Putting food out for the birds…

We get the occasional sparrow hawk and kestrel too. The dozy wood pigeons are a favourite target. The kites, thank goodness, don’t come down into the garden, just wheel around high in the sky unless they see prey in the fields. I hate to see that side of nature but it is what it is.

We stopped feeding birds on a bird table because it encouraged rats into the garden, probably still around, just out of sight.
We get sparrow hawks anyway Barleyfields.

Most leftovers in this house are used up in the kitchen - peas are dead easy to recycle into edible food (stirred into a tin of soup or a stew or a pasta sauce....). There's a rookery very close by but they don't see a lot of grub from us because we don't throw much out! What they do get is never chucked on the lawn, simply because they won't eat every single thing they see and vegetables will sit there until they go slimy! We have a small ground-feeder tray (on the path) and everything is broken up small enough for the songbirds to get a chance at the pickings. There is never anything left after 24 hours.

Please try to stop him Gwylt. Kites eat other birds as I’m sure he must know. And the bones in chicken wings could fatally injure your dogs. I love watching kites gliding on the thermals but definitely wouldn’t encourage them into my garden.

Not sure about the dogs getting to iy, I suppose keep them in until it's all gone.

However, don't leave it out overnight because that would attract rodents.

Husband feeds the birds and does I am afraid to say throw bread as well on the top grass away from the house
We have the occasional red kite and he now wants to encourage them eith chicken wing Unsure how he would stop our own dogs getting there first. Not to mention rodents

We were going to buy dried mealworms which we do occasionally but a tiny bag was £2.50 and a much larger one was £10.

They've got seeds and sunflower hearts. The fat balls (good quality ones) were not popular so we stopped buying them.

Kibbled maize is high in carbohydrates, oil and nutrients and far better than bread which is not recommended.

I soak the bread in milk and mix it with other things porridge, crusts and bits from my plate even veggies and gravy and it may not be as nutritious as it should be but at least it feeds them

I feed bird seed, chopped peanuts and suet products to the birds. I also give them bread for carbohydrates. Of course bread alone cannot provide all the nutrients they need but it helps them alongside proper bird food.

According to the RSPB bread does not contain the necessary nutrients and proteins that birds need.

It's the gulls that eat any bread and you said seagulls have multiplied and are a menace so perhaps we're culling by kindness.
The ones here are herring gulls but I doubt they've ever seen a herring.

A hungry fox will kill rats so it’s counter productive to put food out for them which will attract the rats that a well fed fox won’t bother to kill.

According to the RSPB bread does not contain the necessary nutrients and proteins that birds need. Feed them on proper approved bird food if you wish to be kind. I say proper as peanuts unless processed can cause disease and death.

There are more predators birds as they can no longer be culled and in many areas there are now so many to the detriment of smaller bird species. I’ve counted 10 magpies in the garden but all the smaller species are far far fewer as a consequence.

I plant bushes which produce berries that the birds are supposed to love but they don't eat them.
We have seed heads, catkins etc.
The woodpeckers must have eaten all the ants.

We have very little food waste. Maybe some excess pastry from a pie, maybe a potato and the fat from a joint. The crows and seagulls are there within seconds to take it. I put out bread and proper bird food every day. They’re watching, ready to hoover it up. It doesn’t hang around,

All the seed heads and berries in my garden had been stripped long before the recent cold snap Avalon. No matter how bird-friendly your garden, it won’t feed them when they really need it.

Aside from the feeders for the little birds, I always put out any bits of meat/fat.

The crows are usually down to scoff it - picking up as many bits as they can cram into their beaks! - almost before I’m back in the kitchen.

Our garden doesn’t really have room for a compost bin, so all other food scraps go in the food waste bin, collected weekly.

Allira

^Are all you people mad? Throwing food out is a terrible waste —don’t cook so much, freeze any left overs, turn bread into breadcrumbs for many recipes, or put out in the food waste bin if your council supply them.^

Probably mad yes.

What I threw out the other day was the remains of a pork joint (yes I know!) but it was bought with the intention of sharing it with family but that didn't happen and we just didn't want the end bits after eating it for two days.
Plus the crusts from my sandwiches (my hair's curly enough).

And use the food waste bin.

We put out proper bird food too.

Predator birds such as rooks and magpies will destroy the eggs and fledglings of birds.

Yes, we've got a sparrowhawk too.

Nature, red in tooth and claw.

Are all you people mad? Throwing food out is a terrible waste —don’t cook so much, freeze any left overs, turn bread into breadcrumbs for many recipes, or put out in the food waste bin if your council supply them.

Probably mad yes.

What I threw out the other day was the remains of a pork joint (yes I know!) but it was bought with the intention of sharing it with family but that didn't happen and we just didn't want the end bits after eating it for two days.
Plus the crusts from my sandwiches (my hair's curly enough).

And use the food waste bin.

We put out proper bird food too.

I’ve been banging this drum ever since I moved to the suberbs from the Cambridgeshire boonies, Avalon. I was horrified at one of my neighbours putting out food for foxes in the garden of the empty house between us - the one to which I’m attached. Well, Thanks Very Much!!

I was the one with the vermin problem, eventually having to get pest control involved. Magpies saw off what few garden birds were daring to venture into my (now) carefully managed wildlife friendly garden.

New people are about to move in. Obviously I want to be on good terms with them but my heart will sink to my boots if I see them putting out food in the garden.

25Avalon

Are all you people mad? Throwing food out is a terrible waste —don’t cook so much, freeze any left overs, turn bread into breadcrumbs for many recipes, or put out in the food waste bin if your council supply them.

It encourages vermin who carry disease.

Predator birds such as rooks and magpies will destroy the eggs and fledglings of birds. Have you ever seen a magpie tear a baby bird apart? It is not a pleasant sight. Seagulls have multiplied and are a menace - they swoop down and viciously snatch food out of people’s hands. They make a raucous noise and leave droppings everywhere.

Furthermore it is not recommended to feed birds on your wasted food as most of it is not good for them. If you really care for the birds grow plants with seed heads they can eat in the winter and buy proper bird seed to go in squirrel and rodent proof feeders, and mealworms.

No, I’m not mad
I occasionally put out bread crusts but mainly it is suet balls suet blocks and mealworms, I hope that meets with your approval
But if not, I won’t be losing any sleep about it…😴😴😴😴

As you have said, it is his house he can do what he wants to.

Are all you people mad? Throwing food out is a terrible waste —don’t cook so much, freeze any left overs, turn bread into breadcrumbs for many recipes, or put out in the food waste bin if your council supply them.

It encourages vermin who carry disease.

Predator birds such as rooks and magpies will destroy the eggs and fledglings of birds. Have you ever seen a magpie tear a baby bird apart? It is not a pleasant sight. Seagulls have multiplied and are a menace - they swoop down and viciously snatch food out of people’s hands. They make a raucous noise and leave droppings everywhere.

Furthermore it is not recommended to feed birds on your wasted food as most of it is not good for them. If you really care for the birds grow plants with seed heads they can eat in the winter and buy proper bird seed to go in squirrel and rodent proof feeders, and mealworms.

If I had a view like that Maybee I would be feeding deer, rabbits, the lot, it looks lovely

Sadly our neighbour had a bird feeder which ended up attracting rats which then lived under my neighbours decking. They got rid of the feeder and the rats went. The other thing you need to watch is squirrels. They may look harmless but climb really well. My other neighbour got them into her loft ( we think someone was feeding them). It's taken years to get rid of them and the smell is awful. That is using a proper pest controller too. They are still at it after about 2 years, trying to get rid of squirrels from their loft.

I have a seagull who sits on next doors garage every morning and quietly asks for food - I give it a handful of mealyworms.

Next door cat clears away any potential vermin - although I’ve never seen a rat, but have seen a mouse, who get caught either by Tofu or trapped in my humane trap and relocated. And of course I’m getting my very own cat today - so hopefully she will be a hunter (when she is allowed out), as a stray she must have had to make ends meet.