Bird feeding what is it?

With the continuous expansion of urban areas and the inevitable impoverishment of the natural habitat of native wildlife, the practice of bird feeding was born in the mid-1900s. What does it mean? Simply help wild birds survive the winter by providing them with safe shelter and food.
If you have a garden, a terrace, a balcony, even a small one or even just a windowsill, you can offer with a few rules the right conditions to guarantee our feathered friends survival during the winter and enjoy their company.

How to do bird feeding?

Each species of bird has different habits and dietary needs, so it is important to observe what type of birds roam around your home and provide them with suitable food and shelter.
Here are some tips:

• Arrange the house and the manger on a tree, preferably an evergreen, in the absence of this, however, choose a safe and quiet area but above all sheltered from any predators, cats and mice.
• Make sure that the inlet hole is not exposed to cold drafts.
• It is important to keep feeders clean and always provide fresh water to prevent mold and bacteria from forming.

What to feed wild birds

To cope with the pitfalls of winter, wild birds need very nutritious and energetic foods, they like fat balls , feed , dried fruit and specific pastries very much.
You can choose the food to offer based on what kind of birds you want to attract to your garden, which as we said have different eating habits:

• Granivores : seeds and grains
• Insectivores : protein foods, insects
• Frugivores : berries and fruit
• Omnivores : all the foods listed above

The most common species of our territory

Robin

Feeding: insectivorous.
Shelter: small house with large front opening, positioned no more than 50cm from the ground.
manger: on the ground or at half height.

Great tit

Feeding: mainly insectivorous / frugivorous.
Shelter: house with an entrance hole of about 3.5cm positioned at least 2m from the ground.
Feeder: prefers to feed on hung foods.

Sparrows

Feeding: omnivorous.
Shelter: intertwining of dry herbs with side entrance, positioned about 2m from the ground.
Feeder: half height.

Transfer

Feeding: omnivorous.
Shelter: small house with an entrance hole of about 4cm, positioned about 2m from the ground.
Feeder: half height.

Blackbird

Feeding: omnivorous.
Shelter: open nest, positioned about 2m high.
Feeder: placed on the ground.

The time when food should be most abundant is in the morning, when the birds are very hungry after the long night, and in the evening before they retire to their nests. Not everyone knows this but wild birds can lose up to 10% of their weight in just one night!

It is not recommended to give bread , as it only gives a sense of satiety without providing enough calories to the birds that risk not having enough energy to maintain the right body temperature during the coldest hours.

Bird feeding is a practice that in recent years has been affecting more and more people, as it gives everyone the opportunity to regain contact with nature and its inhabitants even near the cities. Much loved even by the little ones, bird feeding is a subject that intrigues and fascinates.
Finally, we can say that bird feeding is for true nature lovers who want to take care and admire these birds without keeping them locked in a cage and respecting their freedom.