FOOD FOR BIRDS 

Bacon and other fats:  Fat from cuts of meat (as long as it comes from only unsalted varieties) can be put out in large pieces, from which birds such as tits can remove morsels. Ensure they are well anchored to prevent large birds flying away with the whole piece.  Bacon rind, as long as you can be sure it is not salty can be put out. Since bacon can be too tough for many birds to tackle, chopping it finely will allow a wider variety of birds to benefit.  Unlike humans, birds need high levels of saturated fat, such as raw suet and lard. Birds will need the high energy content to keep warm in the worst of the winter weather, since their body reserves are quickly used up, particularly on cold winter nights.  

Bread: All types of bread are acceptable to birds, but ideally only if it is just one component in a varied diet. Soaked bread is more easily ingested than stale dry bread, and brown bread is better than white. During the breeding season, crumble the bread into tiny pieces so that it is only eaten by the adult birds, and never put out an amount that will last more than one hour. Dry chunks of bread will choke baby birds. 

Dog and Cat food:  Meaty tinned dog and cat food can be very useful for birds, and form an acceptable substitute to earthworms during the warm, dry part of the summer when worms are beyond the birds' reach. Blackbirds readily take dog food, and even feed it to their chicks. 

Peanuts: are rich in fats and are of major importance to tit and greenfinch flocks during the winter and cold spring months. Never place out loose nuts during the breeding season. Salted peanuts should never be used for bird food.  

Rice and cereals: Cooked rice, brown or white (without salt added) is beneficial and readily accepted by all species during severe winter weather.  Porridge oats must never be cooked, since this makes them glutinous and can harden around a bird's beak. Uncooked porridge oats are readily taken by a number of bird species. Any breakfast cereal is acceptable, put out small quantities at a time. It is best offered dry, with a supply of drinking water nearby, since it quickly turns into pulp once wetted. 

Coconut: Give fresh coconut only, in the shell. Rinse out any residues of the sweet coconut water from the middle of the coconut before hanging it out to prevent the build-up of black mildew. Desiccated coconut should never be used as it may swell once inside a bird and cause death 

   Salt: Garden birds are practically unable to metabolise salt, which in high quantity is toxic, affecting the nervous system. Under normal circumstances in the wild, birds are unlikely to take harmful amounts of salt.  Never put out salted food onto the bird table, and never add salt to bird baths to keep water ice-free in the winter. 

Wiggly worms (Tenebrio molitor)

Mealworms, yes I know they look like shiny maggots, but they are not so squishy, and handling them is rather like grabbing a handful of animated rice! More to the point the birds love them.

It is very important that any mealworms fed to birds are fresh. Any dead or discoloured ones should not be used as they can cause problems such as salmonella poisoning.

Mealworms are the vegetarian larvae of the Flour Beetle, a native British insect which eats flour, meal, grain and other related crops. They are rich in  protein 48% crude protein and 40% fat making them an excellent, proven food for all insect eating garden birds.

They're clean and odourless and are relished by many species of birds. Robins have been known to take these from the hand.  Help them out in the breeding season; Great Tits have been recorded taking insects to their nest 800 - 900 times a day and it has been estimated that up to 8,000 caterpillars in addition to many insects and larvae, are needed during the rearing period.

Mealworms should be stored at between 53°F/12°C  - 64°F/18°C and will keep well for up to 2wks.  Should you wish to store them for longer you can transfer them to the warmest part of your fridge, away from the icebox.  You can feed mealworms with porridge oats, bran or prepared packaged 'bug grub/pro grub/reptiluxe' which contains bran, calcium and other minerals (this also acts as bedding). For moisture add strips of carrot or slices of apple or potato.. Do not put too much vegetable matter in as it can turn the food/bedding mouldy and refresh every couple of days. 

Depending on how long you keep the worms, you may find that a fine brown dust will appear in your container; this is mealworm waste 'frass' and you should remove this from the container before topping up with food. (I use a sieve...empty contents of tub into the sieve and tap gently, return mealworms and leftover bran to container. 

Breeding, you  will need:    

Container:  Large plastic food container, small glass aquariums, biscuit tin, punch small holes in the lid, to allow ample ventilation and air to circulate freely to avoid the build-up of potentially harmful mold and bacteria ventilation.

Bedding:  Bug/pro grub, Porridge oats, Bran, Whole wheat flour, Bran flakes or shredded wheat - crushed for easy eating  

Potatoes, apple slices, raw cabbage leaf, moist blotting paper for moisture. You should change and remove vegetables daily or mould can build up.   Water:  Do not put water in their accommodation!!  

Starter culture of mealworms 

If you wish to breed your own worms, the mealworms will take about 12 weeks to go from egg to worm, to beetle. Ideally the worms should be kept at a constant 77°F/ 25°C average degrees, but you can keep them anywhere between 45°F/7 °C and 81°F/27 °C.  Pupation is to some extent inhibited at 86°F/30°C.  Do not overcrowd cultures. 

To start your mealworm culture pour  roughly up to 3 inches of bedding (which they also eat), into the container and add your mealworms. Add moisture sources and that is it. The mealworms will morph in a couple weeks into a grub/pupa (picture below). Pupal period last for 30 days at 15°C, 9 days at 25°C. (It is a good idea though to remove the pupae into their own container until they have turned into beetles. It is not uncommon for the worms and beetles to munch on the pupae).  The grubs then become beetles.  Place the beetles in a second container with bedding and moisture source and let nature do the rest. It takes between 5 and 7 days after the change, for a  beetle to be sexually mature. The beetle may survive up to 170 days as an adult but don't be surprised if they die after a couple weeks. Mating takes place and females lay eggs within 24 hours, each female beetle will lay up to 500 eggs or more. Each egg is roughly 1/20th of an inch and sticks to the substrate so chances are, you will not see the eggs.  Remove dead beetles/transfer live to another container.

Keep the container with the leftover frass/bran in a dry area, and add small slices of potato. The eggs will hatch from 1 - 4 weeks, and eventually you will see tiny mealworms appear in the container. Two weeks after hatching, sift out the tiny larvae and put them in a container with fresh food, and vegetable slices as before.

Hygiene - vital precautions from RSPB HQ 

When a large number of birds are attracted into an area to feed, the danger of disease increases.

Prevention is always better than a cure, and is the best thing you can do to help the birds.

Most diseases are transmitted by droppings. If contaminated droppings mix with food, the birds will run a risk of picking up the infection. Since the contamination can originate either from other birds or from animals such as rats, it is important to guard against infection from both sources.

Good hygiene is particularly important during the summer months. The warmer weather can make food go off quicker, and can provide ideal conditions for harmful bacteria to proliferate.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Registered charity no. 207076
Unless otherwise stated,  copyright Laura Bimson/RSPB.)

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