Feeding wild birds is both straightforward and satisfying. Simply start by offering up some seed mixture that attracts local songbirds like chickadees and titmice, and watch as their numbers increase!
Supplement your bird’s diet with high-protein foods such as mealworms to support breeding and fledgling birds. While bread, crackers, and other processed food might provide enough moisture, it will not sustain their needs as an adequate food source.
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Feeders
Winter birds rely heavily on bird feeders for sustenance during a season of scarce natural food sources; offering multiple feeding stations will keep your yard thriving until spring arrives and wild food sources become more readily available.
Sunflower and thistle seed (sometimes referred to as “nyjer” seed) are among the most sought-after options for feeders available at wild bird and home garden stores. They typically take the form of tube-shaped feeders hung 4-5 feet above the ground for squirrel protection, featuring weight-sensitive perches that close when something heavy, such as a squirrel, climbs up.
Bluebirds, chickadees, titmice and woodpeckers enjoy feeding on dehydrated or live mealworms found at pet stores or some online specialty retailers. The mealworms may be provided on platform feeders or hopper feeders or be presented in rimmed dishes for easy feeding.
Seed
Birds can be quite selective about which seed they consume. Before dropping any into their bills or eating it, they carefully inspect and weigh each individual seed to decide its suitability for consumption or discard. As a rule, birds tend to opt for higher quality seeds while eschewing lower quality ones.
Winter birds need plenty of high-fat energy foods; offering black oil sunflower seeds (with unhusked kernels) or nyjer seed is an ideal way to satisfy this need. Both options contain plenty of fat.
Peanuts in their shell and/or whole are immensely popular among jays, titmice, and nuthatches, while milo is loved by Western ground-feeding birds. Milo is a legume-type plant rich in nitrogen which acts as an excellent soil enhancer – in fact it’s often added into seed mixes for this very purpose!
Suet
Birds require a constant source of saturated fat for survival in winter weather. Lard and suet (beef fat) attract woodpeckers, wrens, chickadees, nuthatches and titmice when placed in holes drilled into hanging logs or net onion bags with holes drilled through. Keep these feeders off the ground to protect from dogs’ reach.
Black oil sunflower seed is an all-year favourite among ground feeding sparrows, towhees and juncos, while white millet makes an easy no-mess food choice for quails, native American sparrows and cardinals. Avoid mixtures containing dry split peas, beans or rice which could choke birds due to bulk seeds being combined together containing these hard lumps; cooked or uncooked porridge oats offer excellent solutions but require presoaking for best results.
Fruit
Birds depend on fresh fruit for many of the essential nutrients they require, particularly berries, seeds-and-pit-containing fruits such as apples, pears and raisins as well as citrus fruits like oranges.
Feeders or the ground, you can offer these tasty treats, but make sure they are properly cleaned and cut into sizes that won’t pose a choking hazard for birds.
Grapes are a favorite among birds, including bluebirds, pine grosbeaks, gray catbirds and northern cardinals. Grapes also provide an excellent source of vitamin C which supports immune development – you can offer these treats alone or mixed in with black oil sunflower seed and nyjer seeds for extra variety!
Grit
Grit is an essential supplement for birds as their lack of teeth prevents their gizzards from grinding food into digestible form. Birds can often be seen along roadsides picking away at gravel within brick mortar or consuming small stones to obtain enough grit for themselves.
Preparing a container of soluble grit for your favorite birds to consume year-round is an excellent way to assist their wellbeing. But beware – high calcium sources like limestone or oyster shell should not be provided as this mineral content already occurs within their diets.
When feeding birds grit, it is essential that it is combined with water in order to create an easily digestible slurry that their digestive systems can easily process. Furthermore, overfeeding of grit can cause intestinal obstructions.