Anyone who sees blue tits in their garden issued warning

Here's what you're doing wrong

Millions of pounds are splashed out each year on bird feed in the expectation that filling tables and feeders will draw a diverse range of species to their outdoor spaces.

However, according to BBC Springwatch’s wildlife researcher and lifelong bird enthusiast, ornithologist Jack Baddams, rather than helping our feathered companions, when folk dish out seeds and pellets they could actually be causing more damage than benefit.

He explained all his reasons in a post that he shared on his Instagram account.

“It's something I struggle to find myself saying, as I've done it almost all of my life. But over the last couple of years, as I've read more into it, I've become increasingly concerned about the whole thing”, he said.

“Think about it for a second - there is nothing in nature like a bird feeder. Nothing that condenses entire local populations, of multiple different species, into a small space for a never-ending supply of food”, he added.

“Birds have evolved with food sources that come and go with the seasons, so of course, when we give them something so artificial - it's bound to cause problems. I think it's time to switch our focus to giving them something better.”

The expert also warned that feeders not only risk spreading illness between various species but can also compromise their ability to thrive in an increasingly challenging environment.

“I think it's time that we stopped feeding the birds, and I'm going to give you three reasons why. The expert then went on to outline where bird lovers might be getting it wrong”, he stated.

He further explained: “This is something we've known about for a long time, but not done enough to address. In 2005 a disease called trichomonosis jumped from pigeons into green finches after they were brought together at bird feeders.

“When it got into green finches, it was absolutely lethal, and it caused a 66% decline in our greenfinch population. Around three million birds were lost, and greenfinches went on the red list.”

He revealed the same pattern is emerging with chaffinches, with numbers plummeting by roughly 40% in little over 10 years. He continued: “Sure, you can clean your feeders, and it's great if you do, but all you need to do is hang this back out, and within five minutes, if a diseased bird lands on it and starts feeding from it again, that disease risk is there for every other bird that comes to that feeder before you get around to cleaning it again.”

The expert said that “in the UK, we spend about £250m a year on feeding the birds, buying an approximate 150,000 tons of bird food. How do we produce all that? Well, they have to be grown, just like any other crop. Fields have to be worked. Pesticides are often sprayed on those plants so that they produce the maximum yield.”

“In my opinion, there's now enough evidence to suggest that we need to stop encouraging the generalised feeding of birds, but that doesn't mean you need to stop helping them, not at all. think we need to evolve the way that we think about feeding the birds, focusing less on disease-spreading plastic feeders filled with food grown on the other side of the world, and more about how we can produce natural food for our birds.

"We need to think about how we can build ecosystems in our gardens, and not just fast food restaurants."

He offered a number of handy tips on the steps people could take, including: