As nesting season gathers pace, it's natural to want to do more for the nesting birds in your garden. Building a nest, protecting the young and keeping everybody fed is a high energy task for garden birds and one that you can certainly make a little easier for them. If you want to help the nesting birds in your garden then we've put this guide together for you, with 5 ways you can help.
NUMBER 1.
A simple and somewhat obvious way to help nesting birds in your garden is by providing a nestbox. Different species have different requirements when looking for a nest site so research which birds you have in the garden before choosing your nestbox.
The Green&Blue range includes the Birdball birdhouse, which is perfect for small garden birds like Bluetits and Coal tits, and the SwiftBlock, which creates a safe nesting site for swifts - when they arrive.
NUMBER 2.
Another way to support nesting birds is by leaving nesting material in your garden, saving them a search. You can leave piles of dried twigs, leaves and grass around the garden or human and animal hair will be welcomed by many garden birds, just don't leave any hair too long.
The Green&Blue Belle feeder can make a great place to leave nesting materials out for garden birds, just replace your normal fat ball with hair and nesting scraps.
Beautiful image from the BirdFellows website.
NUMBER 3.
Water. Nesting birds need to stay hydrated, and cool. A well maintained Bird Bath with shallow water will be a welcome retreat for the nesting birds in your garden. Refill the water in your Bird Bath daily to keep it clean and make sure to give it a thorough wash at least once a week.
The Green&Blue Bird Bath is designed to provide a safe place for garden birds to drink and bathe, and a beautiful feature in your garden.
NUMBER 4.
The right kind of food. High energy foods like mealworms, suet balls, and peanuts will give the birds in your garden lots of energy as they nest. Make sure your bird feeders aren't placed too close to your nest boxes and make sure choking hazards like whole peanuts aren't put on Bird Tables.
The Green&Blue peanut feeder is a safe way to feed high energy food like peanuts to garden birds, powering them through the nesting season.
NUMBER 5.
Let it grow. If you can leave hedges and shrubs to grow a little wild at this time of year then do, there may well be birds nesting within the foliage and using the greenery for cover.
If you've had successful nesting in your garden then we'd love to hear from you. Which species have you seen? What nestboxes have you used? What's your top tip for somebody looking to do more for the birds in their garden? Leave us a message in the comments below.
6 comments
I have a robin (I think it must be the same one) who builds a nest on my small back porch every year. We have tried to discourage her as it means we cant use the porch but nothing will discourage her so now we just let her nest. Is there anything we should do to help her?
We also built blue bird boxes and placed them around the yard. Dont see any bluebirds using them but a pair of chickadees has moved into one of them.