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    Garden Birds
    Garden Birds
    Garden Birds
    Ebook337 pages1 hour

    Garden Birds

    By Stephen Moss

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    The ideal portable companion, the world-renowned Collins Gem series returns with a fresh new look and updated material.

    This is the perfect pocket guide for keen birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts to identify the diverse range of birds that inhabit their gardens.

    Authoritative text and beautiful photographs show the distinguishing features of each bird, including information on each species' feeding, behavioural habits, breeding, voice and population. An extensive introduction provides information on nesting sites, water, pests and predators.

    This new edition builds on the strengths of the unrivalled original, covering all birds most likely to be found in our gardens.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateApr 12, 2012
    ISBN9780007440757
    Garden Birds
    Author

    Stephen Moss

    Stephen Moss has been a keen birder all his life, and has written a number of books on the subject. A journalist and broadcaster, he writes a monthly column for the Guardian, and contributes regularly to BBC Wildlife magazine. As a producer at the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, his series include ‘Birding with Bill Oddie, ’Springwatch’ and ‘The Nature of Britain’, presented by Alan Titchmarsh.

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      Book preview

      Garden Birds - Stephen Moss

      INTRODUCTION

      Watching birds in our gardens, parks and towns is not only a great pleasure and delight, it also helps you take the first steps on the road to becoming a ‘proper’ birdwatcher. Most town and garden birds are fairly tame and used to living alongside human beings, so will generally allow you to approach closely enough to see the details of their plumage and behaviour.

      In addition, in recent years there has been a boom in garden bird feeding, so that there are plenty of different foods and feeders on offer to help you attract the widest possible variety of birds to your garden.

      Canada Geese

      Once there, you can tempt them to stay by providing plants where they can roost or nest, artificial nestboxes (especially important for hole nesting species such as tits) and water to drink and bathe.

      This book is designed to help you identify and find out about some of the commonest and most familiar species which may visit your garden or the surrounding area. As well as classic ‘garden birds’, it also includes a selection of the species you are likely to see out and about in your neighbourhood: in the local park; on a river, lake or stream; or in a nearby woodland.

      I have also included a section on changes to town and garden birds, caused by alterations in land use in the wider countryside, and global influences such as climate change.

      Mute Swan

      WATCHING GARDEN BIRDS

      For many people, garden birds provide a constant free show outside their back window, which changes from day to day and season to season, so that there is always something new to see. But to get the best out of your garden birds you need to do a bit of preparatory work.

      In the following introductory sections I shall be giving details of how to attract birds to your garden – and how to maximise the number of birds and variety of species that visit. This can be done in three main ways:

      Nuthatch

      By providing food: a selection of nutritious, high energy food delivered via a bird table and specially designed feeders will act like a magnet to the birds in your neighbourhood – once they know it’s there they will just keep on coming! Plants that provide seeds or berries, or attract insects, are also a vital component to a bird friendly garden.

      By providing nest sites: this can be done in two main ways – by planting suitable shrubs and bushes for birds to build their own nests, or by putting up artificial nestboxes which act as substitute nest sites for hole-nesting woodland species such as tits.

      By providing water: birds need to drink and bathe as well as eat, so put out a bird bath or better still, make a garden pond.

      In addition I have also written a short section on dealing with garden pests and predators, such as cats, squirrels, magpies and sparrowhawks.

      Once you have persuaded the birds to come to your garden, you now need a means by which you can watch them and learn about them. There are two key pieces of equipment:

      Binoculars: a good quality pair of binoculars will open your eyes to the extraordinary plumage and lifestyle of your garden birds. Power isn’t important: a 7x or 8x magnification is fine. But choose the best quality pair you can afford.

      Notebook: writing down your observations and records in a notebook will not only encourage you to take a greater interest in unusual visitors or aspects of bird behaviour; it will also provide you with a record of the visitors to your garden over weeks, months and even years. It also enables you to take down details of any unfamiliar visitors, which you can check in the identification section of this book afterwards.

      The final qualities you need speak for themselves: patience and the ability to sit quietly without disturbing the birds. But you don’t necessarily have to stay indoors; sitting outside on a summer’s evening gives great views of Swifts and House Martins overhead; while sitting quietly in your garden at any time of year, and allowing the birds to get used to your presence, will soon result in them continuing to feed as if you weren’t even there!

      Blue Tit

      FEEDING BIRDS

      Why feed garden birds?

      When I was growing up, my grandmother used to save scraps of food and stale bread, which she would fling out on to the lawn for the birds. Today, things are very different. A multi-million pound industry provides thousands of tonnes of food, delivered via a multi-coloured variety of feeders.

      Great Spotted Woodpecker

      The new approach to bird feeding has a lot to recommend it. A variety of specially designed feeders allows you to attract species with specialised feeding requirements. Putting food on bird tables, rather than the ground, is less likely to attract unwelcome pests such as rats and mice. It is also more hygienic, helping to avoid disease amongst the birds.

      Also, consider the benefits of feeding birds in your garden. Birds are under constant pressure to replenish lost energy resources, which becomes acute at two periods of the year: during the breeding season, when hungry chicks have to be fed, and in winter, when natural food resources may be temporarily unavailable.

      By providing a regular supply of food you are making birds’ lives considerably easier. More birds surviving the winter means more birds to breed the following spring, raising more young – and even more birds to feed the following year!

      What you need to know

      Once you’ve started feeding birds in your garden, don’t suddenly stop. The birds will have got used to a regular supply of food from your garden.

      Start simply, with a bird table and one or two feeders. Once you have got to know which species regularly visit your garden you can expand your feeding station in order to attract new ones.

      If you want to attract the widest variety of species, provide different kinds of food at different levels, to attract ground-feeding as well as tree-feeding species.

      Don’t forget hygiene: keeping your table and feeders clean and tidy reduces the risk of diseases such as salmonella. Removing surplus food at the end of each day also avoids attracting pests.

      If you can, buy food from approved dealers. It is generally better to avoid peanuts or seed sold in outlets such as pet shops and garden centres, as they may not be suitable.

      Food for feeders

      Until relatively recently, the only alternative to peanuts was ‘birdseed’, a rather dubious mixture of various seeds and grains. Today, however, the wildbird food trade provides an extraordinary variety of seeds designed to attract particular species.

      It is best to buy both peanuts and seeds in fairly small quantities, ensuring a rapid turnover. If you do need to store food for longer periods, make sure it is kept in secure bags in a cool, dry place.

      Many birds, including Robins, Dunnocks, Starlings and Jays, prefer to eat live food such as insects and other invertebrates. A good substitute for natural foods is mealworms, which should be placed in a smooth-sided bowl to prevent escape.

      NEST SITES

      There are two main ways in which we can provide nest sites for our garden birds. First, by planting the right variety of bushes and shrubs in which they can safely nest; second, by providing artificial nest sites in the form of nestboxes.

      Planting for nesting

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