How 'Instant' are Mealworms? (1 Viewer)

[Julian Mole]

Hello,

On Monday I purchased my first ever Mealworms with a mind to giving my garden birds a treat. However the little darlings don't seem the remote bit interested so far!
I have placed a dozen or so in a little tray next to the bushes and under my feeders where all the birds are visiting, and all of them (from Blackbirds to Robins) have ignored them in favour of the Sunflower Hearts (either direct from the feeder or picking up the spilt bits underneath).

This has been a bit surprising to me as I have read how most people have the equivalent of an avian mad scramble everytime they put Mealworms out, with birds coming from every direction to grab as many as they can. I've even read that Robins willl even take them out of your hands.

Is this just natural caution towards something new? ...Or are the songbirds in my garden just a bit thick!! ;-)

Anyway, if they do finally cotton on, they are going to need to be pretty quick because as usual the local Magpies haven't taken long to recognise a potential new food source!

(These birds are seriously clever, the only thing they haven't managed to get a taste for and then regularly exploit from my feeders is the Nyger Seed!! The hanging sunflower heart feeder, hanging suet filled log, hanging suet ball cage they've all been raided in the past or continue to be. The only birds I can imagine would be worse for nuisance factor would be a large flock of hungry Starlings or a group of American Grackles. But despite this I can only admire them as being masters of their enironment quickly recognising and then exploiting any potential food sources. They certainly put the T into Team Work!)

 

[Guinness537]

I think it's more a case of like you say "natural caution", not to mention the fact that they have the sf hearts at hand.

Patience is the key.

Good luck.

 

[Bennis Feed]

Can they see them okay? Id probably say patience here. But sunflower hearts are the bird's favorites.

 

[Dan123]

Yes I have had the exact same thing Julian. And the only birds who ate them were Magpie's. I'm going to try and put some out next month I think when they'll start having their chicks and see what happens then.

 

[Julian Mole]

Hi Folks,

Thank you for the replies.

Well, I've continued in my efforts to introduce these as a new foodstuff, but to no avail! I have presented them in an unturned jar lid in a couple of locations around the garden but the regular birds in the garden show no interest! As a result when the Magpies have spotted them they come in and gobble them up, although I did get a little interest from a Jackdaw - who grabbed a few.
So perhaps they only appeal to the Corvids in my area!

 

[Niki]

Hi,

I've noticed the same thing. My blue jays, cardinals, finches, sparrows and other common birds ignore the meal worms (dried). However, my robins do eat them from my table feeder.

Good Luck!

 

[Zoogoer2000 - Packwatcher]

I have tried mealworms once (Just as an experiment) as I have readily available live mealworms (I feed them to my leopard gecko)

I placed them in a small dish under a popular feeder and within 3 minutes, a grackle gobbled them up

I think the key to feeding mealworms is using LIVE mealworms and placing them under popular feeders. Once they have been discovered by number of different birds, I would try to place them on a platform feeder in the same dish as before

When the birds are flying over and they see the dish, they will recognize it as the mealworm source and will come down for a look/to eat

 

[Julian Mole]

Hello Niki and Zoogoer, etc.

An update for you. I continued putting out the live mealworms every few days and then hey presto the Robins and Dunnocks started taking them.

Now when I put them out the Magpies don't have much of a chance to get any!


Thanks for the help,

Julian.

 

[Geoff Brown]

The sparrows soon snap my dried ones up.

 

[AndyK]

The sparrows soon snap my dried ones up.

I put half a small tub out and 12 hours later they were gone, I was astonished. Family of Starlings I have since found!