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Autumn Urban Bird Feeding

Autumn Urban Bird Feeding

Hello!

The Urban Birder

As an observer of wildlife I have to say that although I love all the seasons for various reasons, autumn is probably my favourite. It is the season of flux; not quite summer and yet certainly not winter. The light changes and new autumnal scents waft in the air. Our birds recognise this too.

In the gardens the Blackbirds that were once super elusive during the lazy late summer days are now suddenly showing themselves, and in number. Fresh from moulting undercover, young and old are now racing around stocking up the recent crops of blackberries. During the autumn the number of individual birds increases.

Ground feeder Finches and sparrows are flocking, taking advantage of the last days of heat to harvest the thistles and abundant seed heads. Flocks of tits will be roving and with them the possibility of a Chiffchaff or three. Indeed, you may notice the relative abundance of Blue Tits passing through your garden. Their numbers are swelled by the masses of the summer’s youngsters all circuiting their new territories checking every nook and cranny looking for food. Blue Tits are famed for having large clutches. In fact, they hold the distinction of laying the most amount of eggs of any British songbird – upwards of 14! Despite the parents dedication to the youngsters they cannot protect them from the dangers of predation and disease. It’s a sad fact that nine out of 10 of these young birds will perish before the following spring. But it only needs a small percentage to survive to keep the population healthy and viable.

Autumn is also the time of year when something should stir within your psyche. Having spent the summer putting out just a little bit of food for your urban birds and, of course, supplying copious amounts of water to help them through the hot, dry days, it is now the time to up the anti a little. In a nutshell, you will need to start to get into the habit of gradually putting out a bigger variety and larger quantities of food, as well as topping up your water supply.

If you are new to the bird feeding thing it really is quite easy, and fun, to set up a feeding station. Start small and build up is the secret. Seed feeders will attract happy diners like the tits, Greenfinches and House Sparrows who would love the Apollo 3 Port Seed Feeder or if you live in an area plagued with Pigeons, Rose-ringed Parakeets and Grey Squirrels then a Guardian with 2 port Seed Feeder should do the trick.

If you have not got access to a garden then the SingingFriend Window Feeder Anna is a perfect choice. What I love about this feeder is that it is made with 100% recycled beverage packaging. Just fill it with tasty peanut cake and then sit back to watch the show!

bird bath

A final word about providing water in your urban domain. Access to water is an essential requirement for your birds and it should be provided all year round. See it as equally important as providing food. I mean, you would not have a meal without a drink, would you? And it is not just drinking that the birds indulge in as they also need to bath to keep their plumages in tip-top condition. Assuming that you have not got a pond, then invest in something simple like a bird bath or a water dish. Please try to refresh the water on a daily basis to keep your urban birds clean, healthy, and, along with consuming the food you provide, ready for the winter to come.

David Lindo

18 September 2020

For information on our collaboration with David Lindo, click here

CJ's has a whole range of products that are suitable for use in urban gardens, so for ideas and suggestions of what to offer your urban garden birds, click here