Garden enthusiasts across the UK are increasingly keen to welcome smaller avian visitors like the charming blue tit into their outdoor spaces. While many focus on the types of food offered, experts reveal that a straightforward, no-cost adjustment to how feeders are placed can make a significant difference in attracting these lively birds.
The Crucial Change: Feeder Positioning
According to advice from Love Garden Birds, the key to enticing blue tits lies not just in what you feed them, but where you hang your feeders. Their guidance emphasises that positioning is paramount for the safety and comfort of these small birds.
Hang your feeders away from fences and trees, as these are ideal perches for cats. Domestic cats are one of the main causes of blue tit mortality, the experts advise. This simple tweak helps create a safer feeding environment, encouraging blue tits to visit more frequently and spend longer in your garden.
Dietary Preferences of Blue Tits
Blue tits have specific dietary likes that gardeners can cater to. While blue tits enjoy a wide range of feed, they are particularly fond of suet balls and suet pellets, the guidance notes. These energy-rich foods are especially valuable during colder months.
These acrobatic birds are known for their lunchtime antics, so providing feeders they can grip onto while feeding—sometimes upside down—is beneficial. A mesh peanut feeder is ideal for them to scurry up and hop about on. Peanuts are also a great source of protein and are perhaps their second favourite food.
However, a word of caution: peanuts should not be left out during the nesting season, as adult blue tits may try to feed them to their chicks, which can be too large and difficult to digest. This ensures the wellbeing of both adult birds and their offspring.
Additional Methods to Attract Small Birds
Following discussions on platforms like Reddit, gardeners have shared further tried-and-tested techniques to make gardens more inviting to wildlife. One contributor highlighted the value of water features:
- As well as shrubs, a small pond can attract more birds and encourage them to stay longer.
- It doesn't have to be large—a shallow 'door wedge' shape works best, allowing birds to paddle and bathe while providing deeper water for insects and amphibians.
- If a pond isn't possible, a bird bath will also do the job. A small fountain can help too, as birds are attracted to the sound of running water. This is especially beneficial during winter, as it may be the only unfrozen water source available.
Plant selection also plays a vital role. Plants such as teasels and echinops are great. Not only do the flowers support insects in summer, but finches will feed on the seeds in autumn and winter.
Food and Habitat Enhancements
Another user added practical feeding tips: Feeding-wise, sunflower hearts are a great option, as many species love them. Blackbirds may also visit if you put out cut-up apples, and other species can be tempted too—I once had a fieldfare turn up on a snowy day for an apple.
To create a bird-friendly habitat, consider the following:
- Providing more plants for cover and berries is important, and if you grow plants that attract caterpillars, birds will follow to feed on them.
- Log and brush piles encourage insects, which in turn attract birds. The same applies to areas of longer grass or meadow patches.
- Thorny shrubs are ideal for nesting, and bird boxes can help if you have suitable locations.
- Try not to be too tidy in spring so birds can collect twigs, moss and grass for nesting.
- You can also put out natural fibres such as alpaca fleece for nesting material.
By combining the simple change of feeder positioning with these additional strategies, gardeners can transform their outdoor spaces into thriving havens for blue tits and other small birds, enriching the garden ecosystem throughout the year.
