As soon as it gets colder in autumn, the birds look for a place to spend the winter months and visit the garden where there is something to get. This is the time to indicate that birds are welcome in the garden. Hang a single fat ball in a tree or on the birdhouse.
This is how you indicate that, when it gets even colder, there will be food to collect. To enjoy the birds in autumn and winter yourself, a place that is visible from the living room is recommended. Please note that birds must be able to hide when danger threatens them. Place a feeder house or shelf near trees or shrubs.
It’s getting colder
As soon as the temperature falls below zero at night, there is a lot of flying to the fat ball and it is time to introduce variation. The choice here is great.
Variation
The choice to put food on the feeding shelf is great. It also depends on which birds can be seen a lot in the garden.
- a peanut string;
- peanut net;
- peanut butter jar;
- sunflower seeds;
- sprinkle feed;
- a bird pie;t
- peanut cake: a kind of fat ball;
- peanut block: type of peanut cake;
- bread;
- fruit;
- nuts;
- bread or crumbs;
- animal protein (buy).
With peanuts or peanut cords, it is recommended to use unroasted peanuts. With peanut butter jar, it is advised not to use peanut butter for human consumption. This peanut butter is too salty!
Make it yourself
You can make fat balls, fat blocks, bird cake, or cupcakes yourself. Use one part solid frying fat to one part seed mixture. There are different types of seed mixtures for sale. Seed mixtures with mealworms and silkworms, seed mixtures with a fruit mixture, and seed mixtures with pieces of corn, small seeds, sunflower seeds, and pieces of peanuts.
Each bird has its own preference and by now you may know which birds spend the winter in your garden. And every year it is a surprise whether other species are added. Melt the frying fat, let it cool until it is still slightly warm, and stir in the seed mixture. Make balls of it and remember to stick a sturdy thread in the still-malleable substance when you want to hang it. Place in the freezer to harden. 
For a bird pie, use a baking tin or other molds (the tray of a dessert, for example). Pour in the fat mixed with seeds and let it harden. Using a whipped cream syringe, you can make tufts with softly solidified fat. You can stick your decorations with the softly solidified fat. Decorations such as peanuts, pine cones, and fruits such as malus apple, apple slices, raisins, or sunflower seeds.
Ice days
We call ice days the days when the temperature does not rise above zero even during the day. Severe frost at night and the waters freeze over. Time to provide moisture for the birds. An earthenware bowl, on which the plants are placed in the summer, is very good to use for this. Fill with fresh cold water without salt or sugar.
Place a smaller bowl upside down in the center so that the birds cannot bathe. Check often to see if it is still liquid. Is it frozen? Provide the same set and place it outside so that the frozen water inside can thaw again. Changing of the Guard! Do not use a metal container because the bird can freeze on it. It’s a bit of work and paying attention. You can also crush the ice when it is frozen. It costs the birds a little more energy, but it does meet their moisture needs.
Snow
Is there snow? Then it is not necessary to provide drinking water. The birds then obtain moisture by pecking at the snow.
Fixed Times
The winter birds have reasonable fixed times for foraging. In the morning when the first light appears, in the afternoon, and just before the sun goes down. It is especially important to take this into account in harsh winters. Fortunately, it is not so early light!
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Are They The Same Birds?
Is the robin we see in the garden in the summer the same robin we feed in the winter? It can also be robins from Scandinavia. Robins are sharers; about half of our robins in summer, move south as fall sets in. Especially females and young robins. The male robins usually stay in place and are therefore resident birds. Their place of the females and youngsters is taken by northern robins that come to spend the winter with us.
From the North
You can also see this at:
- blackbirds;
- starlings;
- finches;
- yellowhammers.
Resident Birds
Birds that stay in the vicinity of the breeding area are called resident birds. Birds that we see in summer and therefore also on the feeding table in winter. Resident birds that we can see on the feeding table include:
- coal tit;
- blue tit;
- wren;
- crow;
- nuthatch;
- house sparrow;
- jay.
Protect The Feeder From The Crow-Like Creatures
The large crows and jays soon discover the feeding table and in no time the fat globules are empty and the food has disappeared. Protect the feeder on two or three sides with gauze (depending on the location). The crows and jays don’t really dare to come close to a house. You can place a basket of coarse mesh over the feeding shelf.
The birds it is intended for can get there, but the crows, jays, and pigeons cannot. They get a place on the ground because they are also hungry. Sprinkle food, bread, apple peels, and half walnuts (also attract squirrels) and corn on the cob (which attracts the pheasant). When it snows, wipe it clean and sweep up any leftover food in the evening so that the mice don’t stand a chance. Or is it?
