Catalogues we love: Garden Bird Supplies

First, an admission: I am not green-thumbed at all. My idea of gardening is getting the weedkiller out once in a while. But I live in the countryside and appreciate just how lucky I am to wake up to the sound of chirping birds and clean air. This is why I love the Garden Bird Supplies “Garden Bird Feeding Guide”: comprehensive enough for devoted twitchers and inclusive enough so that novices can make informed decisions on how to attract wild birds to their gardens.

What I like about it:

•    Educational
The “how to help” article on pages 8 through 9 guides readers through seven steps to creating a habitat for wild birds. With tips like keeping your bird-feeders topped up during the spring and “don’t over-tidy your garden, and leave plenty of scrappy material [for birds to construct their nests]”, the tips are logical and easy to follow. There’s also an incredibly handy chart to the “20 Popular Garden Birds” to help wannabe birdwatchers identify local wildlife and feed them accordingly. 

•    Engaging
Garden Bird Supplies lets its customers get involved with the catalogue, not only through a “News from readers” section, featuring customer letters and photographs, but also by using customer photographs throughout the book—usually at the top-left corner of each spread. The copy is also very friendly and helpful. Each section has an introductory paragraph outlining the benefits of those particular products. For example, this introducing a range of cleaning products:

“Birds are at risk from disease if we do not keep our feeding stations clean and hygienic. In this section you will find a complete range of cleaning products which will create a healthy environment for your garden birds. We also have a selection of deterrents to help keep your birds safe from predators.”

Then, for each individual product, there’s even more information and features like “squirrel resistant” and “easy to clean and comes apart in one simple motion”. It helps even the most clueless of gardeners choose the right food and the best way to present it.

I also like the eye-catching callouts beside some of products, like “popular with robins and softbills” and “feed from a table or on the ground”.

•    The photography
My favourite photo is on page 9 (below), showing a mistle thrush pulling a worm out of the ground. You can really see the effort on the little bird’s face.  The product photography is also well done too, especially the photos showing the birds enjoying the food.

•    Easy to shop from
A cardinal sin in any catalogue is making it difficult for the customer to locate important information, such as product details or delivery charge. Garden Bird Supplies sidesteps this with front and back covers that do a good job of highlighting the core message. The covers promote 15 percent off a selected line, free delivery, and the company’s “buy in bulk, save money” maxim with page references as to where more information can be found.  On the opening spread, Garden Bird Supplies reiterates the offer code and gives a nod to the website, where customers can join a forum or subscribe to the enewsletter. It also includes a table of contents on page 3 of the 64-page catalogue to help customers navigate the book.

Garden Bird Supplies knows it’s not the cheapest on the market, so to persuade customers to spend that little bit extra it relies on its wildlife expertise and in-depth knowledge of wild birds and their habitats. The result is a friendly, informative and engaging catalogue that holds appeal for gardeners of all skill levels.--MT