Gitie's blog

Now the birds are getting used to you taking an interest in them. They are beginning to create their own patterns of understanding your words and behaviour, based on the sound and tones of your words and also your actions and movements.

In part 1 yesterday  we covered - 1. Talking to the birds and 2. Watching Their Response.

Every species and every bird in every species will take their own time to respond to you. Some of the bolder birds will start coming forward giving you the opportunity to observe them at close range.

At this point there are a few different things you can start doing.

 There's definitely a list of do's and don'ts when it comes to talking to birds.   Wild birds have a big advantage over us, if they don't like what we're doing or saying they can fly away and avoid our company altogether.  So in this case it is useful to understand the don'ts.  

Birds scare easily - so the very first point is - Take care not to frighten the bird.  This is surprisingly not as obvious as it seems. We humans get excited and enthusiastic and in our eagerness to make friends we sometimes don't give the birds enough time to get to know us.

Friendship is a two-way street and we have give the bird the time and opportunity to observe us as well.  In the beginning, the bird will scare easily.  Their reflexes and inherent instinct is to escape at the very slightest movement in the shadow or flutter of one's sleeve or dress in the wind, or the vibration on the ground when we walk.  This is not due to a direct response to us per se.  But birds are tuned to avoiding danger from other predatory birds, cats and other animals that prey on them.  Even when they know us well, there will be times when they will just fly off and you'll be left wondering what on earth you did to frighten them! Don't be offended when that happens,  and it will happen many times.  

Once some birds notice your bird bath or water bowl, they'll spread the word very quickly and other birds will also try it out. 

There are a few things you must do to keep them coming:

1. Clean the bird bath and refresh the water daily: if you can, if not, then every second day.  A bristle brush is ideal to scrub the sides, followed by a rinse with fresh water.  This is a necessary step, or else water will get stagnant, even mouldy, certainly filthy and eventually become a source of disease.

if you have placed a big stone or rock in the middle of the bowl to stop it from tipping over, you may find that this will get mouldy over time.  When that happens its best to have a couple of stones, and use them alternately, that gives each one the chance to dry out before being used again.

If the bird bath is not cleaned and refreshed regularly, the birds will stop coming as this will no longer be a viable drinking spot for them.

2. Observe Your Visitors:  Make a note of which birds have started to visit your place.  Are they able to drink comfortably? 

The first step in making friends with the wild birds - is to create the opportunities to see them often.

Not all of us have garden or are lucky enough to live at the edge of a rainforest or a green belt.  Fortunately, birds are all around us whether we live in the city in a multi-storied apartment block or we live in the suburbs or countryside surrounded by nice lawns, shrubs and trees. The first thing you need to is to give the birds an incentive to come to your home, close enough to enable you to start forming a friendship.

Wild Birds love communicating with each other, with birds from other species, with other animals and they absolutely love talking to humans.  They may fly off in a flurry at the very start because they may not be sure of your intentions, or they may befeeling particularly shy or self-conscious.  But once they realise that you are sincerely interested in them, they begin to respond and take an interest in you.

Once one bird gets the idea and starts