What do Bluebirds eat at feeders
Not the most common bird feeder in our yards, as the Bluebird would be happier feeding in the open, with food left out on a platform feeder or actually on the ground.
What do Bluebirds eat at feeders is mostly what they find in seed mixes, which is why Bluebirds are commonly found perched on a seed feeder. Bluebirds forage for nut meat or larvae, with their favorite at the feeder to be mealworms, dried or alive - and seen to feed off mealworm or fruit suet, if accessible.
What you must remember with Bluebirds, as they are seen to use bird houses more, is that they can be seen to use bird feeders less of the time for many of us.
Bluebirds will use a bird feeder but only if you offer the correct bird food, plus if the bird feeder in use is accessible.
With an open platform bird feeder, Bluebirds can eat anything you offer them, but only if its similar to what they eat in the wild. This would include some seeds but mostly peanut kernels found, dried mealworms or dried fruits, including fresh berries.
To offer mealworms in a mealworm feeder can benefit Bluebirds in two ways: first, the specialty mealworm feeder is more accessible to them; second, this feeder is compatible with all kinds of other bird food.
Bluebirds are big, big mealworms eaters at the feeder, so you'd be hard pressed finding them feeding on any anything else if made available to them.
What else Bluebirds eat besides mealworms would be nuts found in seed mixes, or insects and fruit based suet.
Bluebirds are ground feeders, so you can see more success if you at least offer food on the ground, or keep things tidy by setting out a special ground level bird feeder.
Frequent SEED feeders
Commonly seen in the backyard as Bluebirds are, you must remember they are not frequent bird feeders, thus to get them to use a bird feeder of any kind is a task in itself.
With an abundance of bird food made available to Bluebirds, that is not to say you can't attract Bluebirds to feed, or otherwise use foraging behavior on our feeders.
Baring in mind Bluebirds are rarely seed eaters, so do not to eat seeds very often, but can eat a mix of shelled seeds in the sunflower or safflower variety, when they do indeed eat bird seeds if at all.
Because the species are fully capable of feeding off seeds, that is not to say any type of seed bird feeder would cut it. In fact, the larger the perching area is while remaining in a stable condition - the more favorable the feeder is to Bluebirds.
When Bluebirds do eat at feeders, they prefer to perch on the hopper or platform feeder kind, or the panoramic or hexagon feeders with a dish that is made easy to land and perch on.
Whilst Bluebirds are seen to forage on a seed feeder for some time, its worth remembering they are not eating seeds the whole time.
Bluebirds could simply be foraging in the seed mix for seed kernels they like, or indeed peanut kernels or if larvae may have been used in the mix.
Unshelled peanuts
When Bluebirds forage at a seed feeder, seed mixes in use do use nut meat or what is known as kernels to bulk up the seed weight.
Its therefore possible Bluebirds are not eating seeds at all, or anything else for that matter.
If peanuts are found in the seed mixes then Bluebirds are sure to gobble them up. With that in mind, to receive an abundance of Bluebirds in your yard, it would be worth topping up seed mixes with peanuts - to at least keep other backyard visitors interested.
Bluebirds will eat peanuts, but only if laid out for them, but they are best served out in the open or on the ground, just as Bluebird so in nature.
Bluebirds don't have the dexterity of other common backyard birds, thus to cling onto the mesh peanut feeder, is a rare one.
Peanut kernels must be laid out on the platform feeder, or a flat surface somewhere around the yard, preferably in a quite spot which is where Bluebird feeders should hang or be stationed.
Don't expect Bluebirds to use a standard peanut bird feeder then, when laying out nuts in the open is the best possible solution for Bluebirds to eat successfully.
Insect SUET or dried mealworms
What you must realize about Bluebirds is that they primarily eat insects in the wild, thus insects is what they should be offered at the bird feeder.
It couldn't be easier, as Bluebirds can eat dried mealworms or live ones, or would happily munch at insect based suet.
How they would eat dried mealworms is in a mounted or hanging tray or dish feeder, preferably out in the open with no roof or obstructions in the way.
No bird feeder is actually needed to feed mealworms to Bluebirds, as its not something they come to rely on in reality. Bluebirds are ground feeders, thus can eat mealworms that have been thrown over the lawn.
People prefer to avoid this method as it invites unwanted pests, but to add dried mealworms at a high point in the yard would be the most suitable location.
Dump a handful of mealworms on the fence post, an unused bird house, garden furniture or the roof of an outbuilding.
When dried mealworms are a bit too nasty to handle for you, you can use mealworm based suet which Bluebirds like to eat regularly.
Don't locate suet mealworms in a bird feeder, when block or cake shaped suet would be best served on a flat open surface.
Berries or dried fruits
Come the wintertime, Bluebirds like to spend a bit of their foraging time eating berries found in the wild, thus this could be an option to feed Bluebirds at the feeder.
Berries can be bought in-store and offered on the platform feeder, but it would be ideal to make use of fruit based suet.
Suet cakes can be made with fruit as part of the ingredients, so you can expect Bluebirds to peck out fruits while benefiting even more whilst eating the suet fat at the same time.
Fruit can be offered to Bluebirds throughout the year, but more energy is used up in the winter as they find it harder to forage, thus fruits found on the open platform feeder would soon be eaten up.
While your at it, it wouldn't hurt to offer them a handful of dried fruits you might of bought in-store - or indeed dried the fruits yourself at home.
Favor berries or grapes, while dried raspberries or strawberries is an option.
Scour platform feeder for nibbles
To attract Bluebirds to your yard, you can do so by offering them their favorite food, offered up in an easy to access bird feeder.
Forget about hanging bird feeders for now as Bluebirds rarely use it; while a platform feeder can open up your backyard to an abundance of wild birds, so not just Bluebirds in the Eastern, Mountain or Western variety.
Whilst Bluebirds are seen to eat seeds, but actually don't, a mix of bird seeds can be a godsend to Bluebirds as they can be seen to forage on top of the platform.
Bluebirds are not really eating seeds, but going through the mix looking for peanuts.
Platform feeders offer this opportunity while not discouraging other birds; it is possible to cater to Bluebirds whilst also keeping on top of attracting other bird species.
With that in mind, do add peanut kernels to your seed mix with dried fruits and of course dried mealworms - all together on an unrestricted platform feeder.
To summarize up
To replicate what Bluebirds eat in the wild, you can get a better understanding of what Bluebirds eat at feeders in our yards.
Bear in mind Bluebirds are not common bird feeder users, thus only certain types of feeders can be used.
Among them, Bluebirds are only capable or interested in using an open feeder design, such as a platform feeder on a post or the hanging type, if it remains stabilized.
Bluebirds do bring their young to feeders to feed them during in the nesting season, so do expect momma Bluebird to feed dried mealworms inside an open feeder only.
You could mistake Bluebirds to be eating mostly seeds, as they do spend time there.
While Bluebirds can eat some seeds, what they are mostly doing is seeking out peanut kernels mixed in with common but cheaper wild bird seed mixes.
Other than their favorite dried mealworms, what they eat is fresh berries or fruit in suet form.
In fact Bluebirds take to berries in the winter to make up for lost energy energy, so they would forage for fruits in seeds mixes, eat dried fruits offered to them - and of course eat juicy berries.
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