If you're really that concerned that what you are feeding to your garden birds is the equivalent of avian junkfood, then there are a few simple steps to take to ensure they eat healthily. Firstly, only buy types of bird food that is best suited to British birds. I replaced peanuts with sunflower seeds many years ago, and haven't noticed any drop in numbers at the feeding stations in my garden. Nyjer seed for goldfinches is ideal, as it mimicks wild thistle seed, their favourite food. I, too, am a bit concerned that the suet and lard in commercial fatballs may make them ill, but you could try replacing it with a vegetable equivalent (non-hydrated of course), or if you are lucky to have a local butcher that sells organic meat, then ask them for some suet. I make my own fatballs, and add pinhead oatmeal, raisins, hips and haws (collected earlier in the autumn), de-husked and chopped sunflower seeds, grated cheese, apple, plus anything else I think would be good for them to eat. I avoid putting out bread, as it can swell up in them, making them ill. Pastry, made from wholemeal flour, is good though. I would never give them pasta, cooked or dried. The best thing we gardeners can do is plant lots more native trees, shrubs and plants that not only provide cover and nesting places for the birds, but ones that also give crops of seeds and berries that they like to eat. Also, don't be too tidy in the garden, as this provides a huge larder of tasty edibles for insect foraging birds like wrens, and robins. Don't use conventional slug pellets to kill these pesky molluscs, try other wildlife friendly solutions, and you might find that your garden becoms a haven for thrushes too! Nothing like the glorious song of a thrush to cheer a world-weary heart.
