we’ve had nesting birds so a bit excited, thanks
Hi MicGill, great to hear you have a blue tit preparing to nest in your birdbox and hope they continue right through to fledging (around early June). The tit birds time their breeding to coincide with the emergence of oak-leaf caterpillars which is a main source of food for nestlings. The birds will also take easy food on offer that we put out such as suet pellets (buggy nibbles), sunflower hearts and if you are especially "flush" they are very partial to live mealworms which have a very high protein value and which a variety of garden birds will feed to their chicks. They can be rather expensive but easily available to purchase - I buy them from HERE and if you order before noon the postman delivers them the next weekday. Birds will be grateful for any bird seed/suet pellets you put out but remember not to put any whole peanuts out, if you wish to include nuts it is best to only use kibbled peanuts during breeding season (March - August).
HERE is a bit of information you may find helpful in the timings of the Blue Tit breeding season. Good luck and hope the birds stick with building their nest and you get to see some beautiful fluffy blue-grey/yellow chicks in June :)