Insects are an extremely important source of food for birds .
This robin devoured the insect (on the top right of the log) immediately after I took this shot. This adult bird enjoyed this tasty morsel, but insects are an especially important food for feeding birds’ young.
Besides rotting logs that often harbor tasty tidbits, how do we provide insects for birds in our yard? By planting native plants — the plants insects evolved with!
We also use earth-friendly gardening practices in general, but it’s especially important that we leave leaves and other dead materials and not use pesticides.
We provide natural sources of food including seeds, fruit, and nectar.
We also supplement with suet and mealworms. Birds love these, but providing these isn’t nearly as important as supplying a natural abundance of insects and other foods in the yard.
Resources
- Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center:
- Choose Natives:
- Lesley the Bird Nerd:
- VIDEO: The UGLY TRUTH about feeding birds bread
- VIDEO: Why everyone should keep their feeders clean – also shows how
- Maine Cooperative Extension:
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds:
- Food and feeder preferences of common feeder birds – Excellent resource for winter feeding with filters to customize
- Here’s what to feed summer bird feeder visitors
- Where is that bird going with that seed – It’s caching food for later
- Bird Watcher’s General Store:
- Nature Conservancy’s Cool Green Science:
- Audubon:
- Univ. of No. Carolina:
- Avian diet database – Searchable