SCOTT SHALAWAY Give your bird guests more menu options

Last week, as if on cue, a variety of juvenile birds began visiting the feeders. Within a span of an hour, I saw fledgling red-bellied woodpeckers, downy woodpeckers, cardinals, and tufted titmice. It was like watching kindergartners line up in the cafeteria their first day of school. The young birds were hungry, but had no idea how to use the feeders. So while the juveniles quivered their wings and begged loudly, the parents continued feeding them.
This went on for about two days. Then it was time to see if the young birds had learned by watching their parents. The adults watched from a distance, but ignored the pleas for food. After about 20 minutes, the motivational power of food kicked in. The young birds took turns perching on various feeders and quickly took to the sunflower seed buffet.
Satisfied that the fledglings could feed themselves, the parents could turn their attention to lessons in social behavior and escaping predators. The cardinals would probably raise a second brood.
Birds are omnivores
Seeing the young birds at the feeders reminded me that something was missing -- live food. Rapidly growing nestlings and fledglings require the high protein diet insects and other invertebrates provide. And adults eat insects, in part, simply because they're so abundant.
Take advantage of this seasonal shift in diet by offering a daily handful of live food -- mealworms, the larval stage of harmless darkling beetles -- in a shallow tray. Woodpeckers, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, and even cardinals love 'em. And many birds that don't eat seeds come to feeders stocked with mealworms. Bluebirds, catbirds, mockingbirds, robins, wrens, warblers, and vireos are among my warm weather feeder birds.
Mealworms are grown commercially for pet and bait shops, but they're expensive. Two dollars buys a few dozen. Mail order sources such as JennaBird (www.jennabird.com; 800-500-BIRD) are more economical -- 5,000 mealworms for $27.00 ppd.
Better yet, buy a few thousand mealworms, then raise your own. It's easy and cheap. All you need is a large plastic container (a sweater box works well) with a lid, a supply of wheat bran for food, several brown paper bags, and an apple. If you can't find wheat bran, bran breakfast cereal, rolled oats, or corn meal will suffice. Or you can mix and match the grains.
Setup
Add about three inches of bran to the container. This is the mealworm food. For moisture, slice an apple in half and push each half, peel side down, into the bran until the cut face is level with the top of the bran. Add about 50 mealworms for each square foot of container. Now cover the entire culture with several sheets of brown paper. The mealworms will move about the layers of paper when not feeding.
Before putting the lid on the container, drill a grid of quarter-inch holes spaced about two inches apart. If condensation forms inside the lid, drill more holes. Both the mealworms and their food must be kept dry. Store the culture at room temperature.
Maintenance
Within a few weeks, some of the mealworms will begin to pupate. The pupae are fleshy, light colored and will ultimately transform into adult darkling beetles. The adults will then mate, and the females will lay eggs in the bran. Then the adults die. When the eggs hatch, the mealworm life cycle starts anew.
Check the culture every few days. When the apple is eaten, replace it. And every three months, clean the container and renew the culture. If you detect an unpleasant odor in the container, it's time to clean it. A healthy mealworm culture has little or no odor.
For a virtually limitless supply of mealworms, start several cultures at monthly intervals. Each square foot of culture should yield more than 1,000 mealworms each cycle.
Though most birds relish live food, it is not an essential part of a warm weather feeding station. There are plenty of insects in the back yard. But if you take this extra step, the birds will love it.
sshalaway@aol.com