In an effort to get more people feeding the birds in their gardens, the
RSPB has designated Saturday October 25th as their 'Feed The Birds Day'.
Figure from the BTO showing the dramatic rise in goldfinches using gardens over the past 30 years.
Of course the idea is not just to feed the birds for one day, but to get more people involved in feeding birds throughout the year and especially in the winter. Evidence from long term garden studies like the
BTO's 'Garden Birdwatch' and 'Garden Bird Feeding Survey' indicate that feeding garden birds is having very significant effects on the long term security of several species. For example, over the last thirty years, goldfinches (
Carduelis carduelis) have learned to take advantage of newly developed garden bird food (e.g. niger and sunflower seeds): as a result they are now frequently encountered in gardens where they were once rather infrequent.
Check out the source links below for more details from the BTO and the RSPB. The RSPB are offering a free 'feed the birds pack'.
