Bluebirds have been making a comeback in our neighborhood for some time now. While a few pairs are definitely around in spring and summer, I notice them mostly in winter. That’s because they band together in flocks for protection and to search for food. Their bright blue and russet colors are easy to spot against the dull gray of winter.
Unlike many birds, bluebirds are not seed eaters. They prefer insects supplemented with berries, both of which are often in short supply at this time of year. Because their diet is so limited they benefit from human help. This is especially true during brutal cold snaps. All birds need extra calories to keep warm, especially at night when the mercury plunges.
So, expecting bluebirds to come to a feeder full of seeds isn’t realistic. Bluebirds shun seeds even when they are starving unless they are hulled. For one thing, their beaks are not designed for cracking shells and hard seedcoats.
How to help
It’s best to wait until you spot bluebirds in your vicinity before putting out special food for them; otherwise other birds will quickly deplete it.
Once you see bluebirds, offer food rich in fat and protein. Scatter some on the ground under the feeder, too. Squirrels, doves, juncos and white-throats will probably start devouring it first, alerting the bluebirds to check out what’s on offer. From there, you can be sure they will investigate any feeders. You can either use a dedicated feeder or mix their food in with your regular birdseed.
Good choices for bluebirds:
- Commercial suet cakes containing mealworms and fruit
- Bluebird “nuggets”– little balls of suet-saturated peanut meal
- Dried mealworms
- Chopped stale raisins
- Chopped shelled peanuts, or any unsalted raw nutmeats
- Stale peanut butter mixed with cornmeal until crumbly
- Dried unsweetened berries
- Hulled sunflower seeds
- Fresh beef suet (from the butcher) crumbled
TIPS: Make your offerings last longer by putting out smaller amounts throughout the day rather than all at once. Never put out straight peanut butter, which is too sticky for the birds to handle; mix it with cornmeal until gritty. Please don’t serve plain bread crumbs, which are too low in nutrients and may contain chemical preservatives. Bread crumbs also attract starlings.
Feed them and they will come!
Usually our feeders attract a small flock of bluebirds along with many other birds. Right now about fifteen to twenty bluebirds have descended on our yard; it doesn’t take long for the ranks to swell when there is food to be had. If you start offering supplemental foods in very cold weather, chances are excellent the bluebirds will find it.
In the off chance they don’t show up, rest assured that all birds will appreciate the feast. If these goodies weren’t so expensive over the long haul, we’d offer them all season. To economize, we save the pricey mealworms for the most frigid days.
Make it easy for them
Watch closely and make sure bluebirds are able to land on your feeder easily. If all they do is flutter helplessly about but don’t sit, you need to lengthen the perches. That’s what I did. My birch log feeder came with very short aluminum perches (to discourage starlings). I simply duct-taped a piece of wooden dowel onto the existing perch for them.
Likewise make sure there isn’t too big of a gap between a suet cake and the wire cage. Bluebirds have short beaks. Unlike wrens, woodpeckers and chickadees, bluebirds are not good at hanging onto the sides of the cages; they prefer to sit on top. Watch carefully and if they aren’t reaching the suet inside, shim the cake from underneath to wedge it firmly against the wire.
TIP: All birds need grit in their craw to help grind their food. In deep snow, they can’t access the ground to get it. You can help by buying a small box of bird grit available at pet shops, or use clean builder’s sand. Just throw a little on any firm surface in plain sight, such as a picnic table, cleared driveway or deck. They will find it.
I do hope you’ll consider helping these lovely birds survive the winter. They are a joy to watch no matter what time of year they visit.
