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Feeding garden birds
Top Ten Tips
1. Only put out as much food as can be
consumed in a day or two. Never allow food or detritus to accumulate.
Reduce food at quiet times.
2. Keep feeders reasonably clean and
move them around the garden periodically to avoid infectious droppings
from building up in one place.
3. In the nesting season avoid presenting
whole peanuts. Either chop them up or provide them in a mesh peanut
feeder from which adult birds can only take small fragments.
4. Try to have reasonably clean water
available at all times for bathing as well as drinking. Never add
salt or any chemicals to the water.
5. Do NOT put out salty snacks, highly
flavoured foods, uncooked rice, whole bacon rinds or unsoaked desiccated
coconut which can be fatal to birds.
6. Keep food away from cover in which
a cat could hide. Consider using electronic cat scarers - these
should be moved regularly.
7. ... but if Sparrowhawks are present,
place feeders next to shrubs to allow birds to escape. Clip the
shrubs back hard at the base so cats cannot hide.
8. Provide a wide variety of different
foods in different positions and types of feeder.
9. Cereal grain, such as wheat, attracts
pgeons. Use better quality pure foods such as black sunflower seeds
or peanuts.
10. Stick to natural foods, rather than
chemically altered or processed foods such as margarine.
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