Mealworms

If youve never heard of mealworm feeding, then you need to get out more, my friend. Mealworms are one of the fastest-growing bird-feeding trends of the past decade. Our initial mealworm feeding was aimed at our bluebirds. Now our avian mealworm fans include cardinals, chickadees, titmice, white-breasted nuthatches, chipping, song, and field sparrows, downy woodpeckers, and Carolina wrens. Some feeder operators have had success in attracting warblers, vireos, tanagers, and orioles to mealworms. If you want to try mealworm feeding, find a local pet store or bait store that carries mealworms and buy a few dozen. Offer them near your existing feeders in a heavy shallow dish with slick vertical sides (lest the mealworms make their escape). It may take a while for your birds to tune into the presence of live food, but once they do, look out! We go through at least 1,000 mealworms in a month, and we dole them out sparingly. When youre ready to get serious about mealworm feeding, youll certainly want to buy your mealies by mail-order and you may want to get a feeder specifically designed for mealworms.