It’s time to bring our birds into breeding condition.

We are now approaching that time of the year when birdsong is said to be at its loudest. It used to be during the first week of April but changes in weather patterns seem to have stirred our native species to start their spring song much earlier.

We are very lucky to have so many bird species with beautiful songs and at this time of the year in particular I can really appreciate the pleasure bird-keepers gain from keeping the British species.

Having spent many happy times in South East Asia searching out the joys of bird-keeping there, it is difficult to miss what drives the hobby there. Whereas, bird-keeping in the western world is primarily driven by competition for form and plumage, in the east it is song. While we may have the song canaries here that are judged, not on their territorial song but on a sub-song, in Asia it is that very loud and beautiful territorial display that takes their fancy.

Springtime birdsong appears contagious especially as dawn breaks and every bird seems to demand the same territory. That cannot be a bad thing for bird-keepers as it encourages their birds to join in the breeding frenzy despite their quite-often different breeding behaviour.

It is time to bring our birds into breeding condition by feeding less carbohydrate and more protein. Haith’s have a good range of conditioning foods but I suggest giving insectivorous mixtures a try even for those birds we consider seedeaters. Just sprinkle a little over the bird’s normal diet to increase the variety of nutrients available. No bird in the wild is completely dependent on seed.

Written by Tony Tilford