With the icy weather arriving, spare a thought for the poor old birds.
Suet blocks and fatballs are a valued source of energy and particularly popular with all tit species. Avoid netted fatballs because birds have been known to get snarled up in the netting. Instead, use a fatball feeder or place straight on the bird table.
Feeders come in a diversity of styles. Metal ones are normally longer-lasting. Mesh feeders are mainly used for supplying peanuts and pellets. Seed tubes will attract an extensive range of birds when filled with sunflower hearts or mixed seed. Niger seeds are a particular choice with goldfinches, greenfinches and siskins.
Woodpeckers like peanuts and seem to feel a little safer if the food supply is placed higher up the tree etc.
Song thrushes, chaffinches and blackbirds frequently prefer to feed on the ground. A ground feeder cage will help to protect birds from predators, such as prowling garden cats.
Domesticated cats can, of course, be highly effective killing machines. In the US it’s estimated up to 20 billion small mammals are killed by cats each year. Research by the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2013 estimates felines are responsible for the deaths of 1.4 to 3.7 billion birds and 6.9 to 20.7 billion mammals every year in the US.
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/cats-kill-billions-animals-annually-study-finds/story?id=18357853
In the UK, the charity ‘The Mammal Society’ estimates that cats in Britain catch up to 275 million prey items a year, of which 55 million are birds. Therefore, at nesting time it is sensible to surround the bases of trees and shrubs with chicken wire to prevent cats from raiding nests and killing chicks.
Help Save Our Songbirds by Funding Targeted Research
SongBird Survival is an independent, UK-wide, environmental registered bird charity that funds research into the decline in Britain’s songbirds. It is a not-for-profit organisation supported by grants, subscriptions and donations.
The SongBird Survival charity is undertaking research into cats and says:
‘Cats have evolved to be successful predators, able to hunt wild birds, small mammals and reptiles. Scientific studies suggest that both domestic and feral cats are having a serious effect on wildlife in countries across the world.’
‘With a cat population of over 10 million in the UK, understanding the impact that cats have on our songbird populations is a crucial area of research’, says the charity.
SongBird Survival has partnered with the University of Exeter to take a novel approach, shifting the focus away from ‘the problem’ and towards resolving the issue.
https://www.songbird-survival.org.uk/cat-research
The charity says that if we know more about cat behaviour and owner attitudes, we may be able to minimise the damage that cats cause to songbirds and other wildlife.
Nesting material (such as straw, etc) may also be left out in springtime to aid many bird species preparing to raise their young.
Bird tables may be freestanding or suspended from a tree. Put out seeds, chopped apples, cereal, biscuit crumbs, raisins and cooked potato to attract a wide variety of beautiful bird species.
With the loss of natural habitat, pollution, predation and increased human developments encroaching into green spaces every year the birds need our help to survive.
Pat Regan ©
http://pat-regan.blogspot.com/
More
https://www.otsnews.co.uk/cats-allowed-roam-free-across-busy-roads/
https://www.otsnews.co.uk/mp-wants-landlords-purring-cat-deal/
Nature-friendly farmers aid wildlife recoveries
https://www.songbird-survival.org.uk/Blog/nature-friendly-farmers-aid-wildlife-recoveries
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