Birds are fascinating pets that are growing increasingly popular among pet parents. Birds add joy to any backyard but do require some special care and maintenance.
Even though people may feed birds kitchen scraps, this is not healthy for them as these foods were designed for humans or domestic pets and do not belong in wild animal diets.
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Vegetables
Birds have become accustomed to eating seeds, so anything new will likely be met with distrust. By offering fresh foods on a daily basis, adding variety can encourage birds to explore healthier choices.
Vegetables such as carrots, kale, turnips, collard greens and cooked sweet potato provide essential nutrition for birds’ wellbeing. Since cooking may deplete some vitamins from vegetables’ nutritional profile, raw produce should always be preferred.
Try offering some cooked kale as a tasty snack to the birds, along with cooked sweetcorn and peas which contain essential proteins and fats that will add nutritional value to other food you offer them.
Fruit
Birds love fruit and it can easily be offered through your feeders. Fresh or dried fruit like berries, oranges, or apples make great treats for birds to snack on – however be wary of thick coatings or excessive sugar as this could be harmful for their health.
Planting native vines, berry bushes and fruit trees will offer your feathered friends a consistent source of natural food. Incorporating additional fruits such as cranberries into feeding stations may also prove helpful.
One effective homemade way of attracting woodpeckers, nuthatches and chickadees is to coat pinecones in peanut butter before rolling them in your desired seed mixture (we like black oil sunflower seeds). Hang these from tree branches and watch the birds come flocking in!
Nuts
Nuts provide backyard birds with energy-rich treats. Nuts also provide key vitamins and nutrients. Many varieties come packaged together into convenient mixes that can easily fit in tray, dish and hopper feeders.
Provide whole or chopped up nuts as a bait to attract smaller birds that love nuts, such as woodpeckers. Also add them to seed mixes and suet cakes so they will attract larger nut-loving birds like woodpeckers and others who appreciate them!
Nut Medleys are typically composed of multiple varieties of seeds and nuts, such as peanuts, sunflower seeds, black oil sunflower seeds, safflower and raisins. As these mixtures lack filler seeds that birds dislike and discard, making it more economical while simultaneously attracting more songbirds than other nut mixes.
Seeds
Black oil sunflower seeds, specialty songbird mix or Nyjer seed (thistle), all can attract various wild birds to your yard. Just be wary when purchasing mixes containing excessive filler seed like milo which offer no nutritional benefit to birds.
Cracked corn is another excellent food choice to attract ground-feeding birds such as blackbirds and doves, though be wary not to overfeed as excess food may attract pests such as squirrels and grackles.
Avoid milo in bird feed as it’s often seen as low-fat filler that birds ignore and reject, preferring instead white proso millet which provides more nutrition to birds. Also adding some oatmeal into a seed mix can add even more protein!
Pellets
Birds can be notoriously finicky eaters. Once accustomed to one type of seed mix, they become intolerant to anything different – making it all the more important that a wide range of foods be provided and slowly introduced over time.
Pellets offer greater nutrition than seeds due to their balanced balance of fats, vitamins and minerals. A simple way to introduce pellets into a child’s diet is serving them alongside their usual food dish at breakfast and dinner time.
At each stage of conversion, it is recommended to monitor your bird’s weight and droppings closely. If they start losing weight quickly or seem disinterested in feeding on seeds and pellets again, this may indicate it is time to change to a more balanced diet with seeds and pellets as a more viable food option.
