Garden Birds in Hot, Dry Weather

The weather has been so hot and dry recently that our garden birds are having a tough time finding enough worms and bugs to eat and enough water to drink!

They need our help...

FEEDING THE GARDEN BIRDS

Many people think that you should only feed garden birds during the winter months when the weather is very cold and icy. This is not, however, correct. Birds need to be fed all year round,especially at this time of year when they are breeding and also feeding their young. Birds will quickly become reliant upon you so please don't let them down.

In warmer weather the very high energy, high fat foods are not required. So it's good quality peanuts and a variety of seeds that should be given. You have plenty of choice within the 'Twootz' excellent bird food range.

Please ensure that you pop any nuts and seeds into a feeder as baby birds can easily choke on them if left whole. Alternatively, just smash them with a rolling pin! This is a great way of relieving stress!

The best feeders are metal or plastic ones. Avoid the soft, plastic mesh feeders, the ones that contain peanuts and 'fat balls', as birds can easily get their delicate feet and legs caught in the netting resulting in breaks.

WATER FOR THE GARDEN BIRDS

A water bath for garden birds is crucial in hot, dry weather as they need to drink more water than usual in order to stay healthy and hydrated. Birds also need to keep their feathers clean and in pristine condition. This very social activity also helps to keep the birds nice and cool which is extremely important.

You will need to check the water level in your bird baths at least daily as it's amazing how quickly it evaporates in hot weather and, of course, the birds splash around a lot scattering the water everywhere. It's such fun to watch them. They seem to form a queue and take it in turns to have bath. It's all very civilised and orderly!

You can imagine that the water gets pretty dirty very quickly with the high level of demand for bird bathing. I tend to empty out the water at the end of the evening and give the bird bath and any stones in the bath, a good wash and wipe with fresh water before re filling ready for the next day.

Once a week clean the bird bath, and stones, with a solution of hot soapy water and 5% disinfectant. You must rinse thoroughly with fresh water and allow it to dry naturally before adding the water.

For more detailed information about helping wildlife please visit our website www.westyorkshireanimalsinneed.org.uk and follow us on Twitter, on Facebook 'West Yorkshire Animals In Need - Official' and on the 'Tommi Townsend' page.

Bye, see you at my next blog.

Tommi Townsend - Co Founder 'West Yorkshire Animals In Need'