Below we’ve listed 5 birding myths that we’ve been told sometime in our lives that have been proven to be FALSE!
1) Feeding birds results in them not being able to fend for themselves – False
Some people worry that if you start feeding birds, you cannot stop, or the birds will starve. Birds have been taught by their parents how to fend for themselves. If you stop feeding the birds, they will find the food somewhere else.
By feeding birds we are actually replacing food sources that have been destroyed by development. Urbanisation results in birds losing nesting spots, shelter and natural food supply. So go ahead and feed them!
2) If you touch a baby bird its parents will abandon it – False
Guys, this is an old wife’s tale, please stop trying to hand rear baby birds because you believe the parents will reject them once you’ve picked them up. Birds actually do not have a very keen sense of smell, so they will not reject their chicks if your scent is on them.
Often when birds are on the ground their parents are busy feeding them whilst they are learning to fly and fend for themselves. If they have some feathers and can sort of fly, rather let them be. If there are predators around simply put the bird somewhere, in close proximity to where you found it, but away from the predator.
If there is a baby bird that is too young to fly (it does not have lots of
feathers) pick it up and look around for its nest. Its nest will often be close and you can simply put it back. Do not worry its parents will not reject it.
There are times when you find a baby bird with no parents or nest in sight with predators around. When this happens, keep the baby bird warm and contact a bird/animal rehabilitation centre, or contact us and we will refer you to one.
3) Only feed birds in winter – False
Although it is very important to feed birds in winter, because there is less food around, it is also good to feed them all year round. The longer you feed the more bird life you will attract.
4) Nectar mixes/ sugar water is unhealthy for the birds - False
Flowers that birds feed on contain three types of sugar, in varying amounts. Most
contain sucrose (table sugar) and some contain glucose and fructose as a mix (which are the monosaccharide sugars that make up sucrose). Birds have evolved to digest sugar in nectar, which are sucrose, glucose and fructose. So nectar mixes and sugar water is prefect for the birds. Honey, Bovril, Marmite, beef stock, or any other additives are far more complex and more difficult for birds to digest, so never put these out!
5) Over feeding the birds will kill them – False
We may over indulge ourselves at times :), but birds will stop eating once they are full. If you do not know how much food to put out, just wait and see if there is food wasted. Wasted food means too much has been put out.
So disregard the myths, and do not be discouraged about feeding birds. 
It’s a wonderful hobby that brings us lots of joy.
We hope you enjoyed our blog!
We would love to hear from you, if you have any questions please feel free to comment below or to email us.
Hi Dewald.
Rather do not use food colouring in your sugar water, it is not a natural additive. We do not use ANY forms of colouring in our nectar mix. The red lid is used to attract birds to our Nectar Feeder.
With regards to your next question, the answer is once again not so simple as there is very little reliable research on the subject. What we do know, however, is that only certain birds eat bread, these are typically your seed eating variety. There are two other factors to consider firstly is the state of the bread you are feeding them. Bread can easily become moldy, and certain bread molds can be toxic to birds. Keep it fresh and don’t feed too much at once, the leftovers may turn. Lastly, is that feeding birds a single item is not healthy for them (imagine how you would do on a diet of pure bread), so try to offer a variety of seeds along side the bread that you give them.
We hope this has helped answer your question :)
Can you use red food colouring in sugar water or is it bad for birds ?
Can you give birds standard white or brown shop bought bread or is it bad for them ?
Awaiting your reply.
Thank you.