Talkback: Feeding garden birds

Good advice, Kate. And it's not just bird feeders that must be kept clean, but bird baths too. Possibly it's even more important to keep bird baths clean, and I scrub mine every month.

I've also recently emptied out a bird nest box, and sterilised it with boiling water.
It doesn't take long, and is time well spent if it helps keep my garden bird population healthy.

Hi Kate,I think the bird's Know it's Big Bird watch Day again as last year we have had very little bird activity in the garden.

Very good advice, Kate, but it isn't always practical to move the feeders, especially in a small garden. I move mine back and forth about 1½m but I'm not sure that's far enough to make much difference. I'm considering regularly removing the top layer of soil (with grass, weeds and sprouted seeds!) and replacing with soil from elsewhere, or putting paving slabs under the feeders that I can clean.