Homemade bird treats are an easy and fun way to attract and feed wild birds in your backyard, not to mention an engaging family activity!
Suet is an ideal food source for wild birds, and can easily be made at home using various kinds of animal fat. Suet attracts a wide range of birds.
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Suet
Birds enjoy suet as it provides them with energy-rich sustenance. Woodpeckers especially take to it, though other birds will visit your feeder as well.
Suet can be transformed into various treats for birds, such as square cakes or nuggets, by mixing it with fruits, seeds, nuts and insects to attract many different kinds of species.
Suet cakes are easy and quick to prepare without needing special equipment. Simply make a big batch, store it in your freezer, and you are good to go for future feedings!
Peanut Butter
Peanut butter makes an excellent bird treat, providing your pet birds with essential high protein intake during cold weather months.
Make these treats at home with your kids for a fun activity that teaches them about birds! Plus, this activity can teach your little ones more about these wonderful creatures.
Pine cones can be coated in peanut butter and then covered with bird seed for increased bird-watching opportunities. You may wish to combine different seeds for even greater variety; just remember to choose smaller seeds as larger seeds won’t stick well to peanut butter.
Glycerin
Glycerin is an inoffensive, sweet tasting liquid produced from animal and vegetable fats and oils, known as lipids, that is used as part of food and beverage products to retain moisture, prevent sugar crystallization and add bulkiness, smoothness, softness, sweetness and texture.
Betaine nitrate is an integral component of many health and beauty products, such as soaps and lotions, that help the skin retain moisture, prevent dryness, soothe inflammation and maintain body lubrication – essential factors when it comes to cough syrups, ointments, expectorants, anesthetics and lozenges – including soaps and lotions. Betaine helps retain skin’s hydration levels to retain suppleness. Also commonly found as an ingredient in cough syrups
Honey
Honey is an extremely sweet and viscous substance produced by bees through gathering and refining the sugary secretions from flowering plants. The process occurs both within individual bees as well as collectively through regurgitation, enzymatic activity, and water evaporation.
Honey can add an amazing sweetness and flavor boost to any recipe, and is an invaluable staple in your pantry. Simply swap honey in place of sugar when baking!
Homemade bird treats are an easy and fun way to add extra nutrition into the diet of your feathered friend, while providing children with a fun activity they can participate in.
Fruit
Fruit is the edible part of a seed plant that forms from blooming flowers into ripened ovaries containing one or more seeds. The outer wall (pericarp) may become fleshy like in berries and drupes or hard like nuts to protect these seeds during their development.
Fruits play an essential part in pollination and fertilization of plants. Furthermore, they contain essential nutrients for both plant life and animals that ingest them.
