Feed the birds

Why did you add salt?

do they know it's christmas time?

Lo salt actually. It's all I use. The flour, oats and lard have next to no salt in them. It's essential for life.

the birds look out for each other in these terrible conditions, i just see a robin who seemed
to be out his depth on the grass thats covered in 2 feet of snow, then from no where a sparrow
hawk swept down and picked him up taking back to the safety of the trees, pleasing to watch it was

A high potassium salt substitute - fatal to birds.

Congratulations, you've orchestrated a purge of the avian world

A fellow dog walker told me last week that she'd seen someone feeding salted peanuts to the ducks.I googled it when I got back home:Salt ingestion can be fatal for birds.

don't forget to put out water for them or break the ice of the previous water you left for them it's very very important,thank me later

Plenty of water in the mix.

There's far more salt in bread than I added to the mix.

I don't have feeders but throw out wholemeal bread soaked in melted suet. They need lots of fat this time of year. Peanuts (not salted, bad for them)  are good too.

Also birds digestive systems can't handle bread.

white bread is no good, but wholemeal brown ok surely.

i've got bird feeds in the garden all year long there all anti squirrel proof, the s0ds try
everything to no avail all though now im worried about them in this weather i might
unlock them.

go out in the garden with bird food on your hand saying here birdy wirdy wirdy

I used to be a young ornafologist so im pretty good with birds

ive never been how to spell it

tuppence a bag?

bread and salt not good .

i used to think the birds would struggle in these conditions for survival ,and you know what ?  my fat balls and nut feeders have barely been touched ,they had more activity in the summer.

only the starlings are interested in the suet block (unless they are scaring the tits away )

You've probably got a sparrowhawk coming around. That scares the birds away big time.

Salt is essential for life. So much of it is added to our food, that it becomes bad for health at the levels we get in a western diet.

a western diet, thats mainly cold beans out of a can isnt it

salt is essential in small amounts , not sure if birs pick this up naturally anywhere .... i've never heard about givingb them salt  but its worth checking out

Coach

what have i said ? 

Just been out to the local pond with a bag of muesli. Had plenty ducks, seagulls, coots and moorhens.

I know they also need fat at this time of year but whats the best way to add it to the mix, and what kind of fat should I buy?

Whatever you do, do not feed soft fat like chicken fat to birds.  It gets on their wings etc.

I repeat,do not give salt to birds,it can kill them.Check out the RSPB site.

HERE WE GO


Salt is toxic to gardens birdsSalt is toxic to gardens birds. Their bodies are unable to process it, and it affects their nervous systems. Birds become very thirsty and dehydrated when they ingest salt, meaning they would drink more, potentially exacerbating the problem. They would also suffer kidney dysfunction. Some small birds are not much bigger than one of our own kidneys, which we use to process salt, and they will overdose very quickly.

Salty water bad for bird feathersAlthough most dangerous when ingested, salty water is not good for birds externally either. It could damage their feathers, meaning they are not in peak condition during the cold weather and into the breeding season. Even if they don't drink it, they could still ingest it as they preen.

Crisps, salted nuts and salty kitchen scraps - badThe charity also asks that we avoid feeding salty kitchen scraps to birds. Salted crisps and peanuts, processed cheese and leftover frozen meals are all likely to contain levels of salt dangerous to birds. Even if these items are soaked, they would likely still contain dangerous levels of salt.

Good leftoversMore suitable leftovers include grated mild cheese, porridge oats, coked rice, unsalted bacon, cooked potatoes and pastry.

Well done Ron for c&p these.

good work ron russian

During the start of the last cold spell I put out some grated strong cheddar.This was largely ignored by the birds but had gone by the morning,presumably taken by a fox.On checking out the effect of salt on birds the RSPB site said not to provide strong cheddar nor salted bacon.My dog loves cheese and I often give her grated cheddar but given that you are not to give dogs salt should I no longer give my dog,and the fox,'strong' cheese?

So, given the very high salt content of bread, does that mean it's toxic to birds?

Not withstanding the salt content of bread,you added salt to the mixture,was you going to eat it yourself originally?

Is boiled long grain rice any good?

surely fat birds dont need salt or bread . i know those fatties like balding like mcdonalds .

Is boiled long grain rice any good?
Short answer.yes.
.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/feeding/whatfood/index.aspx

Apples for your blackbirds.

Blackbirds - thank me later.

whats Black Niger Seed? i just read about it on a bird forum

boiled rice is good, particularly for wood pigeons and collared doves, which don't make much use of other stuff. Has to be boiled otherwise it swells up inside them.

ah i've found out now, goldfinches like it apparently ,but not all birds
do i can honestly say i've never heards of that in my life

Niger seed is from an oil seed plant grown in asia.Very good for birds.
Goldfinches particularly love this food. You have to have a special feeder to dispense it.

Tucho Joined: 06 Jan 07
Replies: 245 19 Dec 10 13:39   
Also birds digestive systems can't handle bread.



Bread
All types of bread are acceptable to birds, but ideally it should only be just one component in a varied diet. Bread does not contain the necessary protein and fat birds need from their diet, and so it can act as an empty filler. Although bread isn't harmful to birds, try not to offer it in large quantities, since its nutritional value is relatively low. A bird that is on a diet of predominantly, or only bread, can suffer from serious vitamin deficiencies, or starve.

Only put out an amount of bread that birds will eat in a day. Food left on the ground overnight can attract rats. Soaked bread is more easily ingested than stale dry bread, and brown bread is better than white. Crumbled bread is suitable in small quantities, but moisten if it is very dry. During the breeding season, crumble the bread into tiny pieces so that it is only eaten by the adult birds. Dry chunks of bread will choke baby birds, and a chick on a diet of bread may not develop into a healthy fledgling.


that's from rspb site

Kilo? bag of Nyger seed is about £2 in Wilkinsons.

Reiterate what facts says about special feeders(essential)I have put mine in ordinary seed dispensers,but the bulk of it ends up on the ground.

Budgie seed is cheap and ideal for sparrows and chaffinches. Pigeons will peck at it, too.

I remember as a kid in the 60s sending off for the free booklet Birds In Your Garden that the RSPB used to advertise in the papers.

At that time my mother used to put the breadcrumbs out for the sparrows, and it was always white bread, because Hovis was a lot dearer and a bit of a luxury then.

I piously read out to my mother the passage in the RSPB booklet advising that birds prefer brown bread to white. "Well, they're not bloody stupid then, are they?" she replied. "I'm not forkin' out for bleedin' Hovis an' then watchin' 'em **** all over my bloody sheets."

As a seven-year-old I then reproduced the conversation word for word in my school diary, which went on prominent display on parents' evening.

"I was so bloody embarrassed. They must think I swear in front of you all the soddin' time ..."

when i was a kid i wanted to join the YOC / Young Ornithologists Club, not because i was keen on birds
but mainly because you got a badge that looked the b0l0x that you could stitch on your school coat, i paid
the membership but my badge never turned up, weeks i waited End Result stuck in a s0dding
club i had no interest in but as id been given the money had to go to the meetings etc

Given that so many species weigh a lot less than an ounce,makes me wonder how they manage to survive in this cold weather.Keep helping.

Keep Birds Happy!

I gave the local birds some out of date tin food from 2003 the other day and none of them have come back to complain!

that's all you can do in this weather tbh

Dec 19, 2010 -- 9:26PM, Spirit Of My Weigh wrote:

Keep Birds Happy!I gave the local birds some out of date tin food from 2003 the other day and none of them have come back to complain!

One of your better quips, Harry.

can you legally cull wood pidgeons?

If so can anyone recommend a good air rifle?

TIA

there is nothing wrong with wood pigeons....murderer

I hope it is not legal

If you pick up or catch a "Feral" pigeon, it is illegal to Release it, you have to keep and feed it, or Kill it, FACT.