How to feed wild birds?
The key rule always to remember - wildbirds feeding is a long term commitment. Once started, must be done regularly and can't be stopped suddenly.
Bird food should be dry, fresh and cannot contain salt - birds aren't able to excrete salt which causes kidney disease and often death. Remember that bread can contain salt too.
What should good bird food contain? Firstly, high-energy oilseeds supplemented with cereal, tree fruits and fresh, non-rancid animal fats. The swans and ducks are fed with cereal, boiled groats and fruit (cooled down).
Feeder - next to a tree and keep it clean.
Putting it high provides safety from predators attacks. But consider also tough winds and provide stability. It is crucial to regularly clean the feeder and the area around - it prevents disease transmission.
Birds and their preferrences.
Wild bird diet is determined by what food is available in given period of a year. They are divided into to 4 groups:
>insectivores (tits, nuthatches, woodpeckers, ranchs)
Their food should contain fats like lard, tallow, butter, Italian nuts, oilseeds
> grain eaters (finches, greenfinches, hawfinches, siskin, bullfinches, goldfinches, buntings, brambling)
Those birds eat seeds of oil plants, grasses and cereal
> soft-eaters (blackbirds, fieldfares, trush, missel trush, robins, wrens)
> omnivores (corvidae, columbinae, sparrows, tree sparrows)