Proving food for animals

The most common animals people put food out for are garden birds.  Unsurprisingly, the RSPB have extensive information about exactly what you should (and should not!) be feeding a range of different birds.  Please note that what you can put out depends not only on the type of birds you have, but also factors such as the time of year.  The RSPB website also contains lots of additional information on important aspects such as hygiene and maintenance and keeping your bird table healthy.

Another common animal people like to put food out for are hedgehogs.  Advice from our local hedgehog experts includes to put out dry kitten biscuits and water for local hogs.  If you have concerns about other unwanted animals eating this food, then the website Hedgehog Street, has some good diagrams of setting up a hedgehog feeding station as well as much more about making your area hedgehog friendly.

Insects also need food! Have you visited our Plants for your Wildlife Garden yet? It’s a great place to learn about different wildflowers, trees and shrubs you can have in your garden to help pollinators and other invertebrates.

Spotted wildlife in your garden? Don’t forget to record it!

By providing food for animals, you may see new animals to your garden, why not record them to help science? Remember, even a common sighting is an important sighting! Check out our webpage on NESBReC to learn how you can report your garden wildlife sightings.

Providing food for animals can be fun and exciting. A great way to attract more wildlife to your garden. However, please always remember to check with a reputable source that what you are putting out is safe for wildlife, and to remove and properly clean any feeding resources regularly.

Siskins and bullfinches © Ian Talboys