Feeding BluebirdsWhat do Bluebirds eat? Bluebirds eat many insects including crickets and grasshoppers, and insect larvae.They should NOT eat earthworms because they can’t digest them properly. Although they have been known to eat them when insects are in short supply, they can make the birds very sick. They also eat a variety of native berries such as Eastern Red Cedar; Flowering, Pagoda and Kousa Dogwoods; Red Mulberry; and American Holly. They may also learn to eat mealworms and peanut butter suet.
What can I feed them? Bluebirds generally are not attracted to seed feeders. Although they may sometimes be observed at seed feeders, their main diet consists of insects, insect larvae, and berries. Many Bluebird lovers offer their Bluebirds mealworms. Although mealworms are a great supplement, they are NOT a complete diet and most experts recommend offering no more than about 200 a day to a nesting pair. Some truly devoted Bluebird landlords offer as many as 300 a day to a nesting pair and even more if fledglings from the previous nestings are still hanging around. If you are trying mealworms for the first time, you can usually buy them in a small container from a wild bird store such as Wild Birds Unlimited, PetSmart, etc. in a 500 count container at first to see if your Bluebirds will find and eat them. Once your Bluebirds discover the mealworms, you will want to buy in larger quantities, as it is MUCH cheaper to buy them in large quantities than at a local bird supply store.
How can I get the Bluebirds to accept mealworms from me?If you put the mealworms where the Bluebirds will see them, they will almost certainly accept them. You can start by putting them in a small shallow dish (with sides to keep the worms from crawling out and preferably clear glass – both for weight and to allow the birds to see the worms) and placing them near the nestbox location, or somewhere close to the perch (a fence or fencepost, perhaps) that you have seen them hunting from. If you are keeping your mealworms in the refrigerator, let them warm up before offering them for the first few times – the worms’ movement will be likely to attract the Bluebirds’ attention. Then you can slowly move the feeding dish a little further away so as not to attract other birds too close to the nestbox. Eventually you will probably want to place the mealworms in a dedicated Bluebird feeder.
BBF1
The BBF1 Feeder, for sale at TMBStudios.com
What kind of feeder should I use? There are many birds that enjoy eating the mealworms you offer to the Bluebirds, and if you don’t want to go to the expense of feeding them to all the birds in your yard, you will need a feeder that allows the Bluebirds easy access but discourages or prevents larger birds such as starlings and mockingbirds from gaining access. There are several types of feeders, but the idea behind most of them is providing a small opening that the Bluebirds will have no trouble navigating, but that the other birds will find either too small or uninviting. Our sister shopping site, TMB Studios, offers a number of Bluebird feeders. Our favorite is our own design, now made by Erva Tool, the BBF1.
You can also find other styles online, or in your local bird supply store. You can find plans for making your own feeder .
My Bluebirds won’t go into the feeder I bought for them. What is wrong? Sometimes it takes the Bluebirds a little while to understand how to use the feeder. If you’ve been feeding them from a dish, try putting the dish on top of the feeder at first. The birds will recognize the dish, and go to it. If you’re using the type with plexiglass sides, they may try to go in through the clear sides rather than through the holes at the ends. Once inside, they may have some difficulty figuring out how to get back out of the feeder, and try flying back out through the plexiglass. The specially-designed Bluebird Nut Mealworm Feeder depicted above circumvents all these problems, as its open design does not make the Bluebirds feel trapped.
Some people have tried whistling or calling or ringing a bell every time they place mealworms in the feeder, and have been able to train the birds to come to the feeder when they hear that sound. Others discourage this practice, as they feel it may serve as a “dinner bell” for hawks or other predators.
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Topic: THE BLUEBIRDS OF CANE RIDGE, TENNESSEE : A wildlife journal (Read 103314 times)