Warning to anyone with robins in garden in January

Households across the UK are being urged to feed robins in their garden in January to ensure the birds have access to food this winter.

The red-breasted birds don’t hibernate during the colder months but instead move around in response to changing weather and their access to food.

Food is of utmost importance during winter for robins as their usual snack of live insects and worms may be harder to access, or could be frozen, so it’s key that gardeners help them get sustenance where they can.

Robins are natural ground feeders so putting out food for them on ground feeding trays, or bird tables, is ideal as it’s an easy place for them to sit and eat.

Gardening Know How says: “Setting up food stations benefits robins as well as any other birds that stay during the cold season. Food is more important right now than anything else for robins, as it helps fuel their metabolism and keep them warm while building fat storage.

“Robins will feed on any berries that remain on bushes and vines. When they can get them, robins will snack on insects and worms. Standard bird seed does not seem to attract them, as these birds prefer a varietal diet of live insects and fruit. Placing fruit outdoors will help sustain robins but may attract other animals. Put any offerings up high where only the birds can access the snacks.

“Outside of providing fruit and nesting space, keep fresh, unfrozen water available. They like to bathe frequently. In extreme cold, there are heated units to put in the birdbath. The water will remain liquid and at a temperature that delights the birds.”

The Woodland Trust recommends offering robins a mixture of bird seed, sunflower hearts and dried mealworms in water, as this gives them some valuable moisture from the food.

They also love to feed on fruits like berries, sliced apples and raisins, so it’s worth putting some of these out too, but try and keep these higher up – like on a bird table – where only birds can access the food, as fruits can attract other animals into your garden.

Gardeners using a bird table to feed robins are also warned to ensure the table is regularly cleaned and moved around the garden often to avoid any contamination build up, as this can lead to Trichomonosis – a contagious disease that affects the upper digestive tract of birds.

The disease is transmitted via the saliva of infected birds, meaning it can be picked up from food that has been dropped or regurgitated.

Food should be removed from bird tables if it gets wet as damp food is susceptible to mould and bacteria, which can cause birds to fall ill. As such, using a covered bird table is a safer option as food is kept dry and smaller birds, like robins, are better protected from predators.

Lucy Taylor, bird expert for Vine House Farm, warns: “Providing garden birds with food on bird tables, ground trays and other small and confined flat surfaces, does carry a particular risk to the health of birds because of the increased chance of disease transmission. 

“This is because the disease Tricomonosis – which especially affects Greenfinches and Chaffinches – can more easily be transmitted when an infected bird drops food onto the flat surface, which another bird then picks up. 

“The other main problem is bacteria from decaying food and waste from seed husks which builds up on a flat surface, potentially leading to Salmonella – which again can be fatal to birds.”