Make Your Songbirds Happy With Chubby Mealworms

Make Your Songbirds Happy With Chubby Mealworms

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Make Your Songbirds Happy With Chubby Mealworms

Bird watching is the number one hobby in North America! The birds are excited— and so are their fans. Here are a few things that you can do to keep your feathered visitors happy in your home habitat. Follow these tips from our resident birding gurus too ensure a successful feeding set-up for your flying flocks.

“Whether you are hosting resident species or migratory songbirds – they all require these three simple resources,” Cicely the Bird Expert.

Those three needs are:

  • Food
  • Water
  • Shelter
  • As a birder, your mission is to supply the habitat and food to suit the birds that are already visiting and to attract those birds that are journeying through. Shepherding the wild birds into a desired place is key.

    Don’t forget that step two is an important resource for songbirds. Provide clean water for wild birds to drink and bathe in. In cold weather add a safe birdbath heater connected with a ground fault circuit. Never add any oil or glycerin to the water – this is dangerous and deadly to wildlife (it soils plumage and acts like an oil spill).

    “Plant shrubs and fruit bearing trees to provide cover, shelter and nesting sites.”

    Just like us, songbirds are sight shoppers. They won’t come to your cafe if they can’t see it. Set your feeder in a clear area that will be visible from the air and from their normal flight levels. You can slowly move the feeder to its final location. And just like with any product, crowds spread news. The rise in flitting and socializing will attract more birds in. Birds created the original Twitter. “Hey, what’s going on down there, Phil?”







    “Anyone can mix up homemade bird treats. This is a fun activity that kids will love to help with creating,” Henri, resident naturalist and crafting coach.
    Mealworm Mixes

    Rustic ornaments add whimsy to your winter decorations and feeding stations. Hang theses treats around your yard to provide a variety of feeding locations. Shy species will appreciate these…so set a few in quiet areas of your yard.

    Chubby Mealworms provide the necessary calories and fat that songbirds need in cold weather, for breeding and for nesting seasons. Wild birds love Chubby Mealworms!

  • Spread peanut butter or softened suet on pinecones. Spread from the top of the cone to the wide base, making sure to get the suet or peanut butter into the crevices of the scales. Roll them in seeds, dried Chubby Mealworms and crushed nuts.
  • Add Chubby Mealworms to your seed mixes. Feeders made to serve sunflower seed and variety mixes will also support the dried mealworms.
  • Decorate small, disposable wreaths with peanut balls rolled in Chubby Mealworms. Use natural greenery and compost the wreath after the winter season.
  • Set out bird feeding trays with birdy “meatballs.” Chop up the warmed bird suet (any flavor) into a bowl. Mash it up with a spoon. Add some Chubby Mealworms and mix them in. Roll the bird suet into small one-inch balls. Roll each ball into more mealworms. You can place these “meatballs” on trays, stick them on branches or set them into suet cages or suet mesh hangers.
  • Predators

    Everyone is hungry in the cold dark days of winter. Hawks search out feeding stations. These hunters quickly hone in on the heavy activity around feeders and birdbaths. Predation is a natural process, but herding groups of birds together in a tight and focused area is not.

    What you can do:

    Birds of prey hunt by surprise. They use speed and cover to launch attacks on unsuspecting birds. Ensure that your hanging and ground feeders give the birds a clear view to see any predators approaching,” Dr. Bianca, Ornithologist.

  • Give birds access to dense cover. The brush and shrubs really do need to be quite thick and dense - think scrub and tangles. Hawks can get into tight spaces and they will crawl into brush to grab panicking birds.
  • Don’t set feeders near fences, nets or walls. When setting feeders near buildings allow enough space for the birds to make a get away without getting blocked by the buildings. Aerial attacks happen quickly and birds react in an instant with no time for them to negotiate obstacles and most hawk “grabs” happen as birds are trapped by walls or fences (especially wire or chain-link).
  • Ground predators are not as big a risk, as most hunt at night. But day threats include bobcats…and domestic cats are the major killer of wild birds. Keep feeders at least 4 feet from the ground and several feet away from low cover that the wild or domestic cats can hide under.~

  • Is that a Yellow Warbler or a Wilson’s?”

     

    Share your cool winter tips for your area? Leave a comment below with extra ideas for everyone’s favorite hobby! How do you feed Chubby Mealworms?