Niall Hatch of Birdwatch Ireland shares some tips, facts and interesting ways for families to enjoy birdwatching.

Get involved in the study of migration:

We have a lovely project people can get involved with so that they can help us track the movements of these birds and find out exactly when they're arriving and how that is changing. It's called Spring Alive and it has a special dedicated website http://www.springalive.net/en-ie. It's a project that we run not just in Ireland but with our partners in Bird Life International across Europe, Central Asia and Africa. It operates in more than 50 countries but in all vast areas that it covers we get more records per capita than any other country. People really love this project and it is particularly aimed at kids and families, so it's a very child-friendly website with lots of games, postcards and resources and lesson plans for teachers as well. But the main feature is an interactive map which shows the movements of the birds in real time as they come across Europe, so we're able to tell when they're arriving. We even have a system now where kids can communicate with their counterparts in other countries across Europe and Africa, to share information about the birds.

Put the winter garden bird survey in your diary:

Every winter we have our garden bird survey which we've been doing for over 20 years, it starts in December and runs until the end of February and that's how we build a picture of exactly what is going on with our garden birds. For more details, click here.

Birdtable FAQ

What you need to know about your garden birdtable

We have a bird table. What foods are safe to give birds?

When it comes to bird tables, variety is key. Amongst the very best are sunflower seeds, pinhead oatmeal, sultanas, raisins, currants, grated cheese, cooked potato in any form, melon seeds, stale cakes, tinned cat or dog food, chopped bacon rind, fresh coconut, suet, uncooked pastry and meal worms. Peanuts work very well, plus sunflower seeds, nyger seed is a new type of seed which is very good for birds like goldfinches. Make sure that you never leave out whole nuts, as baby birds often choke on these. Always use a fine wire mesh feeder that has been designed to allow birds to feed on peanuts safely. Never feed the birds salted peanuts; it is safest to buy only nuts with the Birdfood Standard motif. Never use desiccated coconut as this may swell up inside the bird’s stomach. Be sure to moisten very dry bread.

What else is important when setting up a birdtable?

One thing that can be overlooked is water, water is very important, particularly when it gets very cold, as when the temperature gets below freezing of course it becomes difficult for the birds to get water from puddles and ponds. They need water to drink and also to bathe. When it gets cold they need to bathe more frequently as that's the way they keep their feathers perfectly clean. If the feathers aren't absolutely clean they won't insulate the properly at night, and they can die from hypothermia.

When is a good time of day to see birds at the birdtable?

It often depends on how the weather has been, because the birds will still go and find natural food whenever they can. So even in the depths of winter the birds will still supplement their food intake. In harsh winters when it's very cold or when it has been raining very heavily and there are less insects you will find them coming to the table more. You might find they are more active in the morning as they have been sleeping all night and would be hungry then. They would come and go during the day but what you might find is that they will come back in the evening to feed again before they go to sleep as they want to fuel up for the night as they need to build up their fat reserves so they can survive cold nights.

How else can families enjoy birdwatching?

We have 30 Birdwatch Ireland branches throughout Ireland and they all run events free for the public. Visit www.birdwatchireland.ie.

For more interesting birdwatching facts, learn about migratory birds and to find out about the dawn chorus, read our feature here.