Can you put oats in a bird feeder
Its that time when you feel like upping your game with a new type of feed to offer wild birds, often it can be offered to birds only its matter of does it belong in a bird feeders.
You absolutely cannot put oats of any kind in your suspended bird feeders that are the enclosed type, and made for seeds, pellets, peanuts or mealworms. Oats can be fed to birds on an open platform or bird table only. Mix oats with other bird food to prevent it blowing away, remembering few too birds eat it.
If the bird feeder you currently use is advertised to suspend seeds, suet pellets or nuts, then continue to use it as recommended.
Getting into the nitty-gritty of experimenting with all kinds of scraps found in the kitchen can be offered to wild birds... which is usually on an open dish or platform type feeder.
Absolute don'ts of a bird feeder is putting in of all things, oats or cereal like bird scraps that do have a tendency of turning to mush.
While wild birds can indeed eat all kinds of oats intended for people, do understand the bird species that do eat oats are far and few between.
Expect any one or more birds to be attracted to oats to include: Blue Jays, California Towhees, Common Grackles, Eurasian Tree Sparrows, House Sparrows, Mourning Doves, Northern Cardinals, and Red-Winged Blackbirds.
Now look at that list of birds attracted to oats, are you happy to continue to offer oats in an wide open or enclosed feeder, knowing well the common backyard bird species it does attract aren't all that encouraging.
Sure, I would like to attract the Red-winged Blackbirds, Cardinals, Blue Jays and even the rare California Towhee to my feeders... though the others I could do without.
Sparrows can be quite dependable on feeders without me wanting to attract any more, as they can be found to take over the feeders already.
Grackles can be a nuisance as they deter smaller songbirds whereby the Mourning Doves will probably want to feed on the ground.
All of these bird species have one thing in common, they are indeed ground eating birds thus are unlikely to want to feed on a bird feeder anyway.
Some can and will for sure but the larger Grackles, Doves or even Blue Jays will end up making bit of a nuisance of themselves.
Never put oats in bird feeders of any kind while only open dishes or trays with a mesh base can be used to put oats on. Doing so, you'd want to replace oats regularly to prevent damp oats proceeding too stick to the bird feeder dish surface.
Do clean bird feeders as regularly as you can with or without oats added, while I promise you it will be like removing super glue if oats are fed to birds within a suspended bird feeders, usually made to hold peanuts or seeds.
Mix oats in open tray only
With the few wild birds who may eat your mix oats, even fewer are common bird feeder birds who primarily eat on the ground when foraging in the wild.
So you see there's quite a predicament on where and how do you feed birds oats.
Well, let me say you can indeed feed birds dry oats providing they're offered in a visible, highly accessible open dish or tray. Preferably a mounted tray although a hanging style dish is possible, providing its large and stable.
Why its so difficult to feed birds oats in a regular confined bird feeder is because the wild birds who eat grain or waste grain - are the same bird species who a ground feeding birds - or indeed those who are too large to tackle a confined bird feeder.
Its with noting most of these same birds will eat Cheerios if given the chance and so to a mix of super safe original cereals, providing its left dry.
What birds will eat your cereals and therefore your oats served up on an open dish will include one or many of Sparrows - House or Tree Sparrows - plus Cardinals, Blue Jays, Blackbirds, Doves and Grackles.
Now look at this mix of bird species and tell me you will be happy to attract these birds to your feeders, and possibly more to eat oats.
Truth is most birds like Doves can be a nuisance, Sparrows can get too plentiful while Cardinals or Blue Jays tend to be far too big and awkward to eat oats out of a confined bird feeder, usually suspended.
Make it an open to all stabilized bird feeder tray then to provide for birds who readily come to feeders, and much larger birds if you are happy to.
Can clog up bird feeders
Let's be real here for a moment, while dry oats will probably need to be confined to an enclosed space - or mix among other types of bird food to stop them blowing away - they will probably need to be kept dry to prevent oats turning glue-like.
Once dry oats get wet then its probably game over, as most birds will tend to avoid this soggy mess.
Now imagine if this soggy mess is enclosed in what can be a clear tube, and therefore a hot interior seed or tube feeder that is prone to humidity and hot conditions.
Well, expect oats to get wet and then turn to a mess within the feeder without being in direct contact with the rain.
What is likely to happen is this great heap of soggy oats is going to clog up the inner mechanics of any type of feeder.
Obviously you can't put oats in a mesh bird feeder because they will blow out through the gaps, whereas a seed feeder won't allow oats to naturally pass through the port wells.
In due course the oats will begin to bind together which will be due to unforeseen moisture building up internally.
And there you have it, you cannot feed wild birds oats in any kind of enclosed bird feeder, which are made for seeds, mealworms or peanuts for example - as they're guaranteed to clog up inside, rendering the bird feeder useless.
Oats simply blow away
You will need to put a heap of dried oats into some kind of bird feeder as this light grain will simply blow away in the wind.
The only place oats can be put on is an open bird feeder tray or dish, preferably with a mesh base to allow moisture to escape. Even so, this isn't an excuse to allow oats to sit outdoors, getting wet.
How you attract birds to a bird table or any kind of platform is with a mix of popular, made for wild birds' bird food like seeds, suet pellets, mealworms and nuts.
Well, why don't you continue to feed wild birds with a mix of this bird food for a balanced diet, while mixing in oats into the seeds. It will become more sparse but there's little risk now of this super light grain blowing away.
I do understand an enclosed bird feeder will keep the oats in place, but let me assure you no birds are likely to feed on oats offered in a bird feeder, like the kind with a perch.
Best way to feed wild birds oats then is on a bird table or any type of bird feeder dish.
Few birds will eat suspended oats
Truth of the matter is wild birds who are attracted to bird feeders suspended on a bird feeder pole or tree branch, come to feeders knowing they're filled with bird food that is similar to their diet in the wild.
While mealworms replace all kinds of insects for insect-eating birds, seeds taken off plants in nature are replaced with still a similar wild bird seed mix.
Birds who land on the perch or cling to the side of your bird feeder intended for peanuts or seeds, expect there to be one of there favorites. When they know there isn't, just watch as none oat-eating birds take off, never to be seen again.
Reason why there's no interest in oats inserted or put on a bird feeder tray - with no other kind of bird food - is simply because these aren't grain eating birds, or at least there just isn't enough of them in your yard.
Sure put oats on a bird table but not without a mix of bird seeds or nuts along with suet pellets, that do appear to be quite popular these days.
Birds who come to bird feeders suspended on a pole or branch are not your typical birds who will eat all feed served up to them. In fact, few birds who come to our yards will eat anything served up to them on a silver platter.
Instead, oats must be offered to birds who do eat grain whereas reliable bird feeder birds must be allowed to feed on their reliable wild bird food, offered to them by you on a daily basis.
Conclusion
I know the bird feeder feels like the first place an unusual or experimental feed can be put out for birds in, but of all things oats must never be put in feeders.
Oats are a dry, dense food which are unlikely to function correctly in a seed feeder made to filter seeds, or a peanut feeder made with wire mesh where oats will simply spill out.
Oats can go on a bird feeder that is the platform, dish or the tray kind that is always going to be open to the elements.
Never put oats in an enclosed bird feeder because birds who come to feeders expect their favorites only. I assure you wild birds who are attracted to bird feeders will eat nothing else than seeds, peanuts or other common bird food, suspended in feeders.
To use a bird feeder for oats will only see oats become damp within this confined space, which can produce a glue-like substance which is hard to remove and prone to bacteria.
Birds who eat oats like Blackbirds, Doves and Grackles are not your typical bird feeder bird either, thus are likely to want to eat oats but can't access them to feed.
With that, birds like Blue Jays and Cardinals can eat oats, only they're still too big to perch on what is likely to be an enclosed bird feeder.
Put oats on an open bird feeder tray only so therefore what are mostly ground eating birds that do eat oats, can access the oat mix with no restrictions.
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