Live mealworms can be an exciting way to attract insect-eating birds to your yard. Packed full of protein-rich goodness, mealworms are best used as an add-on to regular birdseed.
Raising their own mealworms can provide a steady supply, making this a fun project for children or homeschoolers to try out. But it takes patience!
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They are a natural food source
Mealworms’ high protein content draws in various bird species that don’t usually visit feeders. Plus, their calcium-rich diet provides nesting birds with essential building blocks for making strong eggshells. You can add mealworms to seed mixes and suet pellets as part of their balanced diet to give birds even greater benefit from eating mealworms!
While many are put off by the sight of live mealworms wriggling around, this is completely harmless and natural part of their behavior. If this makes you uneasy, dried mealworms provide just as nutritious nourishment to birds and can easily be added to a feeding station.
Dried mealworms make an easy, no-wiggle addition to bird food mixes and suet pellets, or can be fed alone through dish or hopper feeders, providing a blend of proteins, fats and fibre for healthy wild birds.
They are a source of protein
Mealworms are an excellent way to attract most bird species to your feeder, providing them with protein-rich meals high in moisture that help fledglings survive and thrive. Mealworms can be purchased in wild bird stores, pet stores and bait shops or online – or you could raise them yourself as an exciting hands-on learning activity that brings people closer to nature!
Once you purchase live mealworms, place them in a shallow plastic container with a 2- to 5-gallon capacity and cover it with a screen or perforated lid to promote air circulation. Add apples for moisture as well as oatmeal and bran to maintain sustenance for feedings and store the container in the refrigerator to slow their development while prolonging larval form for as long as possible.
Mealworms provide birds with much-needed nutrition during breeding and nesting seasons, providing protection from harsh winter weather conditions as well as giving them energy boosts prior to migrating.
They are a source of moisture
Live mealworms provide young birds with essential moisture, providing vital nutrition in small quantities if combined with seed mixes or suet pellets. As mealworms do not provide complete nutrition, only small portions should be given alongside other sources.
Many birders provide live larvae at the start of summer to assist bluebirds and orioles with feeding their fledglings, or as an attractant during the winter months to draw in a wide array of backyard birds.
To create a batch of live mealworms, place them in a shallow plastic container that’s two to five gallons in capacity and line its bottom with hessian, newspaper or cardboard sacking before adding layers of bran, oats or wheat for moisture retention as well as chunks of potato or apple for further hydration. Punch several small air holes in its lid to prevent escapes while keeping temperatures within acceptable limits for the mealworms.
They are a source of energy
Mealworms provide both protein and moisture for young birds in their nest or fledglings – two essential elements to their wellbeing. Furthermore, feeding live mealworms is also a great way to form deeper relationships with nature; you can purchase these insects at bird feed stores and bait shops or raise them yourself – raising them yourself is easier, cheaper and an educational activity perfect for kids!
Feeding live mealworms is an effective way to attract insect-eating songbirds such as chickadees, wrens, towhees, nuthatches, woodpeckers and varied thrush. Mealworm feeders or simply ground or tray feeders should be used; live worms should be fed in containers with straight sides to avoid escapees escaping out through holes, and fresh fruits/vegetables/suet pellets may also provide a balanced diet. Refrigerating may even extend their shelf life, with daily offerings being made throughout their daily lifespan to prevent overcrowding digestive systems from oversaturation!
