Bird food for wrens

Tuesday, 14th May 2019

The tiny Wren is one of our favourites. Small and often very secretive it breeds all over Britain but can suffer serious declines if we have a prolonged harsh winter.

Its physique is fairly unmistakable; it's tiny, brown and a little dumpy, almost rotund, with a fine bill and long legs and toes. For such a small bird it also has an extremely loud song. Common throughout the UK it can be seen in a variety of different habitats including farmland, heathland and moorland but especially deciduous woodland.

The Wren is a regular garden visitor often in search of insects and worms. Funnily enough, however, some garden birders say they never see them! And that's the Wren irony - they're common and yet seldom seen (unless you know where to look). Don't worry, though, because we have lots of products for you to entice them into your garden or, make them a little more visible. In other words, if you feed them, they'll come. Maybe.

Start with Haith's Softbill Food - it's a high-protein soft food containing vitamins and minerals blended with Bakers' Honey and healthy vegetable oils. It doesn’t require any mixing and should be placed under a sheltered area such as a bush or shrub. In fact, it's just as popular with all the other garden birds when fed from a conventional (or make do) bird table.

Songster Food is one of our original mixes from the 1960s and has stood the test of time (tested by birds and by garden birders). Its ingredients include sunflower hearts, high-calcium grit, oatmeal and raisins – certainly a tasty treat for any ground feeding bird. It can be fed dry or even slightly moistened before feeding. A word of warning though – raisins can be toxic to dogs so please be careful if you have dogs nearby.

Live foods are the nearest we have to a Wrens natural diet. Mealworms, in particular, provide Wrens with essential protein and much-needed moisture. Clean and odourless, they are the larvae of the Tenebrio Molitor beetle and are available in a variety of weights including tubs and sacks.