Dried fruit provides wild birds with an easy alternative to fresh food, providing essential nutrition while encouraging natural foraging behaviors. You can feed it alone or mix it with other items to encourage natural foraging behaviors.
Save berries and other fruits past their prime, or add cheaper filler seeds to attract more birds to your feeder. Many bird species love snacking on dried berries.
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Raisins
Raisins are one of the most beloved treats that can be given to wild birds as food source; other dried fruits such as currants, apricots, oranges and cherries may also go down well with fruit-loving birds.
Soaking raisins or any other dried fruits prior to providing them to birds will reintroduce moisture, helping a variety of species during periods of drought. Furthermore, this also softens them up so they’re easier for smaller bird species to consume.
Dried raisins are produced from various cultivars of grapes and are widely consumed worldwide. Each half-cup provides 45 milligrams of calcium, offering potential health promoting properties. Plus they’re low in sugar with powerful phenolic compounds known to have antioxidative effects.
Berries
Orioles in particular seem to love Oriole-friendly fruits like hackberries, kiwis and pineapple in your feeders as a supplement for cheaper filler seeds. Dried hackberries, kiwis and pineapple can provide your bird species with plenty of delicious food sources throughout the year!
Soaking dried fruits in water adds moisture, softening them further. This technique can especially benefit breeding season birders by maintaining energy levels during this critical time of the year.
To create an organic food source in your yard, plant native vines and berry bushes that bear fruit all year-round, then leave any windfall fruit or overripe produce lying around for birds to find. Also remember to save seeds from squashes and melons – even orange peels left lying around can attract woodpeckers!
Apricots
Birds love eating various types of fruit, and providing various kinds can encourage their natural foraging instincts. Parrots especially love bananas’ squishable texture! Bananas provide your feathered friend with vitamins, potassium and dietary fiber – great sources to add variety into their diet!
Save any leftover, bruised, or underripe fruits and vegetables to feed wild birds, such as melons and squash rinds. Dried fruits also make great feeder lures when made into homemade fat balls; commercial bird foods also feature dried fruits in varieties designed for hopper and platform feeders with formulations specifically targeting species such as Orioles and Robins.
Oranges
Oranges make an excellent food source for wild birds as they provide vitamins, minerals and protein while their tart flavor attracts songbirds like cedar waxwings and orioles.
If you want to attract wood thrashes and other songbirds, try offering orange slices at your feeder. Skewer them on spikes in a regular bird feeder or use an oriole feeder specially designed to hold cut orange slices.
Woodpeckers and other corvids enjoy eating oranges during winter when insects are scarce, adding orange zest to food you give birds to help digest and absorb all its essential nutrients – this is particularly useful when feeding blue jays or northern cardinals who tend to have compromised digestive systems.
Star Mango
Fruit can make an excellent treat for wild birds, though only in moderation to ensure their primary source of nutrition (i.e. essential pellets) remains met. Dried fruits provide a convenient way to use up extra fruit that’s past its prime for human consumption while delighting your feathered friends!
Try adding dried mango slices to your bird feeders as an interesting twist to traditional bird seed mixture. Wild birds love these sweet treats that provide essential vitamin A and C supplements!
Soaking fruit before feeding it to wild birds will restore moisture that has evaporated due to drying of their natural water sources. Be sure only to use clear water and not add any salt as this could dehydrate their bodies further.
