Garden structures – bird table location

Most of us like to have birds visiting the garden. By choosing the right location you can double your pleasure and also keep your feathered visitors save from predators.

Put your bird table in the open and away from cover where cats may hide to ambush the visitors. A free standing table on an area of lawn is ideal. Equally avoid putting a bird table near doors or windows at first. Too much movement is likely to put visitors off – as your garden becomes more popular with birds, you can bring planters closer to the house until you actually have feeders on the windowsill, if that is what you want. The rule is - watch what the birds do and move the food to where they want it.

An instant bird table can be made by propping a rough log clear of the ground and smearing it with hard cheese. Ideally take a lump of cheddar and use it like a plane by rubbing the cheese along the log's rough side, allowing surface fissures and bumps to trap the cheese. This works well for small birds but remember, squirrels will find it enticing too. Another trick involves old teasel heads stuck in the ground (pick wild teasels and tie them to a bamboo cane whilst wearing gloves). Sprinkle the heads with small seeds such as millet and sesame. The spines trap the seed and attract finches too. Don’t forget that seed falling to the ground will also be consumed by squirrels, mice or rats!

Don't forget water. Birds need to drink every day and also like to bathe. With the exception of pigeons and doves, which can drink like humans, all other birds have to dip their bills into water and then tip the head back to swallow. This means a bird bath or water bowl should be safe from predators as the birds cannot easily look around while drinking.

Garden bird table photograph by dicky85, used under a creative commons attribution licence.

 

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