Why Robins and Blue Tits Choose Some Gardens

Robins and blue tits are two of the friendliest birds you can hope to see through a British kitchen window, yet they go about their lives in completely different ways. A robin is a ground bird at heart, hopping about beneath the hedge, turning over leaves and boldly following a spade around the borders. A blue tit is an acrobat, working the twigs at the top of the shrubbery and hanging upside down from a feeder without a second thought.

What both of them want is the same three things: reliable food, clean water, and somewhere safe to retreat to. A garden with a close-mown lawn, a single feeder and nothing else will get the occasional visitor. Add a shrub, a shallow dish of water and a little untidiness, and you will be surprised how quickly your plot becomes part of their daily round.

Feeders and Food That Actually Work

You do not need an expensive feeding station. Two or three well-chosen feeders will do far more good than a crowded pole of half-empty ones. Sunflower hearts are the single best all-round food, as they suit robins, blue tits, great tits and finches, and leave no husks to sprout beneath the feeder.

• Sunflower hearts — the everyday staple, taken by almost everything.
• Mealworms — dried, soaked for twenty minutes, or live. Robins adore them and will take them from a ground tray or bird table; blue tits will happily use a hanging tray.
• Peanuts — only ever buy peanuts sold for wild birds. Never offer salted or dry-roasted nuts, which can harm small birds. A mesh feeder lets blue tits chip off manageable pieces.
• Suet balls and pellets — excellent in cold weather. In summer, swap to insect-rich pellets that will not turn rancid in the heat.

Hang feeders roughly two metres from a hedge or dense shrub, so birds can dash for cover, but keep the approach open enough that a cat cannot creep up unseen. For windows, the safest placement is either within a metre of the glass or more than three metres away, which reduces the risk of a bird striking the pane as it flees.

Fresh Water Matters All Year Round

Water is the most overlooked part of garden bird care. Birds need it for drinking and for bathing, and a bath that is properly maintained will pull in birds that never touch your feeders. Keep it shallow — around two to four centimetres — with gently sloping or pebbled sides so nothing can drown.

• Refresh the water daily, and scrub the dish weekly with hot soapy water, rinsing thoroughly.
• Site the bath near cover but with a clear view, so birds can watch for cats.
• In winter, break the ice each morning and top up with warm water. Never add antifreeze or glycerine, and a floating ball will help keep a small hole open on the coldest nights.

In a hard frost, a reliable source of unfrozen water can be more valuable to your local birds than any amount of food.

Planting That Brings Birds In

Blue tits raise their broods almost entirely on caterpillars, so the most useful thing you can plant is anything that feeds insects. Oak, birch, willow, hawthorn and apple are all superb, and even a small crab apple will pull its weight. Ivy is worth its place too: it offers shelter, nesting sites and late nectar when little else is flowering.

For autumn and winter, choose plants with berries — rowan, holly, cotoneaster, pyracantha and honeysuckle. Leave seedheads on teasel, sunflower and nigella to stand through the winter rather than cutting everything back in October. A leaf pile, a small log stack and a patch of longer grass will all help, and a robin will happily nest in ivy or an open-fronted box tucked into a sheltered corner.

Safety, Hygiene and Nest Boxes

Feeding birds carries a responsibility to keep them well. Clean your feeders every couple of weeks with hot soapy water, rinse them properly and let them dry before refilling. Rotate feeding positions around the garden so droppings do not build up in one spot.

• Throw away mouldy, sodden or fermented food without hesitating.
• Avoid bread and milk, cooking fat, salted snacks and any mouldy peanuts.
• If you see a lethargic bird or one with a swollen eye, take the feeders down for a fortnight, clean everything thoroughly and move the station before putting it back.

For nesting, a blue tit box needs a 25mm entrance hole, positioned two to four metres up and facing between north and east to avoid the worst of the sun and rain. Clean boxes out in autumn once the breeding season is well and truly over.

A Year-Round Feeding Rhythm

Birds' needs shift with the seasons, and your routine can shift with them. In spring, put mealworms out for hungry chicks and have nest boxes up by February. In summer, keep water topped up daily and switch to suet pellets rather than balls. In autumn, let the berries ripen and give every feeder a thorough clean before the cold arrives.

In winter, offer high-fat food, break the ice each morning, and top up feeders early and again in the late afternoon so birds can stock up before a long, freezing night. Do that consistently for a season, and the tapping at your window will become a familiar, welcome sound.