Getting Started With Bird-Feeding 5

Hi again. 2 posts in one day. You're lucky! Did a bird defecate on you? Okay. Today we will talk about live foods. Mmmm.... all those little juicy grubs (or big for small birds) . And for us, all those avian visitors to our birdie restaurant gardens. The most common live food for wild birds is meal-worms. You can buy these dried too if you don't like wriggly creatures.

dried meal-worms, the ones I am using at the moment.

live and dried meal-worms come in different sizes. not to scale thank god.

Meal-worms are also commonly sold for reptiles, caged bird and fish. They come in different sizes like in the scale above. As you can see you can buy pretty massive ones. They contain a high amount of water (good) but dried ones have lost lots of it (bad) but just soak them in warm water for 10 mins to restore the water content. Wax-worms are the larvae of the wax-moth but if you buy them from a reputable supplier they will never pupate(???). These are mainly sold for reptiles and for fishing bait. Some fishing tackle/angling shops sell coloured wax-worms or kits for making them coloured. The food the coloured ones are fed is dyed so it is absorbed into the body of the worm. Colours like red or dark blue are good for getting the birds to notice your food supply but you won't need to provide coloured ones once the birds know they are there. You can't but dried wax-worms.

wax-worms are fat and juicy. nomnomnomnomnom mmmmmmmmm yummy yum yum yum! 

Pet shops sell crickets live for spiders and reptiles but these are also palatable for wild birds. It is best to but near-full-grown crickets or "prewings" as they are generally called, as these cannot fly off. Beware of their hopping abilities though. Feed them in a high-sided tray with a lip over the side.

 Birds should quickly come to your garden, especially in winter when it is really nippy or in the breeding season when there are chicks to feed. Plant wildflowers in your garden to attract wild insects for the wee little feathered buddies (or massive Ravens, Crows, Magpies and Rooks) to eat. Do not be alarmed if a Sparrowhawk comes bombing in and catches a small bird. With all this prey around you can hardly blame it, plus it is a bird too, ans a birdwatcher should like that! Bye, and get feeding! Your bird reserve garden should be coming along nicely now.