1. Make a bird cake of melted lard or suet mixed with bird seed, peanuts and raisins. Why not have a go? Here's the recipe

2. Don’t throw away bruised apples and pears – put them out for the birds.

3. Buy a new bird table or make one yourself and create a gourmet restaurant for garden birds.

4. Hang up a peanut or seed bird-feeder in your garden or back yard.

5. No garden? Fasten a feeder to a window with suction cups – brings the birds even closer.

6. Making a fruit Christmas cake? Spare a few raisins, sultanas and currants for birds.

7. Chill out with a relaxing birdsong CD or cassette - you can learn the calls of birds at the same time!

8. Planning next year’s garden? Research which plants are best for birds and other wildlife.

9. Fill the holes and cracks of an old log with fatty food, such as suet, and hang it out for acrobatic birds to feed on.

10. Share breakfast with the birds – they love dry porridge oats and chopped bacon rind.

11. Create a bird feeder out of recycled materials – milk cartons and plastic bottles can all have a new lease of life as bird feeders.

12. Birds need water for drinking and bathing – buy a bird bath or use a shallow dish or inverted metal dustbin lid.

13. Fix up a perching post to give garden birds a vantage point and song post - A T-shaped pole about 2 metres high provides a great lookout for birds.

14. Mealworms (the larvae of a common brown beetle) make a special treat for robins – you can buy supplies from pet shops or bird food suppliers or cultivate your own.

15. Putting up a new nestbox before the New Year provides birds with place to roost and gives early-nesting birds a chance to inspect it before settling in.

16. Spend a few minutes threading peanuts in the shell on to string, hang them in the garden and for the rest of the hour just enjoy the antics of feeding birds!

17. Fit baffles above and below any hanging bird feeders. Squirrels may take advantage of your generosity too and this is one way to discourage them.

18. Make a garden water hole – dig a shallow scrape in a flower bed and line it with plastic held down with stones.

19. Find a place for a garden compost heap – a great way to recycle the nutrients in the garden and provide a frost-free area where birds can feed.

20. Clean out any existing nest boxes ready for next year’s breeding season.

21. Put up bird silhouettes on windows panes and patio doors to deter real birds from flying into glass –cut out your own shapes or buy special self-clinging silhouettes.

22. Order plants for next year’s flower garden that are beneficial to birds and other wildlife.

23. Keep any bird baths free of ice to help birds drink and bathe but never use chemicals.

24. Put out any leftovers of cooked rice and spaghetti and any uncooked pastry – they’re all rich in starch and will keep garden birds occupied!

25. Dried cheese? Don’t bin it – crumble it in the garden for wrens to enjoy.

26. Serve any leftover jacket potatoes as a garden bird banquet.

27. Put out fresh coconut, popular with blue tits – but never use desiccated coconut, it's too sweet.

28. Build a nestbox ready for next year’s breeding season.

29. Tie some teasel stems around the base of your bird table – the spiky head is full of seeds for birds; it helps keep unwanted squirrels from the bird table; and the teasels make great homes for insects.

30. Plant a hedge for wildlife – make it a mixture of native shrubs such as holly, hawthorn, dogwood, or blackthorn – to provide feeding and nesting places for birds.

31. Fill an empty half coconut with fat, bird cake etc and hang it in the garden.

32. Get closer to the birds – buy a pair of binoculars. Take time to select the right pair and test them in the field if possible.

33. Clean out bird baths and fill with fresh water.

34. Take notes on the number and types of birds seen in the garden or on birdwatching trips – create your own bird log and start a list of bird seen in the garden.

35. Buy wildlife books and videos as Christmas presents – either for others or just for yourself!

36. Trimming a conifer hedge? Use the cuttings as a garden mulch to keep down weeds – it’s good for insects too.

37. Browse the RSPB web site for loads of information and the latest conservation news – www.rspb.org.

38. Encourage House Martins to nest next summer by putting up special cup-shaped artificial nests under the eaves.

39. Clean your bird table with a mild disinfectant to ensure good hygiene.

40. Christmas shop for conservation by buying from a wildlife charity gift catalogue 41. Make a bird feeder, nest-box or bird table for an old people’s home, school etc.

42. Write a letter to help a conservation campaign – contact the RSPB or visit their website (www.rspb.org.uk) to find out the issues of current concern.

43. Join your local RSPB group and/or bird club.

44. Offer to help at a local nature reserve – a lot can be achieved in just an hour.

45. Planning a garden makeover? Design part of it as wildlife-friendly habitat.

46. Buying a new bird identification book? Find a good home for any old ones.

47. Plan to take a break with a difference in 2003! Volunteer to work on an RSPB reserve for a holiday.

48. Dig over a few square feet of soil so that birds can find worms and other soil-dwelling insects

49. Clean up areas underneath bird feeders, as the husks of sunflower seeds can pile up

50. Heap up piles of logs to provide the ideal hiding place for a wide range of wildlife.

51. Register to take part in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch survey on 25-26 January 2003 - write to BGBW, RSPB, Somers House, Somers Road, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 9DU or log onto www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch.

52. Push some whole hazelnuts (with the shell on) into cracks in tree bark – nuthatches and woodpeckers will love them.

53. Trim hedges in autumn (leaving it undisturbed during the breeding season); create plenty of forks in the branches to provide foundations for nests.

54. Make an early New Year’s resolution to create a pond - they provide birds with somewhere to drink and bathe all year round and are great for other wildlife too.

55. If you’re a cat owner, put a collar and a bell on your cat. In winter, birds can be at extra risk from feline predators. Make sure it’s the safe type - ask for one with a quick release buckle and make sure you fit it properly.

56. Turn autumn leaves into garden mulch – collect them in a simple wire mesh enclosure or stuff them into plastic sacks – wet leaves are best. After a year, use this as a free mulch. Blackbirds love grubbing in it for insects.

57. Fasten a metal plate around nest-box entrance holes if there is a risk that squirrels might enlarge it to get at next year’s chicks.

58. Collect some pine cones and stuff fat or bird cake into the cracks. Attach a piece of string to each, and either hang them in bunches or singly.

59. Dead flowerheads provide seeds for birds - instead of spending an hour cutting them now, leave them until February.