Expert: Roger Lederer - 5/29/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hi,
I am writing a column that will discuss making wild bird food and wondered if I could ask you a couple of questions as an expert.  Firstly, what ingredeints should one include in a homemade bird food in order to attract wild birds to your backyard?  Can you make a generic wild bird food that would attract a broad range of bird types?  Secondly, are there particular times of the year that you actively feed wild birds due to migratory behavior?  For instance, in the North East region, should you focus on spring and summer and in temperate regions feed them all year long?  Thank you for your assistance.

ANSWER: Well, most all bird food fed to wild birds is seeds, so if you want to make a mix of seeds, you can buy them or grow them. Depending on where you are, you can also use fruit, mealworms, suet (fat), insect mash, and other stuff you can buy at feed stores. Virtually any mixture of seeds will attract some birds - there is no one generic mix. Birds that come to bird feeders for seeds do so mostly in the late fall through early spring, both migratory and non-migratory. From the late spring to late fall, natural foods are abundant and most birds don't take advantage of a bird feeder. Also, they breed during this time and feed their young high protein food (like insects and worms) rather than low protein seeds.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for your prompt response.  What about suet recipes that call for cornmeal, peanut butter, brown sugar, dried fruit, and seeds?  Are these appropriate for a number of birds?  I guess the peanut butter takes the place for the fat you mentioned in your response.  And your advice on seasons for feeding wild birds doesn't rely change based on region(North East vs. Florida, for example)?

Sharon

Answer
Woodpeckers, Chickadees, Bluebirds, Mockingbirds, Kinglets, Titmice, Nuthatches, Robins, and Wrens typically don't visit seed feeders but may come to suet feeders. Depending on where you live of course as you may not have some of these in your area. Yes, peanut butter is the fat content. But suet is best in the winter as it attracts insects in the summer and goes rancid rapidly. Yes, the advice on seasons is basically the same except that the seasons are shorter up north and longer down south. And in Florida and the southern parts of other states, breeding may take place all year around for some birds so the feeders are really for the migrants that come through.