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Altamira Orioles feeding out of dish hung off decorative pole

How to feed Orioles mealworms

Orioles can be fed on dried or live mealworms just as you would for most insect-eating birds, only you'd need to consider their large size with a wide wingspan.

How to feed Orioles mealworms in your yard would be to site the dried mealworms on top of the nectar-filled feeder, or put the live mealworms in a pot or dish balanced on the same feeder. Mealworms can go in the pot intended for the oriole jelly or simply put mealworms in a dish that can be placed anywhere.

With the possibility of all commonly sighted orioles found in a garden wishing to feed on an abundance of mealworms mostly during the summertime, its important to make this protein-rich food available to less able feeder orioles.

As orioles will forage for insects among foliage in trees, you could think about feeding orioles on your own tree or shrubs - along with placing mealworms on any visible elevated surface.

Of course orioles can use a handful of larger than normal bird feeders designated for their jelly or nectar, which can be used for dried or live mealworms as an alternative.

Best way to feed mealworms to orioles can be placed on a tree branch or natural vegetation; only if you were to add them on top of a nectar-filled feeder on the outside - you can guarantee the mealworms are found, and therefore aren't wasted.

Replace grape jelly-filled cups or containers with live mealworms to stop them wiggling away, or use your own disused cereal bowl or pet food dish now used for wild birds.

Bowls or dishes can go anywhere in the garden that remains safe like on the deck railing or situated in a bird feeder tray mounted to the feeder pole.

No shortage of what kind of birds will eat dried mealworms with the live type being just as popular, if not more.

Birds can be attracted to the sight of mealworms in your yard, thus its vital orioles can access it when they do - as a larger birds like orioles will struggle too perch to feed off a mesh feeder storing mealworms behind wire.

Site Mealworms on nectar-filled feeder

Orioles may be birds who feed higher up at heart but you can also find them foraging lower down, including on the ever popular nectar-filled feeder setup in the yard.

With all orioles coming to a nectar feeder like that of the Baltimore, Altamira, Bullocks, Hooded, and Scott's oriole - dried mealworms in particular would be a great option to add to the feeder.

Not next to or close by, but to actually sit a handful of dried mealworms on top of the disc shape nectar feeder, will guarantee they are found at dinner time.

When it comes to feeding dried mealworms to orioles, their very own nectar-filled feeder will be the best feeder to store mealworms to be sure they're seen.

As the dried mealworms will be sat diligently on top of a feeder that is in no way designed to keep mealworms in place - this would of course mean you wouldn't be able to put LIVE mealworms on it - as they'd simply wiggle away.

Site dried mealworms out in the open but on top of a nectar-filled oriole feeder, with the possibility of using any available gaps or compartments to stop them rolling off.

Stick food container to feeder

In the same way how to feed orioles dried mealworms on top of a nectar feeder, the live mealworm kind will see them drop off over the course of the day.

To fix that issue you can instead add the live mealworms into a shallow but accessible cup that can be stuck on top of the plastic disc-shape nectar feeder. Doesn't have to be stuck on, but to do that if you wanted too you only need to use double-sided tape.

Better than that, you can drill a hole smack bang in the center of the base to then thread the shallow plastic container or dish through the metal bar used to hang the nectar-filled feeder off a bracket.

What orioles eat at feeders is sugary water of course, yet orange slices, jelly or the mealworms can be offered - which can be kept tidy if fed to orioles in a pot.

Why you must stick or secure this plastic dish of any kind in place is because it will tip - and potentially harm feeding orioles - whenever they come to it in order to feed.

No nectar-filled oriole feeder, no problem... as you can simply use this wide dish for balance low down on a wall or fence, although it will probably be best situated up on a high area somewhere in your garden.

Like the deck or porch railing, wedge the cup full of dried or live mealworms on a series of branches or just place it on the garden furniture.

How you feed mealworms to orioles must always be in a lit up area in which it can be in direct sun - or in case of a nectar feeder its best to hang it in the shade to sustain the sugary-water rather than the mealworms themselves.

Replace Jelly with Mealworms

When investigating the type of bird feeder you can buy for orioles especially, what you may of come across by now or heard of, is an oriole jelly feeder.

Its a simple device that is basically a light plastic clear or tinted cup that is wedged into their on compartments which is part of a feeder that is open to orioles - with a roof that is often included to keep the sticky jelly out of the sun.

Similarly, this same kind of jelly cup or dish could be on a pole which is impaled in the ground [as seen in the picture above] or the jelly pots could be pre-installed on the nectar-filled feeder.

Now, who's to say we must only put jelly in these various pots and cups when we can put live or dried mealworms in them instead.

No point in them continuing to be unused when we can feed orioles their favorite mealworms in summer with this protein rich yet readily available bird food in the jelly pots.

Exclusive jelly feeders intended for orioles aren't needed to serve up jelly or indeed mealworms in; when dried and especially live wiggly mealworms can basically go in a simple ceramic dish you may have spare.

Hang feeder dish near Oriole feeder

How else you can feed orioles mealworms which must be in a place that is seen, is to put mealworms in their own open top bird feeder that will be sat or hung near their other types of oriole feeders - like a nectar-filled feeder you would expect them to visit.

I wouldn't personally put dried mealworms in any bird feeder but you can add them to a feeder if its the open dish type that is accessible to large orioles.

You know the kind, its a simple clear plastic dish that can be hung on its own or they're made to be mounted on the bird feeder pole - which so happens to be the best place to hang oriole feeders.

Who says you can just put the live or dried mealworms in this shallow plastic feeder dish that is sure to keep the mealworms safe, when anything can be thrown in - while offering plenty of room for orioles to access when they like.

Dishes like this can come with a dome-like roof for protection against the elements, thus the setting must be high up because for it to be too far down - will guarantee to keep orioles off, as they're unable to feed due to restrictions in place.

With the jelly or nectar-filled feeder hung near by this open dish, orioles are sure to spot their favorite mealworms placed near by.

Summary

How to feed mealworms to all orioles in the live or dried kind, is to simply situate a handful of mealworms at a time, on top of the nectar-filled feeder.

Seeing as most people will make an orange in color nectar feeder available to orioles if they are attracted to their yards - no additional feeder would be needed, as this feeder alone can be sure the mealworms are found.

Orioles can eat mealworms off foliage near to the ground but to be safe, the same mealworms can be situated on an elevated part of the yard.

To feed mealworms to orioles out in the open is the best possible option, with the top of the nectar-filled feeder applying to this technique.

Similarly, you can store dried mealworms in a pot or shallow small dish, of which it can be stuck on top of the nectar feeder in a way to keep the mealworms in one area.

As you'll be using a container to store the mealworms, the live mealworms can now be used as they won't be able to wiggle away.

With any kind of dish or cup in mind, you can also add live or dried mealworms to any old bowl which can be put anywhere in the yard, providing its in a lit up area so it can be seen.

If you utilize a jelly feeder intended for orioles, then set aside one pot to store dried or live mealworms in - or use all pots to store mealworms whenever you run out of an orioles favorite grape jelly.

Mealworms will only be eaten if they're found, of which you'd want to add them to an open dish to hang near an orioles nectar feeder which is usually hung up on a bird feeding station pole or bracket of any kind.

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