Wild birds require adequate food all year-round, especially during winter. Fruit like bruised apples and bananas as well as stale or moldy bread as well as scrap vegetables make ideal winter foods for wild birds.
Peanuts are a favorite among house sparrows, dunnocks, siskins and nuthatches as well as coal tits – but make sure that your peanuts don’t contain aflatoxin which is known to kill birds!
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Dog and cat food
Dog and cat food can provide birds with an important source of protein. However, wet cat food must not be left lying around as this could harm seed-eating wild birds. Cereal with low sugar content and no artificial dyes is another favorite bird treat. Stale peanuts also make an attractive treat and can be offered through separate feeders or added into unsalted suet cages to be enjoyed by woodpeckers and other tree-clinging birds.
Higher-grade bird seed mixes typically feature higher proportions of nutritious seeds such as sunflower and millet, as well as vitamin and mineral fortification to aid birds’ fat reserve building during winter.
Fruit
Fruit is an ideal food source for birds, particularly when it is fresh and easily digestible. Birds need fruit in their diet; however, excess sugar consumption could pose health concerns.
Berry-producing trees and bushes in your yard will attract wild birds with nutritious treats like blueberries, strawberries and blackberries that provide sustenance for them. To attract birds even further, add bird feeders that produce these fruitful treats!
Oranges are beloved treats of orioles, bluebirds and other songbirds. Additionally, woodpeckers love them too! Slice or skewer oranges in your feeder to attract visitors; also create other fruit-feeding sites in your yard to attract even more species of wildlife.
Nuts
Nuts provide winter birds with an invaluable source of fat. In fact, some bird species spend weeks each autumn gathering up ripe nuts from trees, ground or bark for storage purposes.
Nuts may be placed in regular wild bird seed feeders for offering to wild birds, provided that they are unsalted, unflavored and without special coatings or salting. A wide variety of birds such as goldfinches and siskins, dunnocks/tits/woodpeckers will consume them; but beware offering old nuts which could contain aflatoxins that are toxic to wildlife.
Stale bread and other baked goods
Birds may find food such as stale or old bread and cookie crumbs tempting, yet this item provides little nutrition value and should only be offered sparingly.
Birds’ stomachs quickly fill with bread, leaving nothing for it to use for energy metabolism. Furthermore, moldy bread may lead to respiratory issues in birds. Whole grain bread is much better in this regard because it preserves some of the vital nutrients lost when producing white bread.
Cereal
Birds love snacking on cereal that’s low in sugar or salt content; cooked porridge oats should be avoided as their sticky consistency could bind a bird’s beak together; instead offer uncooked oats or granola instead.
Rice is an excellent food source for wild birds and should be placed out in small quantities; however, rice crackers containing high levels of salt should be avoided as these will quickly be devoured by them.
Cheese can also make for great food sources for birds; just be sure it does not become moldy! Lactose-free cheese makes an excellent addition to kitchen foods for birds as a source of nutrition for their nutrition needs.
Pet food
Birds that visit backyard feeders tend to be generalist feeders that feed on grain and seeds, such as house sparrows, pigeons and grackles. Instead of only eating one type of food source such as house sparrows do; they will consume an array of products including kitchen scraps.
Higher quality bird food blends tend to cost more, because they contain better seeds; lower-priced blends often include fillers like milo, wheat and oats which birds don’t consume readily. Be wary of mixes containing excessive dust, empty hulls or inedible debris as these may not be digestible by birds.
Look for a high concentration of black oil sunflower seeds and peanuts to attract woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, warblers. Suet should be provided in specially made cages or net onion bags hung from trees.
Cooked pasta or rice
Kitchen foods that can be fed to wild birds include cheese (an excellent source of protein). Small pieces stale yet not rancid cheese should be given, along with other kitchen scraps like cooked pasta or cooked grains such as rice.
As temperatures cool in winter, wild birds require high-fat, high-calorie options such as suet made from rendered animal fat to maintain body temperatures and remain active. Suet cakes sold by retailers often include nuts and berries that appeal to numerous bird species.
