SURREY STORE ONLY
Bird Seed & Feeders
It is important to feed our feathered friends, especially in the winter time when their food sources are not as abundant.
In the spring, it is a wonderful time to invite a variety of bird species to your own backyard – providing them with a welcoming place to eat. Birds are creatures of habit, with preferences, but can also be very adaptable and will change their habits to take advantage of a good food source.
At Hunters Garden Centre in Surrey we carry a selection of bird seed, bird suet and bird feeders.
Best Plants That Attract Birds To Your Garden
To attract birds, the plants in your garden must provide one of the following: berries or seeds for food, shelter, and/or a nesting place. Tree branching must be dense enough to support nests but allow for easy bird movement. The following are a few of our favourites that we carry at Hunters Garden Centre!
HUNTERS GARDEN CENTRE IN SURREY
Bird Seed & Suet We Carry
Bird seed attracts the widest variety of birds and can be used in most feeders. The following bird seed mixes are available:
- Oil Sunflower
- Mountain Multi-Bird
- Gourmet Feeder
- Chickafee & Nuthatch
- Jay Mix
- In Shell Peanuts
- Wild Bird Basic
Bird Suet is a good choice for beginners as it is easy to use. The suet stays in place, creating less waste and mess compared to seed feeders. Suet makes a better choice during the winter because of the concentrated energy and fats during a time where there is less food available. Here are the types of bird suet available:
- High Energy Suet
- Peanut Treat Suet
- Birders Choice Suet
- Berry N’ Nut Suet
- Sunflower Suet
HOW TO
Attract Birds To Your Home
To guarantee that the birds will be attracted to your backyard there are some fairly simple things that you can do. Birds need food, water and they like to have shelter as well.
Water
Water will probably be the first thing that will attract birds to your yard. A shallow non-slippery birdbath will entice birds to come for a drink or a bath. Any shallow container will do. It might be helpful to know that birds are attracted to the sound of dripping or running water. If you can arrange to have a tap dripping into your bath, you will attract even more birds. Birds also like having a perch at the birdbath so they can sit and preen while they are digesting their food.
Food
In a feeder, either hang or secure to a post or some other solid object will help to keep them there. Some birds prefer a secured feeder to one that is suspended. The best part about having a feeder, though, is knowing that you are helping the birds survive the fall and winter. Putting out seeds, bread, suet, nuts, and other treats might even encourage some birds to nest near your home in the spring. The fall and winter are the most important times of the year to stock your feeder. Although many birds migrate south to find new feeding sites, some will stay if they can find enough food.
If you put your feeder near a window, hang a mobile or wind chime close by so that it breaks up the reflection. Clean the feeder regularly and throw away bad seeds so that visiting birds will not get sick. Whether you decide to make or buy a feeder, remember that the birds that you feed will come to depend on the food you leave so it is important to keep your feeder well supplied!
How To Make a DIY Bird Feeder
People have been making new bird feeder designs for centuries. There are fancy feeders with built in water bottles and food trays. There are also simple feeders made out of milk cartons and coconuts. You may want to build one of the following:
- Secure a glass jar in the fork of a tree and fill it with seeds.
- Fill an empty coconut half with seed and hang it from a tree. You can also turn it upside down and fill it with bird cake. Chickadees will love your coconut bell.
- Cut four triangular holes in the bottom of a large milk carton. Wooden meat skewers or chopsticks poked through the can serve as perches.
- Press bird cake all over a pine cone and then hang it from a nearby tree.
- Fill an old onion bag with suet or bird cake and hang it outside.
- Sharpen a small tree branch and then stick a cob of corn onto its end.
- String peanuts in their shells and hang them around trees for chickadees to enjoy.
- Put suet or bird cake in a clean soap dish and strap it to a tree.
- Put some seeds into an old stump hole to make a superb feeding station.
Last but definitely not least – make sure you are able to view the feeders from your window in your home so that you will get many hours of enjoyment from your feathered friends!
HOW TO
Attract Birds To Your Home
To guarantee that the birds will be attracted to your backyard there are some fairly simple things that you can do. Birds need food, water and they like to have shelter as well.
Water
Water will probably be the first thing that will attract birds to your yard. A shallow non-slippery birdbath will entice birds to come for a drink or a bath. Any shallow container will do. It might be helpful to know that birds are attracted to the sound of dripping or running water. If you can arrange to have a tap dripping into your bath, you will attract even more birds. Birds also like having a perch at the birdbath so they can sit and preen while they are digesting their food.
Food
In a feeder, either hang or secure to a post or some other solid object will help to keep them there. Some birds prefer a secured feeder to one that is suspended. The best part about having a feeder, though, is knowing that you are helping the birds survive the fall and winter. Putting out seeds, bread, suet, nuts, and other treats might even encourage some birds to nest near your home in the spring. The fall and winter are the most important times of the year to stock your feeder. Although many birds migrate south to find new feeding sites, some will stay if they can find enough food.
If you put your feeder near a window, hang a mobile or wind chime close by so that it breaks up the reflection. Clean the feeder regularly and throw away bad seeds so that visiting birds will not get sick. Whether you decide to make or buy a feeder, remember that the birds that you feed will come to depend on the food you leave so it is important to keep your feeder well supplied!
How To Make a DIY Bird Feeder
People have been making new bird feeder designs for centuries. There are fancy feeders with built in water bottles and food trays. There are also simple feeders made out of milk cartons and coconuts. You may want to build one of the following:
- Secure a glass jar in the fork of a tree and fill it with seeds.
- Fill an empty coconut half with seed and hang it from a tree. You can also turn it upside down and fill it with bird cake. Chickadees will love your coconut bell.
- Cut four triangular holes in the bottom of a large milk carton. Wooden meat skewers or chopsticks poked through the can serve as perches.
- Press bird cake all over a pine cone and then hang it from a nearby tree.
- Fill an old onion bag with suet or bird cake and hang it outside.
- Sharpen a small tree branch and then stick a cob of corn onto its end.
- String peanuts in their shells and hang them around trees for chickadees to enjoy.
- Put suet or bird cake in a clean soap dish and strap it to a tree.
- Put some seeds into an old stump hole to make a superb feeding station.
Last but definitely not least – make sure you are able to view the feeders from your window in your home so that you will get many hours of enjoyment from your feathered friends!
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