You can provide nutritious food for birds in your backyard, but you need to make sure you’re feeding oats with zero sugar. You can add sugar substitutes or other ingredients that are more appealing and delicious for wild birds. While it’s generally fine to feed the birds with plain oatmeal, you should not do so on a daily basis. In fact, oatmeal can actually be harmful for birds. Dry oats scattered on bird tables are great for doves, pigeons, and robins. Blackbirds prefer oats mixed with fruit, and you can also add fruit to oatmeal.
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Uncooked oats
While most people think of dried fruit, nut, and seed mixes when feeding birds, there are several other ingredients you can use with uncooked oatmeal. You can add chopped nuts or sunflower seeds. You can also add dried fruit of excellent quality, such as raisins and cranberries. A few tablespoons of ground flaxseed is also a good option. Mixing oatmeal and other ingredients will make a tasty treat for your wild birds.
Steel-cut oats
Wild birds can enjoy the nutritional benefits of steel-cut oats. These hardy grains can be given to birds in both raw and cooked form. Steel-cut oats, also known as Irish or Scottish oats, are the easiest to prepare and have the added benefit of extra fiber. While oats are widely consumed by humans, the process of making steel-cut oats makes them an ideal choice for wild birds.
Pinhead oats
You can feed wild birds with pinhead oats. These soft and small oats are packed with fats and carbohydrates, which make them a nutritious food for many birds. They’re also a good choice for spring and summer feeding, as they can support busy bird parents through moult. Pinhead oats are available in 13kg or 25kg bags, which are often called naked rolled or steel-cut oats.
Bread
Using oatmeal as a food supplement for your wild birds is one way to attract them to your backyard. Oatmeal, combined with other ingredients, will create a tasty mix that will entice your birds to visit your yard. Combine oatmeal with sunflower seeds, chopped nuts, and dried fruit. Try combining all of these ingredients with different types of wild bird seed. The result will be a meal that will be a treat for both you and the birds.
Cereals
While many people have a fascination with feeding animals, not all of them are aware of the health risks of fortified cereals. Providing a varied diet is beneficial to birds, but feeding them fortified cereals is not recommended. Birds’ nutritional requirements are different from ours, so we can’t provide them with vitamin supplements in large quantities. Additionally, a bird’s digestive system cannot tolerate large amounts of milk, so feeding them cornflakes or other types of cereal can cause gastrointestinal problems and even death.
Pudding
Oatmeal pudding for wild birds is a simple treat that many backyard birdwatchers enjoy feeding to their flocks. This dish can be made with oats and melted suet in a saucepan. Add raisins and nuts if desired. Then mix in suet or peanut butter. Then hang the resulting mixture outdoors where the wild birds can find it. Using a birch log, you can create your own bird feeder for your backyard wildlife.
Peanut butter
Oatmeal for wild birds with peanut spread is a tasty treat for your backyard’s resident avian friends. Though peanut butter is a favorite among many species, it can sometimes create problems in your yard. Fortunately, peanut butter is easy to use in your birdfeeder and offers a variety of healthy benefits. Keep in mind that you should only use small amounts, so that you can avoid causing health problems for your birds.
