We can give them any grain – including sunflower, poppy, pumpkin seed, flax seed, millet, wheat but even corn. Since the cold winter days make them need more energies it’s better to give them kernels with a higher oil content – like hazelnut and walnut. They will surely appreciate it. They will also appreciate some raw bacon due to its high fat content. The only limitation is to give it raw and untreated – not salted or smoked.

If instead of just throwing the grains out you want to make something more sophisticated then you have a rich variety of bird food preparation at your hand. You can make a wreath or star out of millet or you can stuff a pine cone with kernels of goodies.

If you want to go even beyond that prepare birdbread for your little visitors. You will only need grains and some cow fat for it. Melt the fat and mix the grains into it. When ready spill it into another pot and let it harden. When its kneadable, form balls out of it. Usually these balls are placed into plastic nets but according to ornitologists these nets arein fact dangerous for the birds, since their frail legs can get stuck in it and can easily become prey to cats.

Always place the bird food high up, into a place safe from cats. If you once started to feed the birds don’t stop until the end of winter. They get used to the provisions very easily.