Increasingly rare are the garden birds native to us sufficient natural food sources available. For many village regions with intensive agricultural land use, this is no less true than for the large urban centers with their tidy home gardens. As a result, the continued existence of even formerly commonplace species such as the sparrow is now considered threatened. The decline of its population in Germany - by up to 50% in recent years - is perhaps the most striking example. Birders in the UK have therefore long advocated adapted year-round feeding, from which the early returning migratory birds in our latitudes also benefit and which can be an important contribution to the preservation of the species, if some rules - such as the choice of the right food - are observed.