FAQ's

In order to gain understanding of what birds eat and why, it’s important to know their lifecycle and purpose. The role of an adult bird is to survive and breed, and this greatly influences their diet. Learn more about how birds eat for energy, weight gain for warmth, and for successful breeding below.

Here at Birdkind, we believe in feeding birds, so naturally we should make a quick and short argument as to why you should too. But we know that feeding birds isn’t at the top of everyone’s to do, so we’ve included both sides of the argument. Is bird feeding for you? Find out below.

With both options beneficial for the birds in your garden, your choice comes down to your preference and experience when it comes to feeding birds. For novice feeders, we would advise choosing one of our mixtures that will attract and cater to a range of birds. For those of you who are more experienced when it comes to feeding birds, we would recommend trying some of our straights, depending on which birds you’re hoping to attract.

In autumn trees will begin to bear berries and many flowers begin to go to seed head so birds will gravitate towards these as a natural food source. However, they will also be turning their attention to establishing their winter-feeding grounds and will seek out fatty and oil rich seeds such as niger, peanuts and sunflower seeds.

In winter, natural food sources become scarce and our bird feeding regime becomes even more important. Birds need to survive winter to breed in spring, so they'll be stocking up on the fattiest foods to help them gain weight and stay warm. Niger seed, peanuts, suet, mealworms and black sunflower are full of fat and oils that birds need to thrive in colder temperatures. 

With berries and insects readily available, our bird feeding turns to supplementing birds natural diets with energy boosting foods to ensure successful breeding. Grains like white millet and pinhead oats provide slow release carbohydrates and sunflower seed and niger helps to give birds all the energy they'll need.

Although some birds may nest in spring, in summer there are still lots of little hungry beaks to feed - so mother bird will need all the energy she can get whilst foraging for her young. For males the aim is much the same, as they will still be searching for the opportunity to breed - up to as late as the end of August. A high energy, high protein diet that is full of a range of grains, oats and seeds is essential to keep both healthy enough to fly, forage and nest.

The important thing to remember about bird feeding is that any food you provide for birds is supplementary to their natural diet. So anything extra is a 'top up'. This could worry you that you are overfeeding your birds, but luckily for us, birds are pretty clever when it comes to their eating habits and will tend to not overeat. They are in tune with how much food is required to see them through the day and will quickly learn what their bodies need to sustain their activities. So, the short answer is no, you’re not overfeeding your birds. For the full answer, read our blog below.

The most obvious tip is to keep an eye out on your feeders, when food gets low, you can refill it. Having a consistently full feeder will let your birds know that you are a reliable source for food, and they will note this down when they are next searching for food. But, if you notice that you aren't getting as many visitors it is beneficial to replace the food in your feeder once a week to keep it fresh.

The quick answer is yes. Any food we feed birds is supplementary to their natural diet, so there will always be food for them naturally or with half of the UK's households also feeding birds they will find an alternative top-up source. If cost is a concern or you find yourself unable to keep up with the routine for any reason but you want to continue feeding birds, you can still feed them your leftovers when using the RSPB'S comprehensive list of do's and don'ts. 

Bird feeders are excellent at providing our birds with a top up of all the foods they need to survive and thrive, but they can hinder their health if they aren’t cleaned properly. Wet bird food that has been left behind can cause harmful bacteria build up and can cause fatal diseases like Trichomonosis amongst others. Cleaning your bird feeder is simple - follow our steps in the guide below.

You may think that the best place for your feeder is where you can see all the action happening, but there are some things you need to keep in mind when placing your feeder to make sure it is a resounding success. You should consider; keeping it out of direct sunlight and winds, in an open space so birds can keep an eye out for predators, and consider having more than one feeding area in your garden.

Bird feeders and tables are available in all different shapes, sizes, and styles. But they all have the same end goal, and that is to provide nutritious food for birds. Understanding the difference between the two feeding options and some of their features will better help you to understand which feeding solution will work best for you and your garden visitors.

You should aim to clean your bird feeder once a week to prevent harmful bacteria and diseases from spreading. Follow our guide on How to clean you bird feeder below.

You should fill your water feeder up with fresh water daily. 

Bird homes can harbour lots of parasites and bacteria that can linger long after your nesting family have gone, and if you want it to be reused again and again – it’ll need to be given a thorough clean. Find out how by using our step by step guide below.

When deciding to purchase a bird house, you’ll probably have an idea in mind of where you would like to put it in your garden. However, if you want to make sure birds will nest and make use of your bird house, we have a few helpful tips on where is best to put it below.

You should aim to clean your bird home every nesting season. Most bird nests will begin to empty by September onwards, so use this as your marker for cleaning. If you come across any eggs that haven’t hatched, you are permitted by law to remove them and dispose of them from the 1st of September to 31st of January. Do not remove them before or after these times. In Scotland the window to do this is slightly longer, between August and January. 

Our bird food contains a moreish mix of seeds, nuts, fruits and grains to ensure your visitors are getting a balanced blend of all the nutrients they need to survive and thrive. As they are filler free, you can be sure that the birds in your garden aren't missing out on any important foods they may need. Each of our mixtures contain husked and huskless seeds so you can attract birds big and small. All of our mixtures and ingredients have been reviewed and approved by independent ornithology experts, and we plan to continue working with them to always make sure we’re providing the best bird foods possible.

The reality of storing, packaging heavy products and delivering them to our customers in good condition using environmentally friendly materials has been one of our toughest tasks to navigate. For now, our bird food is poured and sealed into heavy duty bags that are made using recycled plastic materials and can also be recycled. These products are then packaged in recyclable boxes.

We aim to send all of our products out with as little packaging as possible, whilst keeping the product in good condition.

We continue to research better ways to package and send out our products, in a way that will benefit both the environment and our customers and welcome any of your feedback on how best to do this, drop us an email to chirp@bebirdkind.com.

All of our bird food products have an expiry date on the bag. When unopened, our bird food is good for up to 12 months. When opened, we advise that you use the product within 6 months.

Once the bag has been opened, transfer the remaining feed to an airtight container and store in a dry and cool environment and out of direct sunlight. 

Our non-food products come from high grade suppliers with a long-standing reputation for quality. At present, our non-food products such as bird feeders, homes and accessories come from Jacobi Jayne and Tom Chambers.

Our selection of Jacobi Jayne products come with Lifetime and Two Year Guarantees and our Tom Chambers collection is handcrafted in the UK from FSC wood.

Most of our food products contain nuts or traces of nuts and are made in an environment that handles nuts. Because of this, we do not recommend that you handle any of our bird food products if you have a nut allergy.