Birds need protein to build strong feathers and food as energy sources. Additionally, they require other vital nutrients, including carbohydrates, calcium and trace minerals.
Avian veterinarians frequently see birds brought into their hospitals due to nutritional imbalances caused by seeds diets. A specially formulated pellet diet can prevent and treat these imbalances effectively.
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Pellets
Many pet birds that come into veterinary clinics exhibit nutritional imbalances due to seed-based diets high in fat. Pellets offer more balanced food sources and may reduce this problem significantly.
Pellets come in the form of pelleted cubes, crumbles or cakes (Avi-Cakes) made up of various ingredients combined in specific amounts to eliminate bird preferences and ensure balanced nutrition in each bite.
Peanuts are a favorite among birds, whether offered whole, in their shell (monkey nuts), or ground into a fine paste known as “kibbled”. Peanuts provide protein and fat-rich nourishment and can be mixed with other food in feeders or used alone; other options for starlings may include insect suet blocks or pre-packaged coconut husks which have proven very successful at drawing them in.
Seed Mixes
Seed mixes are an ideal way to attract birds to feeders, and are available in an assortment of sizes and styles. Many mixes include high-quality ingredients like black oil sunflower seeds, striped sunflower seeds and safflower seed; other mixes may even include Nyjer seeds that finches, sparrows and redpolls love!
These seeds offer an abundance of copper, an essential nutrient in helping form red blood cells and supporting metabolism and growth. Furthermore, manganese contributes to bone health while healing wounds in your body.
Other popular seeds used as bird feed include white proso millet and cracked corn, both of which can attract Bluebirds, Cardinals and Woodpeckers. Cracked corn may prove particularly helpful in repelling squirrels and other predators from your feeders.
Suet Cakes
Suet is made of rendered animal fat formed into hard cakes that contain seeds, nuts, dried fruit and sometimes mealworms for extra appeal. Suet contains easily digested fat and protein sources which provide essential calories during winter feeding seasons when birds need extra energy reserves to stay warm.
Birders commonly mix pure suet with ground peanuts, oats, wren pellets or other ingredients to attract specific species of birds to their backyard feeders. Some suet products feature vegetable shortening as an animal fat alternative – making them suitable for vegetarians and vegans alike.
True suet is made from fat rendered from cattle loins and dried out into a dry consistency to be fed to wild birds as food. Other forms of animal fat, such as bacon grease or beef drippings mislabeled as suet, have too low melting points for safe bird nutrition.
Mealworms
Mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) are the larval stage of beetles and make an excellent food source for wild birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians alike. Mealworms provide protein, vitamins, minerals and fats while decomposing organic waste in an effective manner.
Mealworms are easy to cultivate. But be patient – it may take up to four months before your culture produces full-sized mealworms of maturity and full size. Mealworms need dark, damp environments with temperatures between 77/80 F and 25/26 C for best results.
Hojun Seo conducted a recent study which demonstrated how cooking mealworms produces various flavor compounds similar to what would be found when meat or fish are being prepared – sweet corn, shrimp, fried oil… The added flavors encourage birds to eat more of these insects per bite and therefore increase nutrition value per bite.
