CJ Wild bird Foods/David White
I doubt if there is a garden anywhere that does not have some bird life: even the barest town garden has a few house sparrows searching for crumbs. I can’t imagine a garden without birds. They may pull our crocuses to pieces in the spring and pinch our currants in the summer but they give us an immense amount of pleasure and are the most popular of our garden guests.
Robins, house sparrows and many other common garden birds are with us throughout the year, but we also get summer visitors from Africa. These are mostly insect-eaters, such as swallows, house martins and spotted flycatchers, making the most of our flies and midges. Residents and summer visitors may nest in our gardens if we provide the right vegetation or nest boxes, although most of the birds we see are just passing through.
We also get winter visitors, including fieldfares and redwings, from northern Europe. Although the birds are warm-blooded and have a good covering of feathers, they can’t survive the winter in the far north because they cannot find enough food under the snow or in the frozen ground. Along with our resident birds, they brighten any garden and appreciate the food we put out for them. Our gardens certainly would not be the same without them.