Easy Homemade Wild Bird Treats

Wild birds add to the yard's appeal with their songs, flight, mating dances, nesting and entertaining antics. Give them the basic things they need--bribing them with treats helps, too. The Audubon Society recommends attracting birds by providing a habitat with food, clean water, shelter and nesting areas. Planting a variety of trees, bushes and flowers to produce nuts, seeds and nectar creates year-round food sources for multiple bird species. In addition to this food supply, create homemade treats to nourish the wild birds in your yard and they'll come back for more.

  1. Feeders and Food

    • The Audubon Society advises multiple feeding stations, particularly during harsh winters. Provide food for birds that feed on the ground and for those who prefer to perch. Foods that appeal to birds include nectar for orioles and humming birds, thistle, suet, millet and black sunflower seeds.

    Recipes

    • Any way you want to combine unsalted, preferably natural, peanut butter, black sunflowers (you can use regular sunflower seeds; the black ones are a bird favorite, though), plain shelled peanuts, hulled sunflower seeds, soaked raisins, dried melon seeds, plain popped popcorn and / or millet will make a treat for the birds. Mother Earth News suggests taking large pine cones, dipping them in honey (preferably) or peanut butter and shaking them in a container of white millet and cracked corn. Put these out in the yard, some at ground level and some on trays on porch rails or in the trees, and watch the birds enjoy their treat.

    Suet

    • Suet (beef fat from the area near the kidneys) makes a powerful bird attractant, especially in the winter, when the fat helps the bird meet its calorie demands. Obtain suet strips from the butcher to hang from trees and shrubs. Bushes and trees help protect birds from predators so these make good feeding areas. Attract Wild Birds.com suggests using an electric skillet outdoors to melt suet, to avoid the odor in the house. The site also advises adding peanut butter to improve the consistency, and putting in rolled oats or sunflower seeds, then pouring into bread or cupcake pans to make suet cake treats for the wild birds. Serve the suet after it cools. Use a suet feeder or pierce the suet cake with wire and hang it in the shrubs and trees. Avoid putting out suet in warm weather as it goes rancid. Clean feeders every two weeks year-round to reduce bacteria and protect wild birds' health.