Handy Bird Sites, Tips and Tails
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
*GENERAL BIRD INTEREST*
BBC Birds
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/birds/
*BIRD FOOD, FEEDER, ACCESSORY AND INFORMATION SUPPLIERS*
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
http://www.rspb.co.uk/rspb.asp
(Look under "Shopping and Services")
CJ Wild Bird Foods
http://www.birdfood.co.uk/
Ernest Charles Bird Food and Wildlife Care
Sorry, can't tell your the url because the moderators have decided to hide it. Ernest Charles and Haiths are about the cheapest bird food suppliers. You'll have to use a search engine to find this one though.
Garden Bird Food and Feeders
http://www.gardenbird.com/home.html
Haiths Bird Foods
http://www.haiths.com/setup.html
Vine House Bird Foods
http://www.vinehousefarmbirdfoods.co.uk/
*A RECIPE TO USE UP PEANUTS THAT ARE STILL TOO GOOD TO THROW AWAY*
This is a recipe for a bird pudding (one they eat, not one they're in). If you put out peanut feeders for the birds, it's important not to leave them to moulder. After 2 to 3 weeks, if they haven't all been eaten, those left should be removed and replaced with fresh peanuts. What a waste! ....But not if you can feed your garden birds on tables or on the ground (ie, you don't have a cat). This is what I do with my old nuts, if they haven't gone mouldy, of course.
In a 1 pint (or half litre) pudding basin, place 200 ml water, 6 heaped dessert spoons of plain flour, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (sunflower's good), 1 to 3 ounces of ground peanuts (from feeders). You can also put in rice, barley or other cereal (after boiling until soft if in grain form), sultanas, raisins, chopped figs etc - whatever you have hanging around the kitchen that might seem suitable for birdies.
Pour water into pudding basin, add flour, mix in, add oil, mix in. Consistency should be similar to a soft cake mix. Add more water if necessary. Add ground up nuts and mix. Add in any additional ingredients until you can't get any more in the basin. When everything is mixed in thoroughly, place in a microwave cooker and cook for about 6 minutes. Leave to cool, turn out onto a plate and serve.
I used to put the whole pud out to start with. Every day it disappeared completely, indicating to me that it was a big hit with the birds. Then, at the weekend, I was able to watch what actually happened to it. The birds flocked in and pecked at it, then a squirrel came along and tried to hijack it. It was about as big as he was at this stage. He staggered a few inches with it. Gave up exhausted and settled down to nibble at it for a while. Then he had another go. Got it a few inches further and gave up exhausted again. After a while he'd leave. The birds flocked in for another peck. A while later the squirrel would return and start his hopeless quest again. This would continue on and off for about 3 hours until the pud was half the size of the squirrel. At that stage, he was able to jump up onto a plant pot with it in his teeth - like a small dog with a huge Frisbee - but could get no further. The birds had another go, reducing it a bit more. Then he was able to get in up on to a table. The next stage was to try to jump up onto the fence with it and take it home for the kids. But he never got any further. He'd jump from the table with the pud in his mouth and drop it down the back of the table, mid-leap. When I looked, I found half a dozen stale half puddings behind the table. Now I crumble them up instead of serving them whole. The hedgehog likes them too. They never last very long.
*AN INCREDIBLY CHEAP RECIPE FULL OF CALORIES FOR THE WINTER*
Birds need some calorie-packed grub when the weather gets cold. This recipe is very simple and very cheap and it all gets eaten almost immediately I put it out. I use the supermarkets' own economy brand of plain white flour and sunflower oil for this. The flour costs about 9p for 1.5 kilos (3 lbs) and the oil is also very cheap. I mix it up in one of those big plastic tubs with a lid, that you get ice cream or margarine in, then just put portions of it out several times a day. So this is it:
Pour anywhere between a few fluid ounces and half a pint of sunflower oil into your container then mix in as much flour as you can manage, to get it to the consistency of pastry. Actually, it will probably be slightly softer than pastry if you make a lot, because if you make it really stiff, your wrist and elbow might start to ache ... unless you're lazy and use an electric mixer.
You can also mix in anything that needs to be used up or changed, like any of the bird food from your peanut or seed feeders that has been out for a week or so. Remember to grind up the peanuts though. Bread crumbs, fruit and anything else birds eat can be added. You don't need to add anything to it - just flour and oil "pastry", with or without the extra bits and pieces. The birds love it!
That's it. I expect it keeps for ages but mine never hangs about for more than a few days. You scoop it out with a big spoon, like ice cream and mould it into a ball, like plasticene. You can put it straight onto the bird table or hang it in a fat-ball basket (which you can buy for between £1 and £1.50 from most bird food suppliers - see links above). You can also crumble it up if you or your birds prefer it that way.
*WHITE HEADED DUCK DATA*
Oeonus, The Hellenic Ornithological Society magazine:
http://www.ornithologiki.gr/en/oiwnos/i8/enkefalu.htm
borealforest.org
http://www.borealforest.org/world/birds/white_headed_duck.htm
*CATS*
UK Information on Reducing Your Cat's Ability to Kill Wildlife
http://cats.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bluepet.co.uk%2FUJMvXVoEbXl%3DGW2H7SbRKgw%2Farticles%2Fcat8.html%3FthisSection%3D1
American Cats and Wildlife Conservation
http://cats.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tpwd.state.tx.us%2Fnature%2Fresearch%2Fcats_txwildlife.htm
Feral Cat Coalition
http://www.feralcat.com/
Effects of House Cat Predation on Native Wildlife
http://cats.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fmembers.tripod.com%2Fwildlifehaven%2Fcatfacts.htm
BBC Birds
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/birds/
*BIRD FOOD, FEEDER, ACCESSORY AND INFORMATION SUPPLIERS*
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
http://www.rspb.co.uk/rspb.asp
(Look under "Shopping and Services")
CJ Wild Bird Foods
http://www.birdfood.co.uk/
Ernest Charles Bird Food and Wildlife Care
Sorry, can't tell your the url because the moderators have decided to hide it. Ernest Charles and Haiths are about the cheapest bird food suppliers. You'll have to use a search engine to find this one though.
Garden Bird Food and Feeders
http://www.gardenbird.com/home.html
Haiths Bird Foods
http://www.haiths.com/setup.html
Vine House Bird Foods
http://www.vinehousefarmbirdfoods.co.uk/
*A RECIPE TO USE UP PEANUTS THAT ARE STILL TOO GOOD TO THROW AWAY*
This is a recipe for a bird pudding (one they eat, not one they're in). If you put out peanut feeders for the birds, it's important not to leave them to moulder. After 2 to 3 weeks, if they haven't all been eaten, those left should be removed and replaced with fresh peanuts. What a waste! ....But not if you can feed your garden birds on tables or on the ground (ie, you don't have a cat). This is what I do with my old nuts, if they haven't gone mouldy, of course.
In a 1 pint (or half litre) pudding basin, place 200 ml water, 6 heaped dessert spoons of plain flour, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (sunflower's good), 1 to 3 ounces of ground peanuts (from feeders). You can also put in rice, barley or other cereal (after boiling until soft if in grain form), sultanas, raisins, chopped figs etc - whatever you have hanging around the kitchen that might seem suitable for birdies.
Pour water into pudding basin, add flour, mix in, add oil, mix in. Consistency should be similar to a soft cake mix. Add more water if necessary. Add ground up nuts and mix. Add in any additional ingredients until you can't get any more in the basin. When everything is mixed in thoroughly, place in a microwave cooker and cook for about 6 minutes. Leave to cool, turn out onto a plate and serve.
I used to put the whole pud out to start with. Every day it disappeared completely, indicating to me that it was a big hit with the birds. Then, at the weekend, I was able to watch what actually happened to it. The birds flocked in and pecked at it, then a squirrel came along and tried to hijack it. It was about as big as he was at this stage. He staggered a few inches with it. Gave up exhausted and settled down to nibble at it for a while. Then he had another go. Got it a few inches further and gave up exhausted again. After a while he'd leave. The birds flocked in for another peck. A while later the squirrel would return and start his hopeless quest again. This would continue on and off for about 3 hours until the pud was half the size of the squirrel. At that stage, he was able to jump up onto a plant pot with it in his teeth - like a small dog with a huge Frisbee - but could get no further. The birds had another go, reducing it a bit more. Then he was able to get in up on to a table. The next stage was to try to jump up onto the fence with it and take it home for the kids. But he never got any further. He'd jump from the table with the pud in his mouth and drop it down the back of the table, mid-leap. When I looked, I found half a dozen stale half puddings behind the table. Now I crumble them up instead of serving them whole. The hedgehog likes them too. They never last very long.
*AN INCREDIBLY CHEAP RECIPE FULL OF CALORIES FOR THE WINTER*
Birds need some calorie-packed grub when the weather gets cold. This recipe is very simple and very cheap and it all gets eaten almost immediately I put it out. I use the supermarkets' own economy brand of plain white flour and sunflower oil for this. The flour costs about 9p for 1.5 kilos (3 lbs) and the oil is also very cheap. I mix it up in one of those big plastic tubs with a lid, that you get ice cream or margarine in, then just put portions of it out several times a day. So this is it:
Pour anywhere between a few fluid ounces and half a pint of sunflower oil into your container then mix in as much flour as you can manage, to get it to the consistency of pastry. Actually, it will probably be slightly softer than pastry if you make a lot, because if you make it really stiff, your wrist and elbow might start to ache ... unless you're lazy and use an electric mixer.
You can also mix in anything that needs to be used up or changed, like any of the bird food from your peanut or seed feeders that has been out for a week or so. Remember to grind up the peanuts though. Bread crumbs, fruit and anything else birds eat can be added. You don't need to add anything to it - just flour and oil "pastry", with or without the extra bits and pieces. The birds love it!
That's it. I expect it keeps for ages but mine never hangs about for more than a few days. You scoop it out with a big spoon, like ice cream and mould it into a ball, like plasticene. You can put it straight onto the bird table or hang it in a fat-ball basket (which you can buy for between £1 and £1.50 from most bird food suppliers - see links above). You can also crumble it up if you or your birds prefer it that way.
*WHITE HEADED DUCK DATA*
Oeonus, The Hellenic Ornithological Society magazine:
http://www.ornithologiki.gr/en/oiwnos/i8/enkefalu.htm
borealforest.org
http://www.borealforest.org/world/birds/white_headed_duck.htm
*CATS*
UK Information on Reducing Your Cat's Ability to Kill Wildlife
http://cats.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bluepet.co.uk%2FUJMvXVoEbXl%3DGW2H7SbRKgw%2Farticles%2Fcat8.html%3FthisSection%3D1
American Cats and Wildlife Conservation
http://cats.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tpwd.state.tx.us%2Fnature%2Fresearch%2Fcats_txwildlife.htm
Feral Cat Coalition
http://www.feralcat.com/
Effects of House Cat Predation on Native Wildlife
http://cats.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fmembers.tripod.com%2Fwildlifehaven%2Fcatfacts.htm
