How to attract birds to your Garden

The natural (indigenous trees and bushes) versus artificial foods (foods you provide on a feeder) debate has been raging for years. Although the responsible use of "artificial" foods will not harm birds, the provision of more natural foods is the preferred way of feeding the birds in your garden.

Ask a horticulturist at any of our three Stodels branches for advice when selecting indigenous plants to attract birds to your garden. Our nurseries have special sections dedicated to indigenous plants and information indicating what sort of birds are attracted to the plant in question.

Despite indigenous plants being the preferred choice for feeding garden birds, providing them with apples, bananas and bone meal on a bird feeder is a fun part of gardening. You can keep your bird feeder very simple or you can decide to build or buy a feeder with lots of gadgets that may fit into the theme of your garden. Stodels has a wide selection of bird feeders available and we stock the very popular Nature’s Feast range too.

Special feeders that provide "nectar" for sunbirds, in the form of sugar water, are also available. It is preferable to try to incorporate plants that have nectar-carrying flowers. However, it is interesting to see how the sunbirds feed on sugar water and other bird species may also rely on this food source.

The placement of your feeder is very important. Place the feeder within easy reach of the birds and where they will feel secure. If you have cats or dogs, try to place the feeder in an area where they cannot attack or chase the birds away. Also make sure that, if they do have to flee, there is a hiding place, like a tree, in the vicinity.