Wildlife garden
Birds in winter: berries, food and water
In winter you help birds most with shrubs that hold their berries for a long time, such as hawthorn, rowan, holly, guelder rose and ivy, with seed heads left standing and, in frost or snow, with some extra food and fresh water.
What to do
- Plant shrubs whose berries ripen one after another: rowan, elder and dogwood in late summer, hawthorn, guelder rose and dog rose in autumn, holly and ivy in winter.
- Leave faded plants such as teasel, brown knapweed and greater knapweed standing: goldfinches and tits eat the seeds.
- In frost and snow, put out sunflower hearts, mixed seed or fat balls without a net, high enough and away from cover where cats can hide.
- Put out a shallow dish of fresh water and change it every day when it freezes. Never add salt or antifreeze.
- Keep feeding stations clean and move them from time to time, so diseases are not passed between birds.
- At the end of January, spend an hour counting the birds in your garden.
Caution: Don’t give bread, salty food or spicy leftovers: they are bad for birds.
Why it helps
- In winter the days are short and the nights cold: a great tit has to eat about a third of its body weight every day to get through the night.
- The berries of native shrubs ripen one after another, from rowan in August to ivy in late winter, and keep thrushes, blackbirds and starlings in your garden for months.
Which plants?
- Rowan Sorbus aucuparia Broadleaf tree · flowers May Native
- Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna Broadleaf tree · flowers May Native
- Guelder rose Viburnum opulus Shrub · flowers May–June Native
- Holly Ilex aquifolium Broadleaf tree · flowers May NativePoisonous
- Common ivy Hedera helix Climber · flowers September–November NativePoisonous
- Elder Sambucus nigra Shrub · flowers May–June Native
- Blackthorn Prunus spinosa Shrub · flowers March–April Native
- Dog rose Rosa canina Shrub · flowers June Native
- Common dogwood Cornus sanguinea Shrub · flowers May–June Native
- Wild privet Ligustrum vulgare Shrub · flowers June–July NativePoisonous
- Alder buckthorn Frangula alnus Shrub · flowers May–August NativePoisonous
- Sea buckthorn Hippophae rhamnoides Shrub · flowers March–April Native
- Yew Taxus baccata Conifer NativePoisonous
- Wild teasel Dipsacus fullonum annual · flowers July–August Native
- Greater knapweed Centaurea scabiosa perennial · flowers June–September Native
When?
October–February.
Garden jobs in JanuaryGarden jobs in FebruaryGarden jobs in OctoberGarden jobs in NovemberGarden jobs in December
Take up the challenge
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Count the birds (January–February)
Count the birds in your garden for an hour, as in the bird count weekend at the end of January. Note what you saw. -
Leave the leaves (October–November)
Leave leaves under shrubs or make a leaf pile: a winter shelter for hedgehogs and insects.
Did you know? Robins sing in winter too: males and females then each defend a territory of their own.