Bird food that spreads Christmas cheer
Wish the birds a Merry Christmas with delicious Christmas bird food, and decorate outdoors at the same time. A little extra love for the birds can create Christmas magic for both young and old.
Our small friends with wings need a little help when the cold is upon us. Think of the birds when you decorate for Christmas outside, and when you plan this year's Christmas workshop.
Decorate a bird feeder for Christmas
A bird feeder can easily be made quite Christmassy. See how beautiful it turned out when we decorated this Plantasjen birdhouse with moss, some evergreen twigs, a few rowan berries, and a small string of lights:
The classic Christmas sheaf
A beloved child has many names. Christmas sheaf, grain sheaf, bird sheaf, or corn bundle? No matter what you call it, it has long traditions in Norway. A Christmas sheaf with a red bow tied around it, fastened to a broomstick, makes that nostalgic Christmas feeling creep in. Many also choose to tie the sheaf up in a tree in the garden.
If you are the type who likes to experiment a little with traditions, maybe you could tie a wreath out of the bird sheaf this year? You can follow the recipe for making a Christmas wreath from conifers, just replace the conifer branches with straw.
Even though the Christmas sheaf is a fixed tradition for many, it is actually not the favorite food of very many birds. If you want to give the birds some extra goodies, but still follow tradition, you can, for example, decorate the sheaf with some nice fat balls (suet dumplings).
Christmas decorations with bird food outdoors
Fat balls (suet dumplings) are very popular among birds. They contain good and important nutrients that the birds desperately need during winter. Hang the fat ball a good distance above the ground, preferably in or near a tree, to protect against predators and keep the food clean.
You can easily add a little extra Christmas spirit by attaching decorative ribbons or bows to store-bought fat balls. If you want to put even more love into it, you can make your own fat balls.
Make your own bird food for Christmas
Making your own fat balls doesn't have to be complicated at all. In short, all you need are some types of seeds and nuts that the birds like, and cooking fat. Just make sure everything is unsalted. Here is a simple recipe that you can vary depending on what you have and can get:
- 200 g coconut fat or unsalted cooking fat
- 3 dl seeds and nuts for birds
TIP! Our ready-made seed mix for wild small birds is a simple and safe choice. It has a high nutritional content, is suitable for feeding many different wild small birds, and also looks good decoratively, as it contains many types of seeds with different shapes and colors. Add some peanuts, and you have a good mix. You can find both seed mix and peanuts with us.
How to do it
1. Melt the cooking fat in a saucepan over low heat. It should not boil.
2. Chop the nuts, mix the dry ingredients, and stir well together with the fat. Let the mixture solidify slightly on the kitchen counter before filling it into molds. You can use anything from milk cartons to muffin tins, paper cups, orange peels, and cookie cutters.
TIP! If you are going to use cookie cutters, the mixture should be extra firm. Try adding a little oatmeal if the mixture becomes difficult to work with.
3.Place string or ribbon into the molds before the mixture completely solidifies, so you have something to hang the fat balls with. Use a few extra cm of ribbon, and place it in a zigzag pattern from the top and far down into the mold, so that the ribbon holds the bird food as securely as possible.
4. Place the molds in a cold place for a while after you have filled them, so that the mixture becomes firm and stable. Once the mixture has set, you can carefully remove the molds and hang the treats out in the cold. If you are early, the fat balls can be stored in the freezer.
TIP! Do you have a cup you aren't too worried about? Fill the mixture into it, and hang the entire cup out in the tree. If you leave a twig or spoon standing in the cup while the mixture hardens, the bird will also have something to perch on while it eats.
Perhaps this will be the Christmas where you go all out, and decorate an entire tree in the garden with Christmassy fat balls?
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