Hanging Metal Fat Ball Feeders (Set of Four)
Solar Fountain for Your Bird Bath
Shepherd Hook Feeder Pole
Feeding garden birds in Portsmouth
Feeding birds in Portsmouth is much less about the food than the position. A feeder two metres from a hedge is a different proposition to the same feeder in the middle of a lawn, because a blue tit will not cross open ground it cannot retreat from. Get the line of cover right and the food question mostly answers itself.
Window strikes are worth thinking about before you hang anything. A feeder either wants to be very close to the glass, under about a metre, so a startled bird cannot build up speed, or well beyond three metres so the window is not in the escape path. The dangerous distance is the middle ground, and window feeders sit deliberately at the safe end of it.
Langstone and Chichester harbours hold thousands of wintering brent geese, and the cold snaps that bring them also push thrushes into island gardens.
Portsmouth at a glance
What is actually near you
Everything below is checkable. Green space and water come from OpenStreetMap; the distances are from the city centre.
NationEngland
RegionHampshire
PostcodesPO postcode area
Nearest reserveFarlington Marshes
Also coversGosport, Havant, Fareham, Waterlooville, Southsea, Chichester
What should I feed garden birds in Portsmouth?
In Portsmouth, start with sunflower hearts in a hanging tube and a low tray for robins and blackbirds. Position matters more than the mix: two to three metres from a hedge, at head height, refilled on the same schedule every morning. Add shallow water year round and clean the feeders fortnightly.
- Mix feeder types so several species can use the garden at once
- Put feeders under a metre from glass, or over three metres from it
- Clear spilled seed from the ground before dusk to avoid rats
- Site the bath in the open with cover a couple of metres off
- Wash feeders in hot soapy water every fortnight and dry before refilling
The Brent goose factor
Langstone and Chichester harbours hold thousands of wintering brent geese, and the cold snaps that bring them also push thrushes into island gardens.
Why water beats an extra feeder
Put the bath where a bird can see out of it. A wet bird flies badly, so an open position with cover a couple of metres away is exactly right, and a bath tucked under a dense shrub will be avoided no matter how clean it is. Raised baths deter cats; ground baths bring in blackbirds and thrushes that will not perch on a pedestal.
Hygiene, and why it is not optional
Spillage is worth designing out rather than sweeping up. A seed tray under a tube catches the husks and gives ground feeders somewhere to work at the same time, and it is the single easiest way to stop wet seed collecting on soil where it will sour and attract rats. Easy-clean feeders that split apart make the fortnightly job a five-minute one.
The feeding year in Portsmouth
Water is the seasonal variable that catches people out here. Feeders get attention in winter, but it is a dry June that empties the puddles and drying ponds birds depend on, and a topped-up bath through a warm spell brings in birds that never touch seed.
Our pick
What we would put up first in a Portsmouth garden
- Bird Tables — an open surface suits the ground feeders a tube shuts out
- Ground Baths — blackbirds and thrushes drink at ground level by preference
- Peanut Feeders — a mesh peanut feeder brings in tits, finches and woodpeckers
Common questions
Feeding birds in Portsmouth
Usually one of three things: a sparrowhawk or cat has started working the garden, natural food has become abundant somewhere nearby, or the seed has gone stale. Late summer is the quietest stretch in most gardens because there is so much wild food about, and the birds return as it runs out.
Every fortnight as a habit, and sooner if the food is damp or the ports look dirty. Feeders concentrate a lot of birds onto a few surfaces, which is how disease spreads through finch flocks in particular. Hot soapy water, a proper rinse and a full dry before refilling is all it takes.
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.
Also covering
Portsmouth and the surrounding towns — Gosport, Havant, Fareham, Waterlooville, Southsea, Chichester. Delivery and returns are the same wherever you are in England.
Nearby cities
All cities we cover · Which bird visits you? · The feeding calendar