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How to attract birds to your garden, even if you have pets

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Most pet owners have a general love for all animals, so it’s fairly common to hear the question: how can I attract birds to my garden, even if I have pets at home? In this article, we’ll address how to have your cake and eat it too!

Wild bird food and fresh water

As with any wild creature, they’ll be attracted to a location where they can find food and water. And if you want to attract a variety of birds, it means dishing up a varied buffet of food types to suit a range of feathered friends. Fortunately, bird seed comes in different formats, including wild bird seed, but wild birds also love fresh fruit, nuts and suet balls to meet their nutritional needs.

Aside from a food source, wild birds also need a source of fresh water. A bird bath or bird fountain will not only provide wild birds with a source of water to drink, but can provide a wonderful place for them to clean and preen, which is a real treat to watch from the living room window.

Tip: Hang bird feeders away from the bird bath to avoid the water getting fouled up from stray seed and food. 

Safety before seeds

If you want to attract wild birds to your garden, they’ll need more than just fresh seed, suet, fruit and water. They will also need to feel safe – this is first and foremost. Any birds that forage or feed on the ground are easy prey for outdoor cats and dogs with a chase instinct. To mitigate any feathered fatalities, ensure that the bird feeders in your garden are suspended high up and inaccessible to pets. Another pet deterrent is the use of plants like aloes and other prickly/thorny shrubs under the feeders that will keep opportunistic pets away.

More is more

One bird feeder will just not do. A single feeder is bound to create a competitive environment for wild birds, which will either result in a single species dominating your garden or the bird seed being scattered all over the place by flapping feathers. Any bird seed that lands on the ground means sending birds to the ground to retrieve it who then become an easy target for pets in the garden. It’s best to have multiple feeders around the garden, or a so-called ‘feeding station’ where the feeders are in close proximity, but still far away enough to limit the competition.

Attract feathered friends with SingingFriend

To meet both of these requirements, SingingFriend’s feedR is a beautiful and practical garden bird feeder that can be attached to tree trunks or downpipes. It has a single opening that is well designed to prevent the bird seed from spilling out all over the place. It is also waterproof so seed stays dry and fresh. Its design means that you can suspend multiple feedRs around the garden and still retain a stylish and natural look.

Complement the feedR with the Multi feedR, which provides you with the perfect feeder in which to place suet balls, fruit and other food types that wild birds love. If you want to suspend a truly modern wild bird feeder from tree branches and poles, then try the SingingFriend Evie. Place peanut butter jars, sunflower seeds or pieces of fruit inside this versatile feeder.

But what about the pets?

Determine which part of the day is your garden’s busiest time. Often wild birds will favour bright and sunny mornings or early afternoons to meet their dietary needs. During this time, keep your cats indoors so that the birds can enjoy their feeding time without the threat of being hunted. Dogs can be distracted in another part of the garden with chase toys, or be kept busy indoors with treat toys and games that challenge their mental alertness. In this way, you keep your pets active and entertained while still ensuring that wild birds come back to your garden time and again.

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