Many of these homemade bird food recipes include ingredients you likely have laying around the house.
Most backyard birds will eat many things. The recipes listed for each bird are some of their preferred food selections.
Red -Winged Blackbird
(Bread!)
Great project for 3 year old or older - with supervision
Complexity - Easy
Time to Complete - 10 minutes
Main Ingredient - Bread
Needed - Old bread, croutons or similar
The red-winged blackbird is primarily a marsh bird, but will nest near virtually any body of water and will occasionally breed in upland pastures.
If you are fortunate enough to have these birds nearby, then this may be the easiest of all homemade recipes. The red-winged blackbird likes bread, and will eat from the ground. So spread some old bread, rolls, croutons or similar items, broken up into little quarter-sized pieces, around the base of your feeder and see if you can attract them in.
Enjoy!
Gray Catbird
(Raisin Bran!)
Great project for 3 year old or older - with supervision
Complexity - Easy
Time to Complete - 10 minutes
Main Ingredient - Raisin bran cereal
Needed - Old or stale raisin bran cereal (or similar cereal with fruit in it)
The grey catbird is both loved and not so loved by many backyard birders. They have been known to be very aggressive around their nests, food sources and young, at times swooping close to people that it feels are infringing on its territory. For the most part, people like them because of their beautiful catlike mewing sounds. That is how the catbird got its name. It will also mimic other birds, frogs, and even machines. In this way, it is similar to the northern mockingbird. They both belong to the mimic thrush family.
The catbird eats many kinds of insects, spiders, millipedes and centipedes. It also loves berries, and will often find your raspberry, blueberry or strawberry patch in your garden, so be sure to get there before they do! This bird also loves raisins and cereal, so here is an easy recipe. Fill your feeder with old or stale raisin bran cereal. You may just be able to attract them in.
Here is a little known fact: The catbird will also eat halved oranges or jelly in a dish. Take a look at our Baltimore Oriole recipes. They will also work well for the catbird.
Enjoy!
Oriole - Baltimore
There are 2 very easy recipes for Orioles.
Great project for 3 year old or older - with supervision
Complexity - Easy
Time to Complete - 10 minutes
Main Ingredient - Orange or Jelly
Needed - Orange or Jelly
Step 1 - This is one of the easiest of all! All that is needed is half an orange. Nail the orange to a deck railing, bird feeder, or other location where the Orioles can easily perch. (See the picture.)
Step 2 - Another easy recipe is to place a dish of jelly in a similar location. We have found Orioles prefer jelly over jam, which may be thicker and not to their liking.
Note- Both methods work great. Placing the food under a cover (such as a feeder with a roof) will make it last much longer. Just make sure the orioles have enough room to move freely.
Enjoy!
Brown Thrasher
(Fruit and Nut Plate)
Great project for 3 year old or older - with supervision
Complexity - Easy
Time to Complete - 10 minutes
Main Ingredient - Apples
Needed - 2 cups dried and chopped apples (or similar fruit) (dried fruit will last longer)
2 cups raisins
1 cup chopped prunes
2 cups chopped nuts (any kind of nuts you have available in your pantry)
1 cup dried squash, pumpkin or melon seeds (see our online recipe) (sunflowers or other seeds can also be used)
2 cups dried bread or croutons
- Feeder - Use either a platform type feeder or place a plate on the ground near your other feeders (remember that the Brown Thrasher is used to eating on the ground, but will take to a platform (no roof) feeder. JUST WATCH OUT FOR THOSE DARN SQUIRRELS!
Step 1 - Just mix the ingredients together in a pail.
Step 2 - Start out by adding a small amount to the feeder and see how the birds take to it.
Step 3 - Store the remainder of your feed in a paper bag in a dry, cool location. Keep an eye on it often so it does not start to mold before you get it out to your birds.
Enjoy!
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