The Birding Blog — The Birding Blog

We’ve had a lot of people ask us questions about nectar and nectar feeders. We’ve decided to write a post explaining everything we know about nectar. Our information is based on research done by Dr Mark Brown (an ornithologist who has studied nectar feeding birds and what makes up the natural nectar they feed on for well over 15 years), Elaine Reed (an avid birder and Owner of Elaine’s Birding and Wildlife Products), her personal experience and research of birds for over 20 years, and our own experience. Where to place the Nectar Feeder? To help the birds find your...

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...

There are so many ways to attract birds to your garden, we’ve summarised the 3 most important steps to follow in order to receive a feathery garden visitor: Step 1: Water - Guys birds LOVE water! It’s an absolute necessity. Get yourself a nice shallow bird bath, because not only do birds like to drink from a bird bath but they also like to bathe in it. Birds enjoy standing in the water and bathing, therefore the deepest I would say the bird bath should be is about 5cm in the middle. Ensure that you replace the water daily, as...

What is the importance of a bird’s feathers? It may seem like a simple question, I’m sure the first answer that comes to mind is, “feathers are there so they can fly….DUH,” but there is more than one reason why a birds feathers are very important. Below are 15 interesting facts about bird’s feathers: You guessed it, flying!  - Flight feathers are stiff and strong feathers found on a birds wings. Warmth - Have you ever seen a bird fluffing its feathers in the cold? Well, it’s not only incredibly cute, birds use downy feathers as well as semiplume feathers...

Many people have developed a passion for garden birding. We just love watching our little feathered friends fluttering about our gardens. However, caring for the wild birds is not solely for our enjoyment, due to the massive growth of urbanisation the birds are finding it harder and harder to find places to eat and nest. For this reason it is important to regularly place food and water for the birds and to put up nesting logs/boxes. Below we’ve discussed some important information about sisal nesting logs: What are sisal nesting logs made from? Sisal nesting logs are made from an Agava...