Make bird seed yourself

• What kind of birds eat what?
• Make bird seed yourself
• Unsuitable feed for birds
• How and where are birds best fed?

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With these recipes and tips you can easily make fat dumplings and co. yourself. We show which bird species eat what and present various bird feeds to make yourself.

Biting cold, snow and hardly any food available - for many wild animals, winter is a challenge and involves great hardship. In order to help the garden animals in winter, many garden owners lend a hand and provide the little garden visitors with additional food. Birds in particular are happy about the extra portion of food and are also wonderful to watch. But ready-made bird seed from the hardware store has numerous disadvantages. It is often not only particularly expensive, but also contains the seeds of the ragweed plant (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), which triggers severe allergies in many people. If you want to be on the safe side, you can also make your own bird seed. We will tell you here how you can make fat balls etc. yourself and what you need to bear in mind.

What kind of birds eat what?

Making bird seed yourself is a great way not only to give the little birds a helping hand, but also to be able to observe them up close. On closer inspection, however, one quickly realizes that not all birds accept the food offered well. Similar to humans, tastes are different, so different bird species prefer different types of food. If you want to make bird seed yourself and feed as many species as possible, you should know the following types of birds.

Tip: If you want to support the birds in your garden, you can also sow a bird-friendly plant mixture. Our Plantura beneficial insect magnet provides food and habitat for a wide variety of beneficial insects, from garden birds to bees and bumblebees.

1. Grain Eater

If you think of feeding birds, you probably have the classic grain feed in mind. Many native bird species such as the sparrow, finch or hawfinch actually prefer hard grains as their main food, which they can eat with their powerful beaks. In principle, grain eaters tolerate almost all seeds, becoming particularly goodbut sunflower seeds, linseed or hemp accepted.

2. Soft Food Eater

In contrast to the grain eaters, the soft food eaters have a small, pointed beak that is hardly suitable for opening large grains. Normally they prefer to eat insects or berries, but smaller seeds such as poppies or fruit are also on their menu. The soft food eaters include, for example, the well-known robin, but also wrens, blackbirds and starlings.

3. Omnivore

They are probably the most uncomplicated fellows when it comes to making bird seed: "omnivores" such as tits, nuthatches or woodpeckers usually prefer soft food, but they also use larger grains and other seeds. Therefore, when feeding the birds, you can see them pecking at both the soft food and the grain mix.

Make bird seed yourself

If you think that making your own birdseed is a lot of work, you are wrong. In fact, you can make almost any bird species happy in winter with simple recipes from household foods. In this way, both feed mixtures and tit dumplings or tit rings can be easily made by yourself.

1. Make seed mixture for birds yourself

Grain mixtures for bird feeding can be found in almost every DIY or garden store. Unfortunately, these grain mixtures often contain ragweed, whose pollen can cause severe allergies. If you want to be absolutely sure, you can mix your own bird seed. About a third of the grain mix should consist of untreated sunflower seeds - you can even harvest them from sunflowers in your own garden. Another quarter should consist of forage hemp seeds. Both grains have the advantage that they are particularly rich in energy due to their high oil content and are therefore a good source of food in winter. The rest of the bird seed can be filled with different ingredients. Unsweetened rolled oats, chopped hazelnuts or walnuts and small seeds are good for making bird seed yourself. The latter include, for example, millet or poppies, but seeds from native plants such as thistles are also very popular with birds.

Ingredients to mix your own seed eater bird seed

• One third of sunflower seeds
• A quarterCannabis Seeds
• Fill the rest with smaller seeds, rolled oats and chopped nuts

2. Make soft food for birds yourself

While food for grain eaters is known to almost everyone, one often looks in vain for feed mixtures for soft food eaters. The reason for this is the high perishability of many ingredients that are preferred by soft food eaters. It is therefore best to mix your own birdseed: fine oat flakes and bran have a longer shelf life, which is why they are often used as the basis for the soft food and are also well accepted. The whole thing can be refined with unsulphurized raisins and berries or fruit. It is as sustainable as possible to fall back on seasonal and untreated alternatives: stored apples can be stored properly for the whole winter and berries such as medlar (Mespilus germanica), firethorn (Pyracantha coccinea) or sloe (Prunus spinosa) only become ripe at the beginning of winter. Alternatively, you can also dry berries in the summer to mix them in the birdseed later. Fruits such as apples (Malus) and pears (Pyrus) should be cut open, but not chopped - the birds will pick beak-sized pieces for themselves. If you are not disgusted, you can also mix dried mealworms or other insects with the bird seed. Especially insectivores like robins and wrens are crazy about the protein-rich delicacies. Fine seeds such as poppy or thistle seeds are also popular with them.

Ingredients for Birdseed for Soft-Feeders:

• Fine oat flakes and cereal bran as a basis
• Unsulfured Raisins
• Fresh Fruit
• Fresh or dried berries
• Dried Mealworms
• Fine Seeds

3. Make fat food for birds yourself

Fat food is suitable for grain eaters as well as for soft food eaters depending on the composition - the high energy content due to the extra portion of fat makes this bird feed ideal for wild birds, especially in harsh winters. The most well-known are tit dumplings and tit rings, which can be found in almost every shop. Unfortunately, the industrially produced tit rings often contain ragweed seeds, or inferior fat is used. If you want to avoid this, you can use tit dumplingsjust do it yourself. In fact, this work is very easy and allows countless design options, so that making the bird seed is great fun.

To make the fat dumplings yourself, you first have to heat 300 grams of solid fat on a hotplate. A frequent question in this context is which fat you can use for fat balls. In theory, all fats that are solid at low room temperatures can be used. In practice, uns alted beef or mutton tallow, butter or lard is recommended. If you are looking for a plant-based alternative, you can also make fat balls with coconut fat. However, the use of coconut fat such as palmine for the production of bird seed should be viewed critically, since the production and transport of coconut fat are not considered sustainable. The best option is therefore fat balls made from insect fat, which is a sustainable alternative to conventional fats and also goes better with the natural diet of wild birds.

Note: Our Plantura fat balls are also made from high-quality insect fat enriched with valuable seeds, nuts and berries. So if you don't want to make your fat balls yourself, you can easily buy ours with a clear conscience.

When heating the animal fats, make sure that they only melt but do not boil - otherwise an unpleasant, rancid smell will quickly set in in the apartment. Two tablespoons of cooking oil and about 300 grams of grain or soft food mixture are now added to the soft fat. For grain eaters, sunflower seeds, hemp seed and chopped nuts are particularly suitable (as described above), while those who eat soft food prefer oatmeal, cereal bran and raisins. Mealworms can also be processed as a high-protein ingredient in suet balls.

Now the hot mass has to be brought into the right shape before it cools down. Cookie cutters are perfect for this. These are distributed on a baking sheet on which aluminum foil has been laid beforehand and then filled with the mass. After cooling, you can carefully poke a hole through the food figures with a piece of wire to hang them up. Alternatively, you can also work a fabric ribbon into the figure before filling it to hang it up. Round cookie cutters are perfect for making tit rings yourself. Another possibility is to craft a feeding bell: To do this, a twig is passed throughput the hole in the ground and fixed it with a wire - this is where the birds will find support later. Then the liquid fat-grain mixture is filled into the flower pot. After cooling, the flower pot can be hung upside down. Poured into flower pot saucers or feeding bowls, the homemade bird seed is also suitable for feeding from the ground.

Recipe to make fatty food yourself

1. Melt 300 g of fat (beef tallow, lard, etc.)
2. Add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3. Add your own feed mix for grain or soft feed eaters
4. Cut into the desired shape (e.g. using cookie cutters) or fill into a suitable container
5. Let cool and serve to birds

Unsuitable feed for birds

If you want to feed birds, you actually only have good things in mind. However, birdseed in winter can also have fatal consequences - unsuitable feed makes birds sick or even means their death. All seasoned or s alted foods are generally unsuitable, including seasoned nut mixtures, as they are not tolerated by birds and lead to gastrointestinal problems. Bread is also often fed, but the consequences for birds can be devastating: In the worst case, it swells up in the birds' stomachs and can thus become a death trap. (Unprocessed) flaxseed, rice or chia seeds can also have this effect. Moldy, spoiled and rancid foods are not only inedible for humans but also for birds. Therefore, they should not be fed and the feeding place should be cleaned regularly. Otherwise, rotting can quickly occur, especially if fresh food such as fruit or berries is used. Of course you should also stop using moth infested food.

But unsuitable feed can not only be dangerous for birds, it can also be dangerous for our loved ones. Although raisins are very popular with birds, they are not recommended for households with dogs. As little as 10 to 30 grams of raisins per kilogram of body weight can cause symptoms of poisoning in a dog - a quantity that can be quickly eaten when running around in the garden unobserved. Instead, dog owners should use alternatives that are safe for their four-legged friends, such as dried berries. Children should avoid rowanberries (Sorbus aucuparia) or elderberries(Sambucus) to feed. Although these are a popular food for birds, they can lead to poisoning in humans when eaten raw. Since children are all too quickly drawn to the brightly colored berries, it is better to use harmless alternatives.

How and where are birds best fed?

In fact, not only do different species of birds prefer different foods, they also prefer different feeding grounds. Soft food eaters are usually also so-called bottom eaters, so they prefer to eat their food directly from the ground. For hygienic reasons, however, you should not scatter the homemade bird seed directly on the ground. It is better to use a small bowl or plate to feed the birds. So-called feeding tables, which are slightly elevated, are also suitable. However, it is important to ensure that no water can collect in the feeding place to prevent mould. Grain eaters and mixed feed eaters such as sparrows and tits, on the other hand, prefer the shelter of trees. So hanging bird feeders, such as bird feeders, fat balls, or tit rings are best for them.

Don't worry - you don't need a thousand feeding stations in the garden to do justice to all the birds. In fact, almost all bird species feel comfortable in the classic bird feeder. The straight floor allows the soft feed eaters to do their classic search and pecking behavior, while the roof and the elevated position offer the grain eaters sufficient cover and at the same time a good overview. With a sufficiently large bird feeder, you can supply both types of feed with the homemade bird feed.

Matching bird feeders

Meisenknödel, feed silo or the classic bird feeder? A variety of different feeding methods are now available, so it is hard to know which bird feeders are really suitable for feeding birds in winter. It is particularly important that the feeding place remains dry and clean, which is why you should pay attention to a sufficiently large roof, especially for bird feeders. If possible, homemade fat balls should also be attached in such a way that they do not get wet (e.g. in a feeding bell or in a suitable dispenser). In addition, the feeding place should always be kept clean. The most hygienic here are so-called feed silos or feed columns, since the feed does not go directly into thecontact with the animals or their droppings. With the traditional aviary, it should be possible to regularly remove leftover food and wash it out with hot water. Classic fat balls in the net, on the other hand, are completely unsuitable - birds can get tangled up in the fine threads and, in the worst case, strangle themselves. If you have made fat balls yourself, it is best to hang them up in a feeding bell or with a single piece of cloth in a dispenser so that this danger is eliminated.

The right location for bird feeding

Not only the right feeder is a prerequisite for successful bird feeding - the right location also decides whether the feathered animals feel comfortable in the garden. So you should always make sure that the birds are fed at least two meters away from the nearest pane of glass to avoid collisions. You should also choose a place that is as clear as possible for feeding, so that the birds can quickly discover potential predators such as cats or birds of prey and flee. Bird feeders should be fixed at a sufficient height so that cats cannot easily jump in. In addition, you should make sure that there are no trees or walls nearby - these are often abused by the intelligent four-legged friends as climbing aids.

Overview: How and where are birds best fed?

• Eaters of soft food prefer to eat off the ground
• Grain feeders prefer feeding on the tree
• The bird feeder is suitable for all birds
• Feeders should be dry and clean
• Fantum balls in nets are not suitable for feeding
• The appropriate location for bird feeding is two meters from the nearest pane of glass, uncluttered and cat-safe

Would you like to do more for your garden birds? Check out these articles for 10 best plants for songbirds and how to make a bird feeder yourself.

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