Feeding Wild Birds

[jpmcgrew]

Just wondering what you can feed wild birds with stuff from your kitchen that is good for them.I buy wild bird seed already.We have come to our yard Pinon Jays,Stellar Jays,Red Winged Blackbirds,Chickadees,Black Collared Eurasion Doves,Flickers some more Im sure.

 

[sage™]

They like peanut butter, suet is good for them in the winter. Put out left over plain toast, crumbled up. Even stale bread. Nuts broken up small. Plain popped popcorn.
Smear a pinecone with peanut butter and roll in seeds and hang in a tree.

 

[jpmcgrew]

Cool, I have bird suet with seeds and berries

 

[jpmcgrew]

They like peanut butter, suet is good for them in the winter. Put out left over plain toast, crumbled up. Even stale bread. Nuts broken up small. Plain popped popcorn.
Smear a pinecone with peanut butter and roll in seeds and hang in a tree.

Can the popcorn be made with oil?I dont have a air popper.

 

[Constance]

Just wondering what you can feed wild birds with stuff from your kitchen that is good for them.I buy wild bird seed already.We have come to our yard Pinon Jays,Stellar Jays,Red Winged Blackbirds,Chickadees,Black Collared Eurasion Doves,Flickers some more Im sure.

They love corn bread, just as most critters (including people) do.
They also like stale bread crumbs...set them out and let them harden up a bit first, then crunch them up. They don't have to be that small...the birds will peck at them.
They also like stale crackers or certain cereals, like corn flakes or wheat bran.
You can also toast fresh bread, spread it with peanut butter, and set it out whole. They will peck up that peanut butter, which is oily and rich, and a great source of nutrition for them.

Up here, in cold weather, we give them suet, which is made of beef fat with a little seed in it, to help keep them warm. My husband has even set bacon grease out for them when the weather was extreme.
You can make your own suet, but it's not worth it...just buy it. It comes in a little chunk, covered with plastic grid, ready to hang. It's not a good idea to leave chunks of beef fat or grease out, as it tends to attract varmints
(raccoons, stray dogs, coyotes, rats, bears) that you don't want around.

Squirrels like everything birds like, so good luck with them.

DON'T feed the birds rice...supposedly, it swells up in there stomaches and kills them.

 

[Uncle Bob]

On the rare occasion that any cornbread is not eaten. They seem to enjoy it.

 

[sage™]

popcorn popped in oil should be ok or you can pop it in a paper bag in your microwave w/o oil. My mom would put out pieces of suet from beef she cut the fat off of..lol..they ate it. Oh..they go nuts for raisens..I sometimes cut up a few and put out for them.

 

[expatgirl]

we used to have some very fat ducks to feed at a local park and they would ignore bread offerings and always go for popcorn but I didn't know that other birds in the wild would, too......our winters are so mild here in Houston that the birds don't really have to forage but it's so much fun to watch them eat from the feeders

 

[Bilby]

I feed the meat-eating birds minced lamb/beef/pork and the seed eaters black sunflower seeds. I have fruit trees as well so the high and perished fruit is also available to them. Out of fruit season, I also put out seed bells.

There was a slightly heated debated on the radio on Christmas Day or Boxing Day here (can't remember which) on giving birds bread. They ended up phoning a vet who advised that it is not a good idea to give birds bread. Can't remember the reason he said.

 

[jpmcgrew]

We dont have many squirrels here so they are not a problem.Thanks for all the great tips everyone.

 

[suziquzie]

This isn't really relevant now, but oranges for the Orioles in the summer. Supposedly. Or grape jelly.
But no matter what I put out for them, they are always at the hummingbird feeders!
The cardinals and blue jays love the black sunflower best I think. Good thing it's cheap!

 

[Bilby]

What do you consider cheap for sunflower seeds Suzi? Here it is A$14.40 for a 5kg bag. It was scare here for quite a while due to the drought.

 

[Constance]

Cardinals will eat cracked corn just as easily as sunflower seeds, if you're trying to save a few bucks. The oil in the sunflower seeds is good for them, but the corn gives them lots of nutrition too.

We just use the wild bird mix, as it also contains little seeds for the smaller birds such as chickadees and titmice.

 

[sparrowgrass]

Birds can eat rice--that is an urban legend that it swells in their stomachs and kills them. Plain white rice has calories, but not a lot of other nutrition, so it really isn't a great bird seed, but they can eat it safely. (And you can throw it at brides with no fear.)

You can make your own seed cakes by melting equal quanities of shortening or lard and peanut butter. Stir in corn meal, ww flour and/or sunflower seeds, chill it, and put it out in wire baskets or old onion bags.

You can also smear peanut butter right on a tree trunk--the titmice, chickadees and nuthatches will vacuum it right off.

 

[jpmcgrew]

What about raw oatmeal?

 

[sparrowgrass]

Oatmeal is fine, raw or cooked. Also, while you are clearing the breakfast table, they like eggs. And the egg shells. (Let the shells dry on the counter for a day or so, and then crush them. They are especially popular during nesting season--the birds are getting the calcium they need to make their own eggshells.)

 

[jpmcgrew]

Oatmeal is fine, raw or cooked. Also, while you are clearing the breakfast table, they like eggs. And the egg shells. (Let the shells dry on the counter for a day or so, and then crush them. They are especially popular during nesting season--the birds are getting the calcium they need to make their own eggshells.)

Thanks I just want to give them the best and I just knew there had to be something in the house that may be good for them.So now Im wondering if I tossed some olive oil in the oatmeal for the really cold nights it could be helpful.

 

[suziquzie]

I gave up on corn. I've made my birds picky, the only ones that eat it are the million squirrells.

Bilby (sorry I've been MIA!) I think we pay about $15 for a 25 lb bag? It's been awhile, I can't remember. And I don't know the kg /lb OR the $/ AU$ translations.....

 

[Bilby]

Bilby (sorry I've been MIA!) I think we pay about $15 for a 25 lb bag? It's been awhile, I can't remember. And I don't know the kg /lb OR the $/ AU$ translations.....

Providing you've been enjoying yourself Suzi, I'll forgive you... this time!!!

I'm not quite up with the conversions either but if you divide the kilos into the lbs and A$ into US$, stand on your head and sing the "Supercalifragilicious" song backwards, I think it works out ... that yours is cheaper!!!

 

[sparrowgrass]

I can buy black oil sunflower seeds for $16 for a 50 pound bag at the feed store. Last year, it was $11, and sometimes went on sale for nine or ten dollars.

Olive oil mixed with your oatmeal would be delicious gourmet food for the birdies, jpm, but why not just buy some bird seed?