Feeding Backyard Birds On a Budget

What are we to do?  Those of us who enjoy feeding birds during the long winter months but don't have the "extra" money to spend, have two choices:  We can stop feeding them - and I know that these days some people must do that - or we can find ways to be thrifty and creative, and continue to feed our feathered friends.

Many people feed the birds and enjoy it immensely.  The constant flitting about the yard is a soothing thing to me.  I look forward to the early morning chipping of the Cardinals as they come looking for breakfast, and in early Spring the yellow Grosbeaks (pictured) swarm to the feeders for a short time.

With the high cost of sunflower seed, I've had to do some re-thinking about the ways I feed my birds.  If you must stop feeding altogether due to money issues, remember that many birds will come to your yard anyway, so don't feel too badly.

So many birds eat sunflower seeds that it is the single most popular seed to purchase to guarantee visitors to the feeder and ground.  

In my area of New Hampshire the Chickadee, Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, Blue Jay, Nuthatch, Grosbeak, and some Sparrows love it.  (Buy the black oil sunflower seeds.  The striped sunflower seed is different and not as well liked).

So buy the right kind of seeds and use the correct type of feeder to attract the birds you want.

Little squirrels love sunflower seeds, but keeping all seeds and feeders away from the house is a good idea.

It's easy enough, if you have the time, to make your own suet.

Many birds will enjoy it and it provides protein that they need. Just a warning - homemade suet will disappear fast! Be ready to refill the suet feeder often.  It can be made ahead and frozen.  Just wrap it up in individual cakes.  It doesn't have to be thawed before adding to feeders.

Woodpeckers are attracted to it, but so are nuthatches, chickadees and bluejays, among others.

Basic ingredients are left over bacon (meat) grease, fat cuttings (suet) from the store, and peanut butter which will be mixed with dry ingredients and other nutrients to make "cakes" to plop into the suet feeder.

I use a special feeder for my homemade suet cakes, but there are other ways to feed birds this delectable treat.

The tail prop feeder is my favorite for feeding woodpeckers during winter.   There is a piece of wood that supports a woodpecker's tail and they feel right at home on this feeder.  I have constant visits from woodpeckers all winter.

If you don't want to spend the money on a store bought feeder, mix up a batch of suet and hang it in a net (as pictured).  Save nets from onions, potatoes or other purchases to use as containers for your suet.   Beef fat can be purchased at the grocery store for minimal expense and that can be hung in netting as well.  Tie nets to bushes or tree branches around the yard, or hang from posts.

(Photo credit: Pixabay)

Hummingbirds are the only birds I feed in summer. There are bears in my area and leaving feed out can mean I'll get unwanted visitors, but I do mix up sugar water and hang one red, glass- type feeder by my office window. (The plastic feeders break, so opt for the glass ones.)

In New Hampshire, where I live, I put the Hummingbird Feeder out around Mother's Day and bring them in some time in September.

It's an easy recipe - 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 cups of water. Boil one cup of water and stir in the sugar, then add the rest and store it in the fridge in a container.  Clear water, not red, is fine so don't bother buying special mix.

There is no need to fill the feeder to the top - unless you have some hungry hummingbirds - since it will need to be cleaned out regularly.