Using bird food recipes to make your own wild birdfood is a great way to fuel your kids' interest in bird watching.
You can use a project like this to teach them about what birds eat. You can have a lot of fun when making your bird food by using seasonal molds or cookie cutters to shape your food.
Maybe you are out of bird food and your bird feeders are empty and you don't have enough time to pack up the kids and head off to the store. There are many common ingredients, which you probably have around the kitchen, that you can put together to make delicious treats for your feathered friends.
You can follow one of my recipes or just have some fun by mixing several ingredients together and see what happens.
A lot of our readers have sent in their favorites! (Scroll down below) You can find projects from simple suet bird food to how to make abird seed wreath.
Household foods and the birds that areattracted to them.
Things you can use, if you are using recipes tomake homemade wild bird food:
Raisins or Currants
Dates
Shelled peanuts
Apples
Oranges
Birdseed mix
Black oil sunflower seeds
Molds to shape your creations
String or yarn
Lard, shortening or rendered suet
Crunchy peanut butter
Molasses
Oatmeal
Stale bread, breadcrumbs or crackers
Cornmeal or cornbread mix
Cream of wheat
Graham crackers
Flour (whole wheat flour preferred)
Two bird food recipes to start with:
If you are going to use an oriole feeder, consider making your own homemade Oriole bird food.
Homemade Oriole Bird Food Recipe
1 part sugar/6 parts water
Bring the water to a boil and then add the sugar. Boil until the sugar has dissolved. 1 part sugar to 6 parts water means that if you boil 2 cups of water you will need 1/3 cup of sugar.
Let the mixture cool before filling your feeder. Store any excess food in your refrigerator until ready to use. There is no need to add food coloring.
Learnmore about attracting orioles here.
September Harvest
This is another homemade wild bird food recipe that I know you will enjoy. September means apples. There arealso many other fruits available. Many migratory birds that eat fruit will be tempted to linger at your bird feeders if you offer the following mix. Use a platform style feeder when offering this wild bird food mix.
2 cups of dried, chopped apples (driedapples will not get moldy as fast)
2 cups of raisins
2 cups of chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts orany nuts you have available)
1 cup of chopped prunes
1 cup of dried melon or squash seeds
Simply mix the ingredients together in a large bowl or bucket. Start by adding small amounts to your feeder and store the rest in a paper bag in a cool and dry location. Now your homemade wild bird food is ready to serve.
Our Readers Wild Bird Food Recipes
Just scroll down and you can view several of our readers' recipes for wild bird food recipes.
Do you have one you'd like to share? What kind of birds does your recipe attract? Got a picture of them feeding in your feeder? It's simple to upload a photo!
We'd love to feature it for our readers. Just fill out the form below!
Do you have a wild bird food recipe that you want to share?
If you have a wild bird food recipe that works well for you why not share it? Backyard birders are always looking for new and economical bird foods to attract wild birds to their feeders. We would love to hear from you!
Click below to see recipes from other visitors to this page...
Branch Dough
-1 part peanut butter -1 part vegetable shortening -2 1/2 parts white flour
Mix the peanut butter and shortening in a bowl. (Optional: add raisins,...
bacon fat ,seeds, nuts and fruit
Not rated yet
Use old bacon grease..let harden in freezer...then take out and place any grains, nuts, berries, apples seeds, old crackers or bread and form to the desired ...
Leftover Baked Oatmeal Scramble
by Mendy(Kentucky)
Yummy Baked Oatmeal for People: 1/2 Stick butter, melted 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 1/2 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 3 tsp baking powder 1 tsp. salt 5 cups oatmeal 3 cups water or milk Mix well. Bake 325 for 20 minutes.
For the birds: Use leftover oatmeal and scramble in skillet with: chopped apple or other dried fruit Leftover chopped bacon. Refrigerate. Sprinkle on platform feeder.
Breakfast of Champions
by Chery Aschenbrenner(Laona, WI 54541)
left over bacon grease cooled when cool addchunky peanut butter/stir. Add raisins, sunflower seeds, special K cereal. Let sit then freeze in square container suet feeder size.
an idea bird combo-mixby kevin swenson(columbus,ohio)
A combination of oats,cut prunes,raisins,honey,peanut butter,syrup(optional),granola,and a mix of crushed nuts.
Leftover Baked Oatmeal Scramble Ingredients 1 cup oatmeal 1 cup raisins 1 cup cornmeal 1/2 cup meat grease 1/2 cup peanut butter
Mix dry ingredients. Melt grease and peanut butter in microwave. Add to dry ingredients. Mix well. Freeze in ice cubes trays until firm.
Peanut Butter Pine Cone
Attach a string to a pine cone (tie it on) spread peanut butter over the pine cone then roll the peanut butter covered pine cone in bird seed.
Hang in a tree and watch the birds come for a meal!
Log Feeder Bird Treat When using a log feeder, why not try this neat treat that birds love, consisting of:
· 5 parts oatmeal · 1 part corn syrup · 1 part peanut butter · 1 part bacon fat of suet · 1 part varied seeds and nuts i.e. black sunflower seeds, peanuts, chopped walnuts, or pine seeds and millet will work as well.
Combine in a bowl and once your done fill the mixture into your log feeder.
If you are going to use an oriole feeder, consider making your own homemade Oriole bird food.
