Stephen Moss: Bird Feeding Tips

Feeding your garden or backyard birds is great fun, and we learn a lot, especially by using the Birdfy Feeder Camera. Here are some hints and tips on how to improve your experience!

Keep your Birdfy feeders well stocked up – all through the year

Birds need food all year round – but especially during the cold winter months, when snow and ice – combined with the very short days, especially the further north you live – may make it hard to find food. But they also need plenty of food during the breeding season, when the adults use up energy finding natural food for their hungry chicks. By providing a regular supply of food at this crucial time of year, you help the adults top up their energy levels and give them and their family a better chance of surviving. 

Use the right kinds of food

The quality of the food you provide is crucial. Cheap, low-quality food gives the birds less energy, so if you can buy high-energy products such as sunflower hearts, which have the advantage that they are less messy than the seeds themselves. Some suppliers sell kibbled sunflower hearts: which have been split into smaller pieces making it easier for smaller species to feed on them. Peanuts are, despite their popularity, not very good for birds, so try to avoid them.

Keep the feeders clean

Disease from old or mouldy food can spread easily through your backyard or garden bird population, so make sure you clean your Birdfy camera feeder regularly. Empty out any old or mouldy food, and give the feeder a good clean with ordinary detergent and hot water – then dry carefully before you refill.

Use the Bird Identification system on your Birdfy

It’s great to know which birds are visiting your feeder, so use the identification system to tell you which species they are. If you are still unsure, post your video footage or stills on the Facebook Netvue Birdfy Community page, and ask your fellow enthusiasts – they’ll almost always give you the right answer!

Add other things for the birds to nest and bathe

Once the birds come regularly to feed, it’s a good idea to provide more attractions for them. A bird bath is great – allowing them to drink and bathe – and Netvue will soon be launching our own product with a built-in camera! And for breeding birds, we already have Birdfy Nest – a birdbox with a built-in camera, which allows you to see inside the family home!

Watch the birds and study their behaviour

After you’ve used your Birdfy for a while, you’ll start to notice that different species behave in very different ways. Some are shy, others brash and confident; some defer to others, while some hold their own. If you want to learn more, there are several books available that tell you all about what the birds’ behaviour really means.

Keep a Garden or Backyard Bird Diary

To help you recall what the birds were doing – and which birds come to your Birdfy feeder, and when – keep a diary. This doesn’t need to be time-consuming – even just writing down which species you see on which dates is a good start. But as you go on, try to add more detailed information: how many of each species, what time do they visit, are there males and females, and youngsters?  This will build up into a really valuable document which you will enjoy re-reading in years to come.

Share your observations – and your joy!

Post your video clips and stills – and comments – onto the web – Facebook is a good place to start, but other social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter (now X) and TikTok are also great places to share your enthusiasm for and love of birds with others – creating a really special community of like-minded enthusiasts and bird-lovers!

Get yourself a second (or third!) Birdfy feeder

Why stop at one Birdfy camera feeder?! The Birdfy app allows you to add as many as you want – either at your own home or at those of your friends and relatives.

Give a Birdfy feeder camera to someone else!

And if you enjoy Birdfy, share the fun – buy one as a present for a friend or family member!