Bird Feeding time

It’s now winter again in New Zealand and the little White eyes come to drink the sugar water that I put out. So here is the photo of these birds drinking it. The bird feeder hangs from the plum tree. These little blighters drink the whole lot within 3 hours or even less.

Sometimes I fill that twice a day. If its empty they help themselves to some other bird food. 

The little White eyes also love lard or dripping. Here it is in an old 2 litre milk bottle used for this purpose. The White eyes only eat lard in winter, they often eat the nectar from flowers. 

So winter only lasts until August and Spring begins in September. By September, there are blooms to eaten from. The Tuis also like sugar water, but convincing them to drink your sugar water in winter is another thing. 

A branch of the plum tree with bird visitors. They like to perch here. The cats also watch the birds eating and I do anything to discourage that. Birds are smart but not all of them survive the cats. I put out some crunchy winter leaves so that the birds hear the cats approaching. If I catch a cat, they get doused with cold water and go running.

The cats always turn up at my door step for food or attention and they get it. Most of the time. 

A small White Eye by a plate of bird food. The Sparrows also come here as the Greenfinches. 

The Greenfinches also like the wild bird food given to the Sparrows. Here is one going for the food in an old milk bottle.

These Sparrow are after bread or wild bird food.

I don’t use some conventional bird feeders for feeding Sparrows anymore, when I noticed one day that the Sparrow did not move. Its neck was caught in the feeder. My husband managed to prise it out, alive and it flew away in relief. So now I use milk bottles and carve out whats not needed and put my bird feed into that. No harm will happen to any bird that uses it. 

Well, here are these Sparrows lining up for the bird seed. Dont worry the bird is not allowed to stay eating the see for too long. Even the White Eyes do the same. Just like chickens, all birds have a definite pecking order and yes they do peck each other. 

This red bird nectar feeder is a safe bet, it is safe for the birds to drink nectar because they don’t have to put their heads under anything.