Top 5 Best Foods to Help Birds Stay Warm

These beautiful blue jays are suckers for pieces of bread crust, or day old bakery items like rolls, whole grain bread, etc.  My chickadees and juncos also enjoy smaller pieces of the same items.  Fat and starches help birds maintain their metabolic rates.  Bakery products should not be offered exclusively, though.  Here’s a list of the top five foods to help wild birds stay warm even in the coldest weather:
1.  Black oil sunflower seed
2.  Suet
3.  Peanut Butter, offered on a special feeder, or slathered on bark
4.  Bacon grease soaked up by pieces of white or whole grain bread
5.  Fruit & Nut blend available commercially
Because many birds can easily assimilate black oil sunflower seeds, I have listed it first.  It contains all kinds of good fats, and vitamins and minerals to help maintain birds flight feathers as well as their metabolism.

The above image shows some of my Goldfinches in their winter plumage.  On top of the fresh snow I often toss sunflower seeds, which they seem to relish!
You can make your own suet, or buy it at your local big box hardware store, garden center or wild bird food center.  I have also found it in my grocery store and at large discount retail stores.  It isn’t hard to make your own, though.  And I find it more cost effective.  Here’s How
If you wish to offer peanut butter, you need to remember that it is oily and will leave a residue on any surfaces it contacts.  Slather it on tree bark that you don’t mind becoming a little discolored.  Keep in mind that other critters can easily find it, like my persistent red and grey squirrels, flying squirrels, raccoons, possums and mice.  Any tree-climbing animal will adore you!
Every now and then I crave bacon—real bacon, not the turkey kind!  When I do, I break up pieces of bread into the still warm grease.  Once it has cooled completely, I serve it to my birds on a platform feeder.  It doesn’t last long!  Birds love bacon just as much as people.
The fruit and nut blend I buy includes unsalted shelled peanuts, canary seed, grit (which is essential for bird digestion), pieces of dried cherries, raisins, white proso millet**, black oil and grey striped sunflower seeds, dried pumpkin seeds and bits of shelled walnuts.  A little goes a long way, so I offer a small amount each day in my basket feeder.  Blue jays, finches, chickadees, tufted titmice and woodpeckers all stop by many times during the day for this special treat.
**White Proso Millet is a favorite with my Dark-Eyed Juncos.

This basket feeder is easy to make, and it attracts a variety of wild birds all day long. 
How to Make an Easy Basket Feeder
Grandma Pearl

How to Make Suet
How to Make an Easy Bird Feeder Basket

Peanut Butter Feeder
Fruit & Nut Blend
White Proso Millet

The Juncos I Have Come to Know
Beautiful Blue Jays

Basic Suet

Female Downy Woodpecker enjoying home made suet
by Grandma Pearl

Basic Homemade Suet is easy to make and more economical than buying commercial suet cakes.  Plus, you can be sure there are no harmful additives if you make it yourself.

You can find suet or beef fat trimmings at your local butcher shop, usually at a drastically reduced price.  Or, you can trim the fat from meat you cook yourself--save the fat scraps in a container and keep refrigerated until you are ready to render them.

Wild bird supply stores carry plain suet cakes that have already been rendered.  These can be used without any additions, or you can supplement them with bits of fruit, seeds or nutmeats to please your backyard birds.

If you choose to make your own suet from fat trimmings, here is the process:

1.  Cut the fat into small pieces, or use a food processor or meat grinder.
2.  In a deep saucepan, melt the fat OVER LOW HEAT.  Don't rush this step!  It is better to do this slowly than to risk a fire!  Treat it with respect as you do any cooking oil or other fat on the stove.
3.  Once the fat is completely melted, pour it slowly and carefully into molds or other containers.  Remember that the unmolded product will need to fit into your particular suet feeders.
4.  Allow to cool and then refrigerate for several hours.  Refrigeration causes the fat to solidify so it can be handled more easily.
5.  If you decide to add other ingredients to the suet, do that before pouring the suet into containers. 

These are some of the ingredients that I like to add:

• small pieces of nuts like peanuts, pecans or walnuts
• black oil sunflower seed
• peanut butter
• cracked corn or corn meal
• oats, wheat or white flour
• raisins, apple or other small fruit pieces, currants

Some of the birds that visit my suet feeders:

titmice, nuthatches, chickadees, woodpeckers

Grandma Pearl

More Homemade Bird Food:
Peanut Butter Treat
Pine Cone Bird Feeder
Mini Pumpkin Bird Feeder
Surprising Alternative Bird Foods
Best Suet Feeder

Learn More About:
Downy Woodpeckers
Hairy Woodpeckers
Red-Bellied Woodpeckers

Black Capped Chickadees
White-Breasted Nuthatches