'Early birds' find worms for dinner - BBC Nature

We've just spotted this really interesting article about the feeding habits of wild birds on the BBC website and thought it would be good to share with you ...

---

Birds, such as great and blue tits, search for food in the morning but only return to eat it in late afternoon, scientists have found. The team believe the behaviour maximises their chances of avoiding predators during the day without starving to death overnight. Researchers from the University of Oxford tracked the birds' winter foraging movements using tiny tags.

All five of the studied species of songbirds behaved in the same way. The results are published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.

"Our results are important because they provide a new hypothesis for how animals forage," said Damien Farine, lead author from the University of Oxford.

"They suggest that animals integrate the different risks they face into one strategy that can be applied to satisfy both their need to avoid predation and avoid risk."

Scientists have been studying bird populations at Wytham Woods, Oxfordshire, UK since 1947. Finding food becomes more and more relevant towards the end of the winter when large sources of food, such as beech mast, have become depleted. The team knew from previous studies that, when the predation risk appears high, birds delay putting on fat until late in the day.

"In the 1970s, when there were almost no sparrowhawks, tits used to be much fatter [in winter], which helped them avoid the risk of starvation.

"When sparrowhawks returned [in greater numbers], the average body weight of great tits, for example, decreased," Mr Farine told BBC Nature.

According to Mr Farine these birds had shifted from a strategy of being fat, to a strategy where they delayed putting on fat until late in the day.

... please follow this link to read the full article ...

Kennedy Wild Bird Foods has a wide range of food, seeds & nuts for domestic and wild birds as well as  cat and dog food.

Bird Watching for Beginners

A lot of birders have their first eye-opening experience with the avian world in their own back gardens - and usually from a young age. It could have been a robin nibbling on the berries on a frosty morning, a nuthatch visiting the feeder or a beautiful goldfinch singing on a warm Spring day. Whatever the species was, it opened the door to a wonderful world of wild birds. Most of us found soon after that while getting a handle on "garden" birds was pretty easy, the birds encountered further afield are another story.

Many are unfamiliar, only offer fleeting glimpses, or identification is elusive because they look just too much like several other species. When you are just starting out with birdwatching, identifying all of the birds you come across can seem to be overwhelming. However, before you decide to limit your birding to the confines of your garden, keep in mind that even seasoned experts run into birds that they can’t put a name to. Some birds will be a mystery but with practice, you should learn to identify most of the birds you see.

For better bird identification, try these suggestions:

• Study the field guide: Don’t just flip through your trusty field guide, take time to study it on a regular basis. Try learning how to recognize different bird families first before focusing on the species. This provides the framework needed for easier identification and makes it easier to learn about the differences between similar groups like hawks and falcons or ducks and grebes. Once you have a good handle on the bird families in your region, then you can start studying the species in each of those families.

• Field marks: This refers to the diagnostic characters that help identify birds at the species level. Instead of memorizing every tiny aspect of each species, just focus on learning the field marks to start. This saves time and greatly simplifies bird identification.

• Practice in the field: Whether watching birds in the garden or looking at waterfowl at a local reserve, see if you can place the species you see in their respective families and look for the field marks pointed out in the book. If you know which family an unfamiliar bird belongs to, identifying it may just be a question of matching it to a species in the field guide. Practicing also means learning how to use your binoculars better and learning how to look for field marks like eyerings, wing bars, and other common features.

• Take notes and make sketches: These practices might be the best way to learn how to identify birds because you are forced to truly study the birds you see. Start by writing down notes that detail what you see on the bird. For example, if you begin with the head of the bird, write about the shape of its bill, markings around the eye and on the face, the colors shown by the plumage, and so on for the back, wings, tail, and underparts. Next, try drawing a picture of the bird you see and attempt to copy its shape and the field marks that stand out. It might seem like a painstaking process but you will learn a lot about field identification!

What has been helpful to you in learning how to identify birds? Please share your stories in the comments of this blog or on our social media feeds - http://www.facebook.com/wildbirdfoods or http://www.twitter.com/wildbirdfoods

Kennedy Wild Bird Foods - Your Local Pet Food Store

At Kennedy Wild Bird Foods Ltd we understand that our customers need value for money and shop around for bargains - whether that is online or locally.

In fact, we don't just understand, we welcome & encourage it because we are confident that we can't be beaten on our knowledge, our prices or our friendly customer service.

We've thought of a few reasons why we don't think you'll find a better local supplier of wild bird food and pet food ....

• We're a family run business with over 25 years experience in buying and selling wild bird and domestic pet food.
• We have the widest selection of general pet foods in The Deepings & north of Peterborough.
• We stock over 25 varieties of dog food and cat food including many well known brands like IAMS, HILLS, BAKERS, PURINA & SALTERS.
• We also stock food for chickens and domestic/pet birds like parrots, canaries, budgies and parakeets.
• We have a large selection of accessories for your pets and your garden to attract wild birds.
• We specialise in the manufacture and sale of wild bird food.
• We offer over 30 varieties of straight and blended seed mixes in bags ranging from 1kg up to 25kg - which offer fantastic value for money.
• Our retail prices the LOWEST in The Deepings and the surrounding area.
• We deliver anywhere in the UK - most areas are next day delivery.

We'd love to see you either physically in our store in Deeping St James, or virtually on our website ...

Kennedy Wild Bird Foods Ltd

The Warehouse

74 Station Rd

Deeping St James
Peterborough

PE6 8RQ

Mon to Fri : 08:00 till 17:00 & Sat : 09:00 till 15:00

Telephone: 01778 342665

Visit our website 24/7 at www.wildbirdfood.uk.com or email us at info@wildbirdfood.uk.com 

We look forward to seeing you very soon!

What's on the menu tonight?

When you go to a restaurant or open the kitchen cupboards you like to be presented with a choice of tasty, nutritious dishes to tempt your taste buds.

Well so do the wild birds that visit your garden. The size, age, species all have a baring on what your feathered friends like to eat.

In a recent article on the BBC website, Tim Harrison from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) said, "Basically, the thing you need to think about when providing different food for birds in your garden is that the reason why there are all these different species is because they all have slightly different requirements and they all have slightly different niches," explains Mr Harrison. "They all feed in slightly different ways and by doing that it means they're not in direct competition with each other."

Be careful when leaving kitchen scraps out - too much salt, sugar and other additives can be lethal to wild life. The graphic above gives an indication of the types of food different birds like to eat - from live mealworms for House Sparrows to Sunflower Hearts for Bullfinches - they all know what they like so you should take the time to study what types are visiting your garden and then lay on a spread that will keep them coming back.

Kennedy Wild Bird Foods sell a large range of bird seed and live food for all UK wild birds and we also have experts on hand to guide and assist you if you're not sure what you need - we're here to help.

Have a browse around our website (http://www.wildbirdfood.uk.com/acatalog/Bird_Section.html) and securely order online for next day UK delivery.

BTW - don't forget to leave plenty of fresh water in the shade during the hot summer months - your wild birds will need it for drinking & bathing in to keep themselves cool.

Bin It, Don't Kill It!

Bin It, Don't Kill It

Thousands of wild animals are needlessly killed every year by eating or being caught in our rubbish.

The RSPCA reports over 7,000 calls alone regarding litter-related injuries and deaths - and that is just the tip of the iceberg with many more going unnoticed or being reported directly to local vets.

Drinks cans, plastic bags, broken glass, tin cans etc can all be lethal death traps for unsuspecting, hungry wild animals hunting for scraps of food or drink. But it's not just household rubbish that creates often slow & painful deaths for our wildlife, chewing gum can be just as harmful.

Litter Kills Wildlife

From the sky, a piece of gum discarded on the pavement looks just like a tasty chunk of bread to our feathered friends but when the swallow it, the gum blocks their digestive system and prevents them from ingesting other nutrients or water and they will eventually die of dehydration and malnutrition.

This is entirely preventable by everyone - just take your rubbish home or dispose of it responsibly - it really is that simple.

At Kennedy Wild Bird Food we think there's no better site than seeing a wild bird using a bird feeder in a private garden or public park - why should they suffer and die because of our laziness?