Homemade Birdseed Treats

Whether you are hoping to attract new birds to your yard or already have a plethora of winged friends, having delicious and decorative treats hanging outside to accommodate feathered guests is a snap with a few quick recipes. These bird treats also make wonderful gifts for the bird enthusiast. You can add them to holiday baskets for friends and family; just make sure the recipient knows the bird treats are to share, not to eat!

  1. Birdseed Jubilee

    • Make these treats into a single shape, or use a variety of cookie cutters if you like. Mix an edible glue to hold the treat together with 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup water, 3 Tbsp. corn syrup and a package of plain gelatin. Add to this glue mixture 4 cups of the following, mixed together: bird seed, nuts, fruits, raisins and berries. Cover a large tray with wax paper and roll out the mixture till it's 1/2 inch thick. You may use cookie cutters or hand shape the mixture into wreaths and let it dry for six hours. Turn the shapes and dry them an additional six hours. Tie them with raffia or ribbon and hang them from trees and porches.

    Peckin' Pine Cones

    • Find pine cones that are already open enough to stuff treats between the pine tufts. The mixture consists of 2 cups chunky peanut butter, 2 cups oats, 2 cups cornmeal, 1 cup white flour and 1 cup lard. Heat the lard and peanut butter in a saucepan, add the other ingredients to the mix and remove it from the heat. Mix in additional seeds, nuts and colorful dried fruit. Let it cool and stuff it into pine cone spaces. Hang it in the yard with decorative ribbons. Save any leftover mixture in the freezer until you're ready to use it.

    Goody Garlands

    • Make dried fruit and snack garlands for the holidays. You need to thread a large needle with 4 to 6-inch lengths of thin cotton string (you may also use dental floss). Alternate stringing dried fruit, unsalted pretzels, nuts and cranberries. Add tiny pine cones, colored popcorn and sprigs of pine or holly, tying the string around larger items to secure them. Strewn high in the trees above the yard, these holiday bird treats are festive and a lovely outdoor decoration for the holidays.

    Birdseed Biscuits

    • These birdseed biscuits take about an hour to finish and reap two 3-inch biscuits or one large 4-inch treat. Mix together 3/4 cup birdseed, 1 Tbsp. flour and 2 Tbsp. water. Hand-pack the seed mixture tightly into a greased cookie cutter and place the biscuits on a foil-covered baking sheet. Before heating them in the oven, insert a straw at the top of each to create a hole you can later pull a ribbon through for hanging. Bake them at 170 degrees for approximately one hour and let them cool before removing the straws. Finish them off with ribbon or string and hang them in the yard.