If you're anything like me, you'll have a host of half-empty pots of herbs and spices lurking in your kitchen cupboard. Well the good news is, there's one common spicy staple you can put to positive use in your garden... chilli powder.
It might sound a bit unorthodox, but sprinkling this punchy product in your plot can help ensure that birds aren't beaten to their supper by pesky squirrels and foxes.
As nesting season gets into full swing, hungry birds – think robins, blackbirds, blue tits and wrens – need all the help they can get, so it's an especially important time to ensure any food you leave out on bird feeders or birdbaths isn't poached by another animal, or worse, vermin.
Whether it's bird-specific food like fat balls, suet or mealworms – or leftover household scraps like bruised apples and pears, cooked rice, pastry or breadcrumbs (visit the RSPB's website for more info), you can sprinkle chilli powder, or spicy sauces like Tabasco, on them – which birds won't mind, whereas foxes and squirrels will avoid at all costs.
This simple, cheap trick will ensure that you're really able to feed the birds.
It's worth noting that the RSPB advises not leaving out seeds or peanuts between May 1 and October 31 to prevent the spread of diseases like trichomonosis, a fatal disease for garden birds, particularly greenfinches and chaffinches.
How to help plummeting bird populations
Garden bird numbers are plummeting – greenfinches, for example, have declined by over 65% in three decades, a loss of more than two million birds – as climate change disrupts nesting seasons, food supplies and migration patterns.
Insect loss – UK flying insects fell by 59% between 2004 and 2021, while pollinators such as bees, hoverflies and moths are found in 18% fewer places – leaves chicks without the protein-rich diet they need to survive.
Familiar species such as swifts, house sparrows and starlings are struggling as habitats shrink and gardens become tidier, paved or pesticide-treated. But our gardens can be lifelines.
Planting native flowers, shrubs and trees, leaving seedheads and leaf litter, avoiding chemicals, providing water, and feeding birds responsibly all create vital mini-habitats.
Linked together, these small green spaces form a powerful network of shelter and food, helping birds recover, breed and thrive.
Best foods for garden birds
Black Oil Sunflower Seeds
Sainsbury's Wild Bird Suet Block
Bamfords Top Flight 'Safflower' Bird Food 15kg
Niger Seed
Happy Little Bird Wild Bird Peanuts 600g
