Helping Garden Birds Through the Winter

With these tips, you can help garden birds get through the winter.

Birds in the garden are always a delight! Whether you have an aviary with outdoor birds or want to give wild birds in your garden a warm welcome, birds can use a little extra help during the winter. During this season, their nutritional needs differ from the rest of the year. How can you give these little friends a helping hand?

A good base of silo feed or scatter feed is, of course, essential and remains important all year round. While birds mainly need protein-rich food in the spring and summer, they crave fatty foods and essential vitamins during the winter.

Nuts

In noten zit behoorlijk wat vet en dat kunnen vogels tijdens de koude wintermaanden goed gebruiken. Pindanoten zijn door hun hoge vetgehalte uiterst geschikt om vogels weerbaarder te maken tegen koude. Gebruik hiervoor wel enkel ongebrande en ongezouten pinda’s.

Fat Balls: Store-Bought or Homemade?

A fat ball in the tree is a classic winter staple in many gardens—and for good reason! Birds gain a lot of energy from it. You can buy them ready-made, but it can also be a fun DIY project with the kids. Here's what you need: vegetable frying fat, a seed mix for outdoor birds, optionally mealworms, and more. Gently heat the fat and knead in the other ingredients. Before it cools, press in a piece of string to hang the ball. And voilà, you're done!

Fruit

Om aan de behoefte aan vezels en vitaminen te voldoen, is het ook zeker een goed idee om af en toe een stukje fruit in de tuin te leggen. De vogels zijn maar al te blij met dat stuk appel of peer.

Fresh Drinking Water!

Een absolute must, maar sommige mensen durven het in al hun goede bedoelingen, al eens over het hoofd zien: drinkwater. We kunnen vogels nog zo’n gezonde voeding geven, als ze niet voldoende kunnen drinken zullen ze verzwakken.

What to Avoid!

Finally, we want to share a few things you should absolutely avoid: table scraps, as they spoil quickly. Margarine or butter has a laxative effect. Dairy products and salt are also unhealthy for birds.