Birdwatching webchat with Peter Holden MBE, 28 May 1-2pm

twinsmum100

NannaJeanie YES It was a Jay thank you, it was really striking, beautiful in fact, really made my day.

Another question for Peter,
How do I start getting more birds to visit my garden? Should I buy a table, hang things from trees? Living in Richmond there are lots of the green parakeets, what would encourage them to my garden, I know my twins would love seeing them

Judging by many of your comments, a lot of people are having great success attracting birds to their gardens, and to a certain extent it will depend on location. However, one general point to remember is that the majority of what we call garden birds were originally woodland species and are using gardens as a replacement for that habitat.

We can help by designing our gardens to resemble a woodland glade with (if possible) a mixture of taller shrubs and trees, lower shrubs and grassy areas. That does not prevent it being a nice garden or planting conventional garden flowers. A garden with variety of layers will produce a variety of different habitats, and if possible, leave a little area to be "wild", where grass grows longer and shrubs are allowed to develop their natural shape. Introducing thorny plants, like bramble and rose, which can crawl through the "wilderness" will provide nest sites for small birds and deter predators such as magpies. Many gardens tend to be over-tidy!

Obviously additional food can make a difference. Feeding all year round is now recommended, and by having a variety of feeders and a variety of foods will attract, hopefully, a variety of species. Personally, I have not given up putting out kitchen scraps, though much of the advice these days tends to be about commercial bird food - which is very good, but comes at a high price.

Most people would gladly swap you some parakeets as where they are common they are almost in pest proportions. So you may not want to be too welcoming!

fritter

Sorry for this ignorant question - I have never known much about birds! One thing that really intrigues me is how they sleep. Why don't they fall out of trees?

No it's not ignorant - it worried me for years!

I'm not sure I can describe it in words, but I'll have a go. The tendons in a bird's leg are constructed so that when they are pulled tight the toes are drawn in. The tighter the pull on the tendon, the tighter the pull on the claws. It means that when a bird relaxes and sinks down on its branch, instead of relaxing, the tendon becomes more taut, and the more relaxed, the tighter the grip.

GrandmaH

I've lived in this house for 20 years & have never seen this before this year.
Bluetits are queueing up on a buddleia bush outside our living room window to flutter at the glass. I put up a window feeder to try & discourage them as I was worried they may hurt themselves & they now sit in the feeder & tap at the window(& help themselves to the food before they fly off). After a few days they started doing it to my kitchen window & also cloakroom & front door- which are frosted- so doubtful it is because they can see their reflections & think it is a rival bird to be attacked.
We have nest boxes in the garden -although I don't think they are being used this year- but they are nesting in a vent outside the kitchen.
We have no wooden frames so they cannot be after anything living on the windows & it is only the glass they peck at. It cannot be the food as it started before I put the feeder on the window & there are plenty of bird feeders in the back garden anyway.
It started with just one bird but now we have several.
It's amusing the grandchildren & driving the cats potty but I'd love to know what it going on if you have any idea.
Thank you
H

whenim64

I had a bluetit that played on my car windscreen for a few mornings last year. It would flutter to the top of the windscreen then appear to slide down to the bonnet, then do it all over again for about half an hour. I assumed it was trying to attract its reflection, but not sure now, given what GrandmaH has said.

This is all about birds and reflections and as I assume the observations relate to this time of year, ie. the breeding season, we can guess they are linked to breeding in some way. This must be related to birds defending their territory and wishing to attract and deter a competitor. Often the birds concerned are chaffinches and in the days when cars had shiny hubcaps, it was pied wagtails attacking at street level!

These blue tits were almost certainly trying to drive off what they imagined was an opponent, but if you're attacking a "mirror image", you can never win! The more aggressive the territory owner, the more aggressive will appear the reflection, and even if the territory owner submits, so will the reflection, which may be enough for the owner to be inspired to attack again! It's the avian equivalent of an arms race! However, very often when I have seen this behaviour it does appear to be birds simply "playing", except for the chaffinch, which loudly attacked its reflection in my bedroom window at 5 o clock each morning this spring. The time of day may be significant because some windows will act more like mirrors when the sun shines from a particular direction.

bigknitter

Swans are said to mate for life - is this true? And are there other species that do this? What is the advantage to them? (!)

Yes, this is largely true, though divorce is not unheard of, and birds that are bereaved will often acquire a new partner. For mute swans there is a surplus population on many of our rivers, which we see at places like Stratford upon Avon, and other places where herds of these birds can be seen. These are juveniles or sub-adults waiting for a vacancy!

This faithfulness is even more remarkable among the "winter" swans, which arrive from the Arctic as they will travel thousands of miles and often find the same mate.

However, I am not sure that we should always attach the human characteristic of "emotion" to this behaviour. Mute swans, once on territory, will never move very far, and so will stay with the same partner for mutual convenience.

For some other species which we think of being faithful, the truth may be quite different. Ospreys in Scotland will keep the same mate year after year, but after each breeding season, the birds will travel separately to West Africa, spend the winter separately, and return to the nest site the following spring. I would suggest (cynic!) that this is not an emotional attachment to the other bird but an attachment to the nest site, where it bred successfully the previous year, and if it happens to find the same partner then the pair bond will be reformed.

It's been great fun answering some challenging questions. We have been discussing here at GNHQ how best to encourage further involvement with nature, especially in the garden, and with grandchildren. Knowing that the RSPB will soon be launching its 'Make Your Nature Count' survey, which is a sort of summer version of its better-known 'Big garden birdwatch'. It would be great to involve more people in this, as I really believe an interest in wildlife can both begin and be enhanced on your own doorstep.

I understand there's going to be something on your website soon - keep an eye!