Help with feeding bluebirds

[Bobs Farm]

I just purchased a dinner bell feeder with mealworms. I’m new to the feeding of bluebirds. Looking for tips to attract and ideas you guys have picked up from personal experience. I have a pair that seem to visit my yard in the early morning and late evening. Looking for suggestions on placement of feeder, and any ideas you guys have. Thanks.

[dogsandbirds]

Personally, I have never used a feeder of any kind for meal worms. All I do it put them in a bowl on the deck railing when I decide it’s time to offer a few. They shouldn’t have all that many in a day anyway. Having said that, I’ll give you a couple of ideas.

First thing you have to do is get them to notice worms are available. To do that, you often have to put a smooth sided container on the ground near where they perch to hunt. This gives them a good chance to notice. Then you move the container nearer and nearer to where you want to feed them. If you choose a small enough container, you will be able to put it inside your dinner bell. When they have succeeded in following the container to the feeder you can dispense with the container.

You will have to protect the worms from sun and water while you are training the birds.

Other birds are going to notice so you might not feed just EABL. That’s always ok with me. You might feel differently.

Once you have the birds trained and if you have hawks around, an audible signal to call your birds isn’t such a good idea. Hawks soon learn that their own dinner bell has sounded and you’ll get more company than you would like.

Gin
Atlanta, GA

[Bobs Farm]

Thank you for the feed back, I’ll give it a try.

[phillyblues]

Do those pellets or freeze-dried mealworms and mealworm cakes they sell for bluebirds in Walmart, Lowes, etc. work?

[Love my blues!]

I’ve heard that they’re not real receptive to the bluebird nuggets, but I haven’t tried them. Mine love the dried mealworms, though. I feed the real ones during nesting season & the dried ones throughout the year. Gin is right, though. Other birds love mealworms as well, which I didn’t mind until a fat robin & mockingbird were eating the majority of them. I’m going to get a feeder where only smaller birds can get in to eat mealworms. Once they get used to it, I’ll put some out for the bigger birds too in the current feeder, but will limit them so that I don’t have to make constant mealworm runs.

Nicole

[dogsandbirds]

All I know is, if you start off with live food you will probably get quicker results. It’s the movement of the worms that attracts the EABL. After they are reliably trained, you could mix in a little of the dead stuff and see what happens. If you make a gradual change chances are better they will adapt.

Gin
Atlanta, GA

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