Living Garden

Nesting boxes
• Why a nesting box?
• Guests in the nest
• Placing out the nest
• Cleaning the nest

Bird tables
• Why feed birds?
• How do birds eat?
• What do birds eat?
• Species at the bird table
• Placement
• Cleaning
• Endangered bird species
• Put out water!

Butterflies
• Daytime butterflies

Species at bird tables

What bird will visit the bird table depends on a number of factors. We will only briefly mention a few of these here.

What kind of bird feeder
The same kind of bird that frequents bird tables will not necessarily be at hanging seed dispensers. If you have ever watched how birds sit while they eat you will most likely have noticed that some can cling on and eat at the same time and even hang from a ball of tallow. Many species have claws made for sitting flat on the ground. Tits have an easy time eating from a hanging position while others, such as robins and thrushes, need a plane surface to be able to sit comfortably.

This is why we need both dispensers the birds can cling to and bird tables for the rest of the small birds. Feeding straight off the ground would on the one hand be appreciated by certain species but on the other hand they would make easy prey for cats. A bird table therefore makes for a safe platform that raises the feeding spot out of the predators’ reach.

Types of seed and fodder?
What kind of food you put out determines which bird will visit your table, read more »

Where do you live?
Depending on which part of the country you live in and if you have resident birds there you can get widely different guests. In the southern part of the UK it is some winters possible for berry-eating birds such as bohemian waxwings and thrushes.