Birds love energy-rich fat balls, which give them all the calories they need to get through cold winter days and nights. You can buy them in the shops but they’re easy to make at home, simply mix kitchen scraps such as cheese, cake crumbs and dry porridge oats with melted lard or suet, and set in the fridge overnight.
Which birds benefit from fat balls?
Fat balls are popular with blue tits, great tits and long-tailed tits, house sparrows, blackbirds, robins, woodpeckers, nuthatches and blackcaps.
Alternative ingredients
Add rehydrated raisins, currants and sultanas, small pieces of apple or pear, or grated cheese. Crushed peanuts and mealworms can also be added.
Foods to avoid
Avoid using turkey fat, which doesn’t set like suet and lard, and can coat birds’ feathers, preventing them from being able to fly. It can also spread disease. You should also refrain from using raisins and sultanas if you have a dog, as they are poisonous to dogs. Bear in mind that mealworms are harmful to hedgehogs, so only add these if you’re hanging fat balls in winter, when hedgehogs are hibernating.
Watch Kate Bradbury explain how to make fat balls for birds in our No Fuss video guide:
