As promised, I made some bird treats for my outside feathered friends this weekend. Within 30 minutes of hanging them in the pine tree, I had a Downy woodpecker on each of them munching away. These little woodpeckers are truly a delight. At one time today, I had six different ones on feeders or waiting for their turn to feed. Most of the time they are patient and wait for whomever is eating to finish before they swoop in to claim their snack.
This treat is easy to make but they take a little while to dry so it’s not something you can make and use in the same day.
Birdseed Wreaths
- 4 cups birdseed
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 1 envelope of unflavored gelatin
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 3 tbs light corn syrup
You’ll want to spray whatever mold you plan to use with cooking spray the day before to let the spray dry, it won’t dry all of the way. Make sure to measure all your ingredients ahead of time because you’ll need to work rather quickly.
Using a whisk combine your gelatin and warm water in a medium sized mixing bowl until the gelatin is dissolved. Next, whisk in the flour and corn syrup to create a paste. Mix in the birdseed until it’s completely coated with the paste mixture. Spoon into the mold and press to compact with the back of a spoon. I recommend placing the mold someplace cool to dry for at least 24 hours, more like 36-48 hours.
You’ll want to store the finished product in a cool place because they will mold if left in the warm house. These aren’t something that you can make a bunch ahead of time to use throughout the winter. I would also use caution putting them out if it’s rainy or snowing as they will breakdown with moisture. If you’d like to make a bigger wreath, you can simply double the ingredients and place in a large bundt pan.
I decided to put the Bird Photo Booth out today to see what kind of pictures I could get. I only had it out for a couple of hours and these three were the best of the 436 it took.
One last picture for this post, I made suet a couple of weeks ago and put some in a coffee cup and stuck a twig in it for a perch. The woodpeckers LOVE this and I caught this male Downy eating today.
