How To DIY A Special Homemade Treat For Birds In Your Yard This Winter

Not all birds fly south for the winter. Some stick around when temperatures drop well below freezing and everything is covered in snow. Natural food sources such as insects can be harder to find during this time, but you can get your feathered friends to flock to your yard by offering them a tasty treat when temperatures drop: Marvel Meal. 

While seeds are always welcome, what birds really need in the winter are food sources high in fat, providing the energy they need to fly, survive, and thrive. Suet cakes are a popular option — they are high in saturated fat and often attract a variety of birds. However, suet, typically from around the kidney of cows or sheep, may not be as easily digested as other fats, such as vegetable oils. The good news is you can provide much-needed sustenance by making suet-free marvel meal that'll keep birds coming back for more. 

Mixing peanut butter with vegetable shortening, flour, corn meal and optional seeds provides a high-fat snack that's perfect for birds on a cold winter's day. It can be smeared on pinecones on tree bark, or placed in a homemade feeder made from a small log. All sorts of birds enjoy this tasty homemade treat, including woodpeckers and smaller birds such as chickadees and wrens. 

Making this scrumptious treat for the birds is easy and fun for the whole family, so call your kids to the kitchen. This is a messy recipe, so disposable food-service gloves are advised. In a large bowl, mix equal parts of a creamy natural peanut butter (avoid chopped nuts, extra sugars, or chemical additives), vegetable shortening, and all-pupose white flour. Then stir in three or four parts corn meal. If desired, sprinkle in shelled sunflower seeds, which are also high-fat food birds love. Uncooked quick oats are yet another option that adds variety and texture to the mixture.

Spoon some of the mixture onto a small area of a wooden post or in the notch of a tree branch. If you like, make a log feeder by drilling 1-inch holes (both diameter and depth) in several places on a narrow log, then press the mixture into the holes. Store unused mixture in a lidded container in the refrigerator or freeze it in small portions. When it's cool and firm, cut it into slabs or cubes to fit into a cage-style suet feeder. A suet feeder keeps birds coming to your yard all winter long, and it's less messy than offering a seed variety in a typical feeder. If you'd like to try whipping up another type of treat that fits in a suet feeder, make seed blocks to feed birds without much mess.