What food is suitable for our garden birds....

[kezzer]

Hi,
Having read various posts on the forum about what people are feeding the birds I have found posts where unfortunately folk are feeding the wrong food.
I have therefor added a couple of paras below from the RSBP and two links ...
One giving advice on what is best to feed during the seasons and another of what to feed and what not to feed.
I realise this is covered in different threads (one author is Picadae) and various posts already, I just thought at this time of year it would be good to have a thread near the top of the forum which contains links to some very good info. There seems to be alot of people just starting out feeding the birds because of the bad weather this year.

Here we go........when to feed......
The RSPB: Advice: When to feed wild birds
What to feed........
The RSPB: Advice

I think this info is especially good at this time of year, especially as there seems to be people asking how to make fat balls/bird cake....
Cooking fat
Fat from cooking is bad for birds. The problem with cooked fat from roasting tins and dishes is that the meat juices have blended with the fat and when allowed to set, this consistency makes it prone to smearing, not good for birds' feathers. It is a breeding ground for bacteria, so potentially bad for birds' health. Salt levels depend on what meat is used and if any salt is added during cooking.

Lard and beef suet on their own are fine as they re-solidify after warming and as they are pure fat, it is not as suitable for bacteria to breed on.

Polyunsaturated margarines or vegetable oils
These are unsuitable for birds. Unlike humans, birds need high levels of saturated fat, such as raw suet and lard. They need the high energy content to keep warm in the worst of the winter weather, since their body reserves are quickly used up, particularly on cold winter nights. The soft fats can easily be smeared onto the feathers, destroying the waterproofing and insulating qualities.