There is no better way of bringing birds to your garden than getting some bird feeders and filling them up. Something you may not realise though is that birds are quite varied in their diets.
Of course, the staple is always bird seed such as sunflower hearts, but there are plenty of other items that you can provide to supplement that.
In this blog, we will look at some of the common kitchen scraps that you can feed to the birds.
Pantry staples
Nuts and seeds
In addition to the aforementioned sunflower seeds, birds enjoy several other types of seeds. Ones taken from fruit such as pumpkins or melons are a good choice and can either be raw or roasted. In terms of nuts, peanuts are the best ones to go with – but make sure they are unsalted.
Grains
There are several different types of grain that birds will eat. Raw porridge oats will be fine for them, as will plain cooked rice as long as it is unsalted and left to cool first. Other options are cracked corn and quinoa. Food of this kind gives birds a vital source of energy.
Dried fruit
Birds will eat dried fruit as long as it is prepared properly. Some fruits that are ideal to serve them dried are sultanas, cranberries and raisins. If they are a bit too dry, you can always soak them first.
Peanut butter
One of the more unusual pantry staples that birds can eat is peanut butter. In fact, it is an excellent energy source for them during the autumn and winter months. Make sure that the peanut butter in question is unsalted and does not have any sugar added to it though.
Cereal
The last of the pantry items is cereal of the type that we eat for breakfast. This must be plain though, with no sugar of any kind. You can serve crackers to birds too, even if they are a bit stale. It is actually a good way of using up items like that rather than throwing them in the bin.
Fridge finds
Fruits
It is not just dried fruits that birds are happy to eat – they will consume ordinary fruit too. Apples, melon, berries and bananas are all fine to give to them, as long as you chop them into small pieces. Bear in mind that any seeds must be removed first though.
Vegetables
A number of the vegetables in your fridge can make for good bird food. Some examples include potatoes, broccoli and carrots. The potatoes should be cooked first though and ideally mashed before you put them out. Any vegetables should only ever be given to birds in quite small amounts too.
Fats and protein
Birds need a lot of proteins and fats to be able to survive. Good foods for providing them are cooked eggs complete with crushed bits of shell, beef fat, suet and bacon rind. Ensure the bacon is not salted.
How to prepare and serve
Some items will need to be chopped up before you serve them to your garden friends. This mainly applies to hard foods like nuts and some fruits and vegetables. Breaking them up into smaller pieces will make it easier for birds to pick them up in their beaks.
A second point that is important is that you must never season food for birds in any way. If you are cooking items like potatoes or rice before putting them out, do not add salt, butter or any type of sauce. Birds can only eat plain foods.
Suet is a great way to provide birds with fat and protein, and the best option is to make it up into fat balls. The way to do that is to melt it and mix with dried fruit, seeds and oats.
When it comes to putting out larger pieces of bird food, it will work a lot better if you use a platform feeder.
Finally, some items that should be avoided at all costs include raw meat, bread soaked in milk, cereals with sugar and foods that have salt in them. You should also never feed avocado to birds, because it is toxic for them.
Follow this guide for feeding birds with items from your kitchen.
