What to feed garden birds, by season

The useful question is not “what do birds like?” It is “what is sensible this month?” The RSPB and the BTO both changed their feeding advice so that seeds and peanuts are a cold-season food, because of finch trichomonosis.

1 November to 30 April

In the colder months the RSPB says natural food is scarcer and the risk from trichomonosis is lower, so a full range is reasonable: seeds, peanuts, suet and mealworms. The BTO’s wording is the same split: seeds and peanuts from November to April, and mealworms and fat or suet all year.

On the RSPB’s feeding page, the foods they describe for those months are:

• Sunflower hearts. Husk-free, and popular with tits, finches and sparrows.
• Nyjer seed. A tiny oil-rich seed. Greenfinches, goldfinches, siskins and redpolls are the birds they name.
• Peanuts. Protein and fat for tits, finches, nuthatches, jays and great spotted woodpeckers. The RSPB says the only safe way to offer nuts is a rigid steel mesh feeder, so a bird cannot carry off a whole nut.
• Seed mixes. They say a mix can bring in robins, tits, finches and sparrows. The BTO adds that cheap mixes are often heavy on cereals, which suit sparrows and pigeons, while mixes with less cereal suit finches better.
• Suet, as pellets, cakes or balls. The RSPB lists blackbirds, tits, robins, starlings, wrens, nuthatches, great spotted woodpeckers, blackcaps and song thrushes among the birds that take it.
• Mealworms. Protein for blackbirds, tits, dunnocks, sparrows, robins, starlings, wrens and others. The RSPB’s tip is to soak dried mealworms so nestlings can eat them more easily.
• Fruit. Apples and pears, not mouldy, for blackcaps, blackbirds and winter thrushes. Small amounts of dried fruit for robins, blackbirds and song thrushes, and only in a garden without pets: the RSPB says raisins and sultanas are toxic to cats and dogs. The BTO says the same about grapes, raisins, sultanas and currants and dogs.

Put out only what is eaten. The RSPB says food in feeders should be gone in one or two days, and suet within seven days. Take old food out before you refill.

1 May to 31 October

Both organisations say pause seeds and peanuts from the start of May to the end of October. The RSPB’s reason is that the risk of spreading trichomonosis is higher then, and that natural food is easier to find. Suet and mealworms can continue, in small amounts. Clear scattered mealworms by dusk the same day. The RSPB gives a specific reason: leftover mealworms may be eaten by hedgehogs, which hedgehog rehabilitators have raised as a concern.

In hot weather the RSPB says suet can soften or spoil, especially homemade fat balls, and advises avoiding those when it is hot. Their shop pages talk about formulated suet that is meant for the whole year; if a cake goes soft, they suggest shade or waiting for cooler weather. That is the maker’s product note, not a test of our own.

The BTO’s research summary, on the same feeding page, says the post-breeding period is when garden outbreaks are more likely, which is why the seasonal pause exists. They also note a separate, less settled worry: that feeding might favour common tits over marsh and willow tits. They say the evidence there is weaker than for disease, and that a cautious approach is to limit feeding if your garden is near remaining marsh or willow tits.

What not to put out

The RSPB’s bird-café page still has the clearest “avoid” list among the pages we opened:

• All salted food, because it dehydrates birds.
• Cooked food, because it can attract rats.
• Loose peanuts. Keep them in a feeder so birds nibble small pieces.
• Dry, hard food or bread in spring and summer. Parent birds may take them to the nest, and the RSPB says young birds can choke.
• Poor-quality peanuts. They can carry aflatoxin, which the RSPB says kills birds. Buy peanuts that are guaranteed aflatoxin-free, from a reputable supplier.

Bread is not a useful hedgehog food either. That is on the hedgehog page.

If a bird looks ill

Stop, and read cleaning feeders. The RSPB and the BTO do not give the same pause length, and the guide says so rather than picking one.

Can I feed seeds in June?

The RSPB and the BTO both say no: pause seeds and peanuts from 1 May to 31 October. Suet and mealworms, in small amounts, can stay.

Are mealworms safe all year?

Both organisations say mealworms can be offered all year. The RSPB says clear any that are scattered by dusk, so hedgehogs do not eat what is left, and to soak dried ones for nestlings.

Is bread all right in winter?

The choke warning the RSPB gives is for spring and summer, when adults may carry hard food to chicks. Bread is still a poor food. Hedgehog Street says it is fairly worthless to hedgehogs, and cooked scraps can attract rats.