Starling J.Lansbury

This time of year is tough for birds. Every day the birds in our gardens have to find enough food to fuel them over night – birds have high body temperatures of around 40oC so to sustain this requires a lot of energy. The simple fact is if a bird finds enough food it will live, if not it will starve before dawn.
Putting out tasty treats like fatballs and seedmixes in birdfeeders or on bird tables can provide birds with the fuel they need to survive the cold. It’s important to buy approved products from organisations like the RSPB, but there are plenty of other ways you can give them a meal without spending anything extra.
Household scraps are a goldmine when it comes to feeding birds. Just as we might prefer fish and chips to Mexican, birds have their own favourite foods too. Blackbirds and wrens are partial to a bit of grated cheese, whereas blue tits go potty over scraps of unsalted bacon.

Next is shelter. Putting up a nest box is a good start. You may find that birds won’t instantly use the box, but leave it there long enough and you could find some visitors huddling together to keep warm. (An incredible 63 wrens were once found in a single nest box!) The added benefit of this is that, come breeding season, a local bird may choose your nestbox as its new family home.
Your garden can also provide plenty of natural food and shelter, depending on how you manage it. This can be as simple as leaving a patch of grass long to attract insects for birds like house sparrows to eat, a species that has declined by a staggering two thirds since 1979.
Unfortunately, it’s not only the house sparrow that has declined; the average number of birds seen in gardens has dropped by a fifth since 2004.
That’s why, in October 2007, the RSPB launched Homes for Wildlife, which provides free, tailor-made advice on what you can do with your garden to help the wildlife around you.
And it’s not for garden-owners only. If you live in a flat why not put up a window feeder or plant up a window box with nectaring plants? If you have a courtyard garden, putting up a bird table or encouraging climbing plants to grow up your walls will help.
A key factor in discovering these declines has been the information gained via the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch (BGBW) survey. Now officially the world’s biggest wildlife survey, BGBW celebrates its 30th birthday this year. Without it, which birds are doing well and which are struggling would be a lot less clear.

R. Kennedy

Their findings helped reveal that, just like the house sparrow, the starling is also showing massive declines. You may see huge flocks of them swirling and dancing around Brighton and Eastbourne pier at this time of year, but the species on the whole is in trouble.
Thanks to the BGBW we also know that numbers have plummeted over the past 30 years from 15 per garden to an average of 3.44, a decline of 77 per cent. The well-loved song thrush has also been a casualty. A prominent figure in the 1979 BGBW top 10, it now isn’t seen in the top 20. In the last 30 years, song thrush numbers have declined by almost two thirds.
Because of what we’ve learnt from the survey, several studies are underway to identify how we can help these birds recover. It’s a fantastic example of people power in action.
BGBW is a great way to contribute to a significant piece of wildlife research without even having to leave the comfort of your home. You really don’t need to be an expert to take part. Whether you're young or old, an 'expert' or a beginner, there really is no better place to start than the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch. It’s simple, easy and anyone can do it – so sit back, relax, and get watching!

A. Howe