How to Attract Small Birds to your Garden


Small birds such as goldfinches love nyjer seeds and sunflower seeds. Peanuts are rich in fat and are popular with tits, greenfinches, house sparrows, nuthatches, great spotted woodpeckers and siskins. Crushed or grated nuts attract robins, dunnocks and even wrens, but never use salted or dry roasted peanuts. Fat balls are great for many birds, especially in cold weather, but make sure you


remove them from any nylon mesh before putting them out, as birds can catch their feet in the mesh. Live food such as mealworms are relished by robins and blue tits, and may attract other insect-eating birds such as pied wagtails. Make sure the mealworms you buy are fresh. Any dead or discoloured ones shouldn’t be used as they can cause problems such as salmonella poisoning. Of course, your own planting scheme can also go some way to making your garden a haven for birds. Red and yellow flowers are said to be the most frequented by birds. House sparrows can often be seen attacking red and yellow flowers in spring and autumn, eating buds and petals. Berried plants including the spindle bush, the rowan, holly and hawthorn are also a magnet to birds. When buying bird food, avoid seed mixtures that have split peas, beans, dried rice or lentils as only the large species can eat them dry and the problem is that the


sheer size of the bigger birds can scare the smaller ones away. Consider also that kitchen scraps such as cut-up fruit, cake crumbs, grated cheese and uncooked porridge oats are likely to attract bigger birds.


If you select your bird food carefully, hopefully you’ll soon have a host of winged visitors - and not only the large ones - to your garden.


Devon Wildlife Trust


Talk on Ancient Trees and the Woodland Trust 14th March 2012


Parish Church Centre, Plymouth Road, Tavistock 8pm £3 donation to Devon Wildlife Trust Tel: Fran McMurray on 01822 613628


MEN FOR ALL SEASONS Ground Maintenance


Hedges, Strimming, Weeding, Pruning, Turf Laying, Soft Landscaping, Tree Felling, Fencing , Paving Gutters Cleared and Pressure Washing. Garden Clearance


LAWNS MOWEDany size Kingsley Baker


(01822) 834443 or 07977 272170 www.menforallseasons.co.uk


RELIABILITY IS OUR MOTTO 31 House Sparrows Blue Tits


Meavy Garden Society Spring Show 19th March


Meavy Parish Hall 7-30 pm


Spring Fun Show when members display the results of their winter skills


Free parking


More information is on www.meavy.org.uk/mgs Tel: 01822 852984


Robins


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