Do you feed the birds?

Birds galore and a woodpecker with attitude we are two mins over the road from woodland and country park. A previous railway line it stretches for miles I also feed hedgehogs squirrels and foxes it’s a delight.

We put water out but although we would like to we don’t. The reason being that over the fifty years we have lived here we had rats on several occasions. The council came down and advised us that feeding the birds was the main cause. At that time neighbours fed them in quite excessive amounts. One neighbour was even making them Yorkshire puddings and there was bread everywhere. On the other side it was bird feed of some kind but strewn all over the grass and patio. As a result all the lovely little birds were taken over by masses of pigeons. Rats were a regular occurrence running around our patio. Now both neighbours have died and the new neighbours feed them in a more reserved fashion but a few days ago we saw a rat run across our patio and through to the neighbours via a small gap in their fence. Later he reappears and runs through to the neighbours on the other side. The top of our road is a farm and this is probably his destination. My dh is a garden lover and we have a multitude of different plants, seeds and veg down the bottom. He digs regularly and he has birds awaiting a fresh supply of worms. The local robin will follow him so closely that he has to be careful not to tread on him.Yes we love the birds and now the smaller birds are coming back but the fear of rats has made us reticent about feeding them anywhere near the house.

Redhead56

Birds galore and a woodpecker with attitude we are two mins over the road from woodland and country park. A previous railway line it stretches for miles I also feed hedgehogs squirrels and foxes it’s a delight.

Oh that sounds like heaven. I would love to live where you are.

nanna8

In the morning any foods our cats have left I have been putting out for the birds but now I have a line of ravens, magpies, currawongs etc queuing up outside our back door every day and poohing all over our deck. Not sure if I should continue. As I write a raven is making rasping noises and peering through the back window, sat on the window ledge!

I've never put out cat food nanna8.
I have a bird table with a roof. I spoil them.
They have an assortment every day.
I have feeders hanging on the four corners and a bird bath.

Someone told me that meaty cat food is better for the big birds than the fruit loaf they were getting before. Which I suppose figures because they love killing small birds and eating road kill. We sometimes get very,very tiny nectar eating birds like humming birds but the big birds treat them brutally. The worst was when a couple of ducks plus fluffy chicks landed on our pool cover and the chicks were picked off one by one. Nature is raw in tooth and claw and all that.

My next door neighbour persists in putting out large amounts of food for the birds, eaten by pigeons, seagulls, crows and other large birds. Their flight path crosses my garden, and they leave large deposits over my shed, garden furniture and patio in their wake. She is already in dispute with the neighbour on the other side, to the extent of police involvement and I don't wish to join in, but these birds are a pest and I wish she would stop feeding them. But as she is a woman who has never knowingly done anything out of consideration for anyone else, including her husband and children, that is unlikely to happen.

I don't feed the birds because when I moved into my bungalow they had cleaned it but didn't tell me about the mice in the loft or kitchen . Plus have squirrels in the garden . Local nursery puts out peanuts for the birds but the furry rodents leave the shells in my garden plus once had one in my loft . Thought it was trying to scratch through the ceiling to get to me . But I do have a raised planter I use as a pond with lot of rocks and 2 plants in baskets and oxygen plants. Made it so birds and insects can get a drink all year round . Break the ice in the winter and keep it topped up in the summer from my water butt.

We did, I loved sitting in the conservatory watching the birds. After several years a rat appeared enjoying the seed thrown around by over enthusiastic sparrows, we cleared up, stopped feeding and the rat disappeared in search of other free food. A shame though it is we won’t encourage rats into the garden.

I used to but have now stopped, the food is getting expensive, and pigeons were taking most of it. Besides I have a garden with borders, plenty for the little ones to feed from, and no more pigeons.

I have always understood that we should only feed wild birds during the winter when they can't find bugs, seeds etc. and that's what we continue to do. I make sure there is always water available though.

Have I been doing wrong all these years then? Should I be putting out bird food year round?

I stopped feeding the birds because of an influx of squirrels. They were pulling the bird feeders apart and scattering the nuts on the patio. The poor birds stopped visiting and the aggressive squirrels took control. They repeatedly burst open the food containers and poo’d around the patio. I was concerned the ground level mess would attract rats so I no longer leave food in the garden.

Similar problem here with rats, so no we don’t and our neighbour has stopped too out of concern for his dogs with the rats.

We don’t get rats so much as nightly possums who strip all the leaves off anything they fancy. They don’t interact with the birds. Lately we have been getting echidnas which I am ecstatic about! Not sure what they eat, insects I suppose.

2 little echidnas at our front doorstep

I wouldn’t put out food for hedgehogs/foxes/deer/large birds for fear of attracting rats. I do have two genuinely squirrel-proof bird feeders and hence a lovely range of small bird visitors. The squirrels and pigeons feast on the bits that the birds drop…

Definitely not feeding the birds due to mice problem when I did. I have a bird bath which is regularly used by a blackbird. My neighbour has a very very large leylandi tree that now attracts big noisy birds. So many pigeons. We have bird scaring devices pointing at the keylandi. Not ideal but necessary such a problem!!!

I used to but one day we spotted a rat darting across the patio to get to the bits fallen on the ground. That was the end of feeding. I do make sure there is clean water in a shallow container during the winter.
My friend down the road feeds birds and hedgehogs but this year the gulls have discovered the hedgies food so she now has to try and find a way of stopping them helping themselves.

Yes.
We have a herring gull that pecks on the door if there’s nothing there.
Also my pet fox

Here she is.

Obviously photos don’t want to load today, hey ho 🤷‍♀️

I’ve always treated the birds as an extension to my household pets and buy food throughout the year and alter the type according to the seasons and for different birds.
I have the usual assortment of big and small birds and a flock of 5 feral pigeons, who can hardly wait for me to put their food on the feeding platform.
I feed hedgehogs too - DD2’s little dog had to be bathed after rolling in their 💩 yesterday!
As for rats - I’m fairly rural and always have baited boxes positioned around the house walls and haven’t seen any at all this year.

I stopped after seeing a bug fat rat in the garden, scurrying to the bird table to eat the seed that had dropped on the floor. I do keep water out and I don’t cut seed heads back as the rat man told me the birds enjiy them. He said bird seed food is the main cause of rats in gardens. I miss seeing the birds though,

I've heard it said, on TV I think, that in urban UK you're never more than 6ft away from a rat.

Fresh water all around the garden at different heights all year round. Only feed birds in winter, as soon as below zero temps and snow comes. Several tables and on the ground for bramblings and chaffinches- but only sunflower seeds and quality fat balls. The birds we have in winter are totally different to Summer- apart from 'our' sparrows and some tits.