Hanging Metal Fat Ball Feeders (Set of Four)
Solar Fountain for Your Bird Bath
Shepherd Hook Feeder Pole
Feeding garden birds in Coventry
Most gardens in Coventry have more birds passing over them than the owner ever notices. They are moving between gardens, parks and the green edges of the city rather than stopping, and a feeder is simply an invitation to break that journey. Put it somewhere with a perch above it and a hedge behind it, and the traffic becomes visible within a week.
Match the feeder to the bird rather than the other way round. Goldfinches want nyjer or sunflower hearts from a fine port, woodpeckers and tits want peanuts they can hang from, blackbirds and thrushes want an open surface they can stand on, and starlings will take fat from anywhere. A single feeder type quietly selects for a single group of birds.
Coventry's inter-war gardens with their mature hedges still hold song thrushes, a bird that has gone from much of the wider conurbation.
Coventry at a glance
The ground around Coventry
Everything below is checkable. Green space and water come from OpenStreetMap; the distances are from the city centre.
NationEngland
Regionthe West Midlands
PostcodesCV postcode area
Nearest reserveBrandon Marsh
Also coversNuneaton, Rugby, Kenilworth, Leamington Spa, Bedworth, Solihull
What should I feed garden birds in Coventry?
Feed Coventry gardens sunflower hearts all year, with peanuts in a mesh feeder and fat balls once the weather turns. Hang feeders about head height with cover two to three metres away, keep shallow water topped up through frost and drought, and wash everything every fortnight. Around the West Midlands, watch for song thrush.
- Use a caged feeder where squirrels, pigeons or magpies take everything
- Fill little and often in warm weather so nothing sours in the base
- Sunflower hearts suit the widest range of garden birds and leave no husks
- Mix feeder types so several species can use the garden at once
- Two feeders at opposite ends of the garden cut the squabbling
Song thrush: the local one to watch
Coventry's inter-war gardens with their mature hedges still hold song thrushes, a bird that has gone from much of the wider conurbation.
Do not forget the water
Water gets forgotten far more often than food. Birds need it for drinking and for keeping feathers in condition, and in a hard frost a bath that is topped up is worth more to them than a full feeder. Shallow is the point: two to three centimetres at the edge, with a rough surface to grip, and a stone in the middle for the smaller ones.
Keeping it clean
Rinsing matters as much as washing. Detergent residue left in a tube is worse than the dirt it removed, so a proper rinse and a full dry before refilling is the part not to skip. Keep a dedicated brush for it rather than borrowing one from the kitchen.
When it matters most in Coventry
The two pressure points are February and June. February is the tail of winter when natural food is exhausted, and June is when adults are running themselves down feeding a brood. A garden that is stocked through both is doing more than one that only appears in December.
Our pick
What we would put up first in a Coventry garden
- Seed Feeders — sunflower hearts through a tube suits the widest range of birds
- Window Feeders — vertical space is what a small garden or yard actually has
- Bird Tables — an open surface suits the ground feeders a tube shuts out
Where to start
Seed Feeders
Common questions
Feeding birds in Coventry
A caged feeder is the reliable answer: small birds pass through the mesh and squirrels cannot. A pole with a baffle also works, as long as the pole stands well clear of fences, walls and overhanging branches, because a squirrel will happily jump a couple of metres to reach it.
It makes more difference than most people expect. Birds need water for drinking and for keeping their feathers in condition, and in frost or drought a reliable supply can matter more than the food. Shallow is essential, no more than two or three centimetres at the edge, with something rough to grip.
Blue tits, great tits, robins, blackbirds, house sparrows, starlings, goldfinches and woodpigeons make up the bulk of it in most gardens. What varies is what turns up beyond that list, and around Coventry the song thrush is the one worth watching for.
Also covering
Coventry and the surrounding towns — Nuneaton, Rugby, Kenilworth, Leamington Spa, Bedworth, Solihull. Delivery and returns are the same wherever you are in England.
Nearby cities
All cities we cover · Which bird visits you? · The feeding calendar