a question *au sujet de* mealworms (1 Viewer)

[seb_seb]

im thinking about putting them in a plastic box of reasonable side...as i can see through it and it is shelter against rain. I want to put holes in the box..probably a diameter of 35 cm..because i dont want the bigger birds gobbling up everything...as im not rich!
i want to know if these holes were act as deterrant to shyer birds ..such as warblers and dunnocks ...if anyone knows another mealworm feeder style could you please inform me?:t: thanks in advance:t:

 

[IanF]

Good thread seb_seb !

I've experimented with a few styles myself. I put out meal worms for breeding Blue Tits in my garden, however have yet to find an effective way of preventing larger birds from scoffing them.

I have tried perspex boxes with small holes, plastic lemonade bottles, using chicken wire mesh around a bird table and even the dome shaped 'mealworm' feeders. The smaller birds do get the odd one, but it's Starlings that I have trouble with. You've got to see it to believe it as to just how small a gap they will squueze through in their desperation to get at mealworms.

The problem I find with the 'plastic box' concept is that Blue Tits seem to have trouble finding a way in and give up too easily. Perhaps the ones up this way are too thick !

I have seen posted on another site a design using a 'guardsman' window feeder, but as I have never found one of these feeders I couldn't experiment with that one.

I'd be pleased if someone does come up with an effective feeder.

 

[dylan]

I was unsure about the mealworm feeders I've seen as they look a bit flimsy. The local squirrels love mealworms and they'd soon rip it apart.

If you use a distinctive dish the Robins will associate the dish with mealworms, then if you hold the dish in your hand the Robins may take them off you directly. A real treat & it makes the mealworms last a lot longer.

I was looking at a website talking about breeding mealworms, I may have to look into it as mealworms are quite expensive.

 

[seb_seb]

dylan> ive already decided that im going to breed them, it seems easy(theyre only bugs!)..and why not?
try www.mealworms.com..apparantly the all they need is heat.shelter,bran and some form of moisture.

ianF> i dont have starlings so that wont be a problem! but the "plastic box" seemed a good idea..in the design stage..but ,as you say, it may not work

 

[seb_seb]

damn me with my "...." the link should be:
www.mealworms.com

 

[DavidJJones]

For the last couple of years I have used a design that I found on this American site:

http://birding.about.com/library/weekly/aa021401c.htm?once=true&

It has worked a treat, with Blue Tits using it regularly. You can see a picture of my feeder by going to my website and typing in 'mealworm feeder 2002' in the search box. When the results come up on screen, choose the first option and scroll down the page.

I have a weighted string hanging about a foot from each entrance. While the birds are feeding chicks, they sometimes use these strings as they peck off the heads of the mealworm and pull out its digestive tracts before giving the mealworm to the chick(s).

To see a picture of a male BT doing just this, go back to the search box on my site and type in 'gutting' - choose the first option, and scroll down. There are some B/W images of the discarded bits and further down is a colour picture of the male (with a larger version available).

 

[IanF]

Hi David,

That's the same design that I used, but the Blue Tits never found their way into it in the two years it has been up. The Starlings were more taken with the design, clinging on the sides trying to get in. They never could of course, but then neither did the Blue Tits !

 

[dylan]

Cheers for the link Seb, I think I'll be breeding my own from now on.
Great website David. Fantastic pictures of the chicks , the fledging day sequence is brilliant.

 

[seb_seb]

Dylan> ive bought some today(about 200..or thats what they said)..ive put them in a ice cream container with plenty ventilation. The bedding is flour,quaker oats and bran...with some bits of cucumber for moisture. It is in the warmest part of the house ..and the temperature there is constantly around 25 degrees C. Ive already found two adult beetles...and a few pupae..although the majority are still in the grub/worm stage. good luck if you do breed them!
David> that looks like a great design..but will shy bird..or ones that dont enter holes use it?

 

[DavidJJones]

Other feeder arrangements tended to be dominated by other birds, especially some very determined Starlings so that the BT's missed out. When I made the feeder, I made the holes Blue Tit sized deliberately so that they have their own exclusive feeder.

Last Spring it was extremely busy as the chicks developed, especially when the weather was bad (It is suspended under a roof so that it is protected from rain and some of the heating effect of sunshine).

I still provide mealworms for other birds, either scattered on the ground or in a dish, which is also visited by the BT's.

Starlings and 'our' robins try hard to get at the mealworms that they can see inside, and if the entrances had been larger then I think they would have gone in! In warm weather the mealworms become very active and some manage to escape to the outside of the box. Last year the Robin discovered this and would 'hover' and pick them off the woodwork.

 

[LezH]

I'll probably have to do this in instalments: I get flaky when confronted (physically or mentally) with wriggly things, crawly things, blood, serious illness, old age or face/body piercing. [deep breath and pleasant thought: cherry blossom, mmm... right...]

Had only vaguely heard of mealworms till now and, having looked at the site [in, hold it, out, relax... freshly mown grass, reflections in a lake...okay...] wonder whether an acceptable shortcut from the birds and nutrition perspective would be a quick visit to the local fishing tackle shop for a bait-box of maggots [okay, that's it: in ... out ... in ... out ... steady ... coo of a wood pigeon, flash of a kingfisher, grace of a swan, Jordan ... coming back ... coming back ... nearly there ... better ...]

Before a double dose of valium or something more Moroccan to steady myself for the purchase, would feeding this dish to my chirpy chums be a good idea or a no-no?

Thanks - Lez

 

[IanF]

Hi Lez,

Birds do eat Maggots, but some birds are vegetarians - maggots are meat eaters.

I use Mealworms to feed nesting Blue Tits as they are vegetarian types ie. the mealworms feed on the likes of lettuce leaves. Using Maggots, if the Blue Tits even took them would likely kill them or the chicks !

If you have nesting Robins or Blackbirds then maggots would do.

 

[seb_seb]

ive heard of maggots causing salmonella..so i stay away from them

 

[Andrew]

Panic reporting at work here. I see some have read about the maggots in the birding magazine.

Simply avoid coloured maggots and buy only white ones. Even the birds know this themselves as long time ago I put all sorts out after fishing and they all only took the whites. I now use white 'pinkies' as these are the larvae of a smaller fly thus a smaller maggot. This is easier for the birds to swallow and feed their young with. Another boon to 'pinkies' is they last for weeks, I still have a box of a half pint I bought in february in the outside fishing fridge. I have not been fishing since taking up birding proper so the 'pinkies' are my favoured choice as I do not have a supply of left overs anymore. I have a healthy assortment of nesting birds in my garden and see plenty of young coming out every year, all coming to the maggot bowl and being raised by their adults with the maggots.

So basically what I am saying is don't worry about maggots as long as they are white.

 

[seb_seb]

your birds are racist!!......lol

 

[Andrew]

And sexists, they only seem to take the well endowed females!!! LOL!!

 

[Screech]

A friend of mine has a "maggot feeder" hanging in his garden.
Distasteful as it seems, it works like a charm. One word of caution, stay upwind! LOL
The feeder consists of small mesh wire rolled into a funnel shape with a large # 10 can used as a "slide on cover". Any kind of meat scrape is put in funnel, flies enter, lay their eggs; hatch, feed, as they gain weight and wriggle about they fall through mesh to ground below. A regular assortment of birds visit and gobble them up. Not something I want in my yard, but to each his own! The funnel is hung by small chain, nail hole punched into center of can, chain fed through and attached to funnel.
Just think of the looks you'll get picking up "road kill" to feed your birds! ;0)

 

[Andrew]

I used to breed 'Gozzers' (pure white soft maggots) secretly in the garden for fishing when I was a bit of a rebel in my youth. Now it's just too much bother and stinks!!!