Attracting colorful birds to your garden can be a rewarding experience. Birds like goldfinches, blue tits, robins, and bullfinches add beauty and interest to any outdoor space. Choosing the right food is key to attracting a diversity of bird species. The type of food, how and where you position feeders, and adding water can all help create an enticing environment for garden birds. This article explores the best bird food options to attract the most colorful species to your garden in the UK.
What Birds are Found in UK Gardens?
The UK is home to a wonderful variety of garden birds. According to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), some of the most common species spotted in UK gardens include:
- Blue tit
- Great tit
- Coal tit
- Long tailed tit
- Robin
- Wren
- Dunnock
- Blackbird
- Song thrush
- Mistle thrush
- Goldfinch
- Greenfinch
- Chaffinch
- Bullfinch
- House sparrow
- Starling
- Woodpigeon
- Collared dove
- Magpie
- Jackdaw
- Jay
- Great spotted woodpecker
The most colorful and eye-catching birds commonly seen in UK gardens include:
- Goldfinch – Red face and yellow wing patches
- Greenfinch – Green and yellow plumage
- Bullfinch – Pinkish-red breast and grey back
- Robin – Red breast
- Blue tit – Blue, yellow, white and green plumage
- Great tit – Yellow and green with a black head
- Long tailed tit – Pinkish body with a black and white head
- Jay – Pink body with black and white wings and tail
Attracting these colorful bird species requires providing the right foods and feeding habitats.
What Foods Do Colorful Garden Birds Enjoy?
To attract the most colorful bird species, offering a variety of foods is important:
Seed Mixes
Premium seed mixes attract a diversity of birds. Look for mixes that contain:
- Black sunflower seeds – Popular with finches, tits, greenfinches
- Nyjer seeds – A favorite of goldfinches
- Millet – Enjoyed by sparrows, dunnocks, finches
- Cracked corn – Robins, thrushes, doves, pigeons
- Peanuts – Taken by tits, greenfinches, house sparrows
Avoid cheap mixes with filler grains that birds do not favor.
Suet Products
Insect-eating birds relish suet products. Opt for suet:
- Cakes – Used in mesh feeders
- Pellets – Easy for small birds to eat
- Blocks – Hang or place in wire cages
- Nuggets – Popular in ground feeding trays
Look for suet with added mealworms, fruit, or seed. Avoid suet in summer as it can turn rancid.
Mealworms
Live and dried mealworms are irresistible for robins, wrens, thrushes, tits, and finches. Black sunflower seeds and mealworms are a great combination for attracting colorful bird species.
Fruit
Chopped apples, grapes, raisins, currants, and berries will draw in blackbirds, thrushes, robins, and bullfinches.
Peanut Butter
All birds love peanut butter. Use 100% natural peanut butter without salt or sugar. Peanut butter and bird seed pine cones are a fun homemade treat.
Nuts
Chopped nuts add protein and oils. Hazelnuts, almonds, and cashews are nutritious additions to homemade bird treats.
Avoid desiccated coconut which can swell up in birds’ throats.
Best Feeders to Use
Using a variety of feeder styles and positions attracts different bird behaviors and species:
Tube Feeders
Tube feeders with perches are excellent for smaller birds like finches, tits, and sparrows. Use tube feeders to offer:
- Nyjer seed
- Sunflower hearts
- Peanuts
- Suet pellets
- Mealworms
Hang tube feeders from trees, posts, walls, orPORCHES. Place multiple tube feeders together to reduce squabbles.
Ground Feeding
Ground feeding attracts thrushes, robins, dunnocks, and collared doves. Place foods directly on the ground or use:
- Platform feeders
- Ground trays
- Suet cages
Offer sunflower hearts, millet, cracked corn, chopped fruit, mealworms and suet nuggets on the ground. Position ground feeding stations out of reach of cats.
Table Feeders
Table feeders have a large platform design suitable for all bird sizes. Use table feeders to serve:
- Mixed seed
- Peanuts
- Suet blocks
- Chopped nuts
- Chopped fruit
Situate table feeders at a comfortable height for easy viewing.
Mesh Feeders
Mesh cage feeders hold:
- Suet blocks
- Peanut cakes
- Coconut halves
The cage allows birds like woodpeckers and starlings to cling while feeding.
Niger Seed Feeders
Special Niger seed feeders have small ports perfect for tiny nyjer seed. Position Niger seed feeders at a height for goldfinches. Add perches for easy access.
Further Tips for Attracting Colorful Birds
Location
Place feeders where birds have shelter and perches but can see predators. Near hedges, trees and shrubs is ideal.
Hygiene
Keep feeders clean to prevent disease. Disinfect and scrub feeders monthly.
Water
Add a bird bath, pond, or water dish. Position water sources near foliage for safety. Moving water from drippers or fountains will entice more birds.
Variety
Try different foods until you find favorites. Rotate foods to provide variety.
Safety
Locate feeders away from windows. Use feeders with weight or suction cups to prevent crashes.
Patience
It can take weeks for birds to find new feeders. Be patient! They will come.
Best Bird Food by Species
This table summarizes the best bird foods to attract popular colorful garden birds:
Bird Species | Best Foods to Offer |
---|---|
Robin | Mealworms, sunflower hearts, chopped fruit, suet |
Blackbird | Chopped fruit, sunflower seeds, mealworms |
Song thrush | Crushed nuts, chopped fruit, mealworms, sunflower hearts |
Mistle thrush | Dried fruit, suet, sunflower seeds |
Wren | Mealworms, peanut granules, suet |
Dunnock | Sunflower hearts, mealworms, seed mix |
Goldfinch | Nyjer seed, sunflower hearts |
Greenfinch | Black sunflower seeds, mixed seeds |
Chaffinch | Sunflower seeds, peanut granules, mixed seeds |
Bullfinch | Sunflower hearts, crushed nuts, suet, mixed seeds |
Blue tit | Peanut granules, suet, sunflower seeds, mealworms |
Coal tit | Peanut granules, suet pellets, sunflower seeds |
Great tit | Peanut cake, black sunflower seeds, suet |
Long tailed tit | Suet, peanut granules |
Conclusion
Providing a nutritious and diverse selection of foods will attract a colorful array of bird species to your garden. Favorites like black sunflower seeds, peanut granules, suet, chopped fruit, and mealworms will entice gorgeous birds like robins, finches, and tits. Use different feeder types and positions around your garden to cater to different feeding behaviors. Bird feeding allows up close viewing and is a rewarding way to support local birdlife. With the right foods and feeders, you’ll be rewarded with a kaleidoscope of color and activity outside your window.