Bird watching is a beloved hobby for many people. There’s something special about seeing colorful songbirds flock to your backyard. A great way to attract diverse species is by offering homemade bird food. While bird seed is popular, there are many seed-free options that provide vital nutrition. Read on to learn 7 homemade treats to offer your feathered friends.
Why Make Your Own Bird Food?
Homemade bird food allows you to control the quality of ingredients. You can avoid preservatives, artificial colors, and low-grade seeds. Making your own also lets you customize recipes to attract certain species. Offering a variety of foods will bring in more types of birds. Finally, homemade food is often cheaper than store-bought options. With a few inexpensive ingredients from your pantry, you can whip up nutritious foods that birds will love.
1. Suet
Suet is a rendered beef fat that provides birds with quick energy. To make suet cakes:
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Melt 1 cup raw suet in a pan. Let it cool and solidify.
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Mash the suet with 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup cornmeal, 2 cups birdseed, and 1 cup oats
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Pour the mixture into muffin tins or form into balls Refrigerate until firm
Suet cakes attract woodpeckers nuthatches chickadees, titmice, and more. Offer them in mesh bags or suet feeders to prevent messes.
2. Fruits and Berries
Fruits offer natural sweetness and nutrients like vitamin C. Opt for bird-safe fruits like apples, cherries, grapes, oranges, and berries. Cut larger fruits into chunks and skewer them or fill a suet cage. Place berries in platform feeders. Fruits attract robins, catbirds, thrushes, mockingbirds, waxwings, orioles, and other species.
3. Nuts and Seeds
While nuts are high in fat, birds relish their hearty protein and calories. Offer peanuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, and more. Use a nutcracker to break them into smaller pieces for easier eating. Avoid salted or flavored nuts. A nut feeder with tail props is ideal, but platform feeders also work. Nuts attract woodpeckers, jays, titmice, nuthatches, and chickadees.
4. Mealworms
Live or dried mealworms are packed with protein. They are a natural food source for wild birds. Place them in platform feeders or dish gardens. Mealworms are gobbled up by robins, bluebirds, wrens, thrushes, warblers, orioles, and other insect-loving species.
5. Baked Goods
Surprisingly, birds enjoy human baked goods like muffins, cookies, and bread. Avoid sugar and chocolate, which are unhealthy. Make plain baked items with bananas, pumpkin, or apple sauce. Crumble them into chunks or balls. This is a great way to use up stale bread. Starlings, crows, sparrows, and blackbirds enjoy baked treats.
6. Birdie Bread
This homemade blend combines nutritional yeast, vegetable shortening, flour, cornmeal, oats, birdseed, dried fruit, and peanut butter. Mix the ingredients well and pack into a bread pan. Chill until firm, then slice and serve. The “bread” will attract a diversity of birds.
7. Birdseed Cookies
These nutritious cookies are made by blending birdseed, flour, cornmeal, egg, bacon fat, molasses, and dried fruit. Form into 1-inch balls and place on a greased pan. Bake at 350°F until browned. Allow to cool before serving. Cardinals, chickadees, nuthatches, sparrows, and more will flock to these seed-free cookies.
Tips for Offering Homemade Bird Food
When putting out homemade bird food, follow these tips:
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Place feeders in safe locations away from predators. Nearby bushes offer refuge but not hiding spots for cats.
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Separate food items into different feeders to reduce waste and mess.
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Discard moldy or spoiled foods immediately to prevent illness.
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Clean feeders weekly with soap and water. Periodically disinfect with a bleach solution to prevent disease transmission.
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Avoid putting out foods during warmer months when bears are active. Remove feeders at night.
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Use dyed suet, hot pepper, or scent repellants to deter squirrels. Place feeders on poles away from jumps.
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Consider your region when deciding which foods to offer. Colder climates warrant more high-fat options.
With a little creativity, you can make appetizing bird foods using ingredients from your pantry and things found in nature. Offer a diversity of seed-free foods to provide comprehensive nutrition. Homemade treats are a cheaper alternative to store-bought options. Best of all, you can control the ingredients to ensure quality. Invite new species to your yard by serving up suet, fruits, nuts, mealworms, and other homemade foods. Your feathered friends will thank you!
When Should I Put Out Bird Feeders?
It varies by region, but typically it’s not recommended to put out bird feeders until at least December. This ensures that hungry hibernators such as bears are already bedded down for the winter and that the birds have something to snack on when foraging becomes difficult.
For homemade suet, which can go rancid if exposed to too-warm temperatures, it’s best to wait until temperatures are consistently in the 40s (°F) or below.
Is it Good to Feed the Birds in Winter?
Rest assured that it’s fine to feed birds during the cold winter months. Supplemental food helps birds during especially tough winters—and this will not affect bird migration. Several factors trigger the urge for birds to migrate, but the most significant is day length. When the days get shorter, certain birds move on, regardless of whether there are filled feeders still available to them.
During the rest of the year, it’s best to take feeders inside, as there will be plenty of other natural resources for the birds. Bird feeders can be very attractive to foraging mammals, such as skunks, rats, and bears, who are usually unwelcome visitors!
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FAQ
How to make homemade bird food without seeds?
Other bird seed alternatives to offer to birds include fruit and vegetable seeds, dried fruits, peanut butter and/or jelly, apples, pears, nuts, and unbuttered popcorn.
What is the best homemade bird food?
- one pound cake of lard
- 8 oz. jar of peanut butter
- one cup of fruit peels or other leftovers, diced
- one cup of regular uncooked oatmeal
- one cup of corn meal
- one cups of birds seed, with more just in case
- several small freeezable containers about the size of your suet feeder
What is the 5 7 9 rule for bird feeders?
Can birds eat oatmeal?
Porridge oats could also be a nutritious food source for the birds in your garden, and chances are you’ll have them readily available in your kitchen. However, ensure the oats are uncooked as cooked oats could harden around a bird’s beak.Jun 29, 2019