What do you put in a wire bird feeder

To use a wire style bird feeder, the bird food has to press against the inside of the mesh surround to allow wild birds to peck then beaks in.

What you put in a wire bird feeder is peanuts being the popular option, while dried mealworms being added, though hole size can vary. Suet nuggets are new, and though they are not small, they can be pecked at by birds. Sunflower seeds are the largest bird seed type to use in a wire bird feeder.

What you decide to put in a wire bird feeder will be something that is always going to go down well with common backyard birds.

Peanuts remain a favorite with seed eating birds, and there's a lot of them. Offer nuts in a wire feeder knowing its a match made in heaven. And on the subject of seeds, the only seed compatible with a wire bird feeder is sunflower seeds.

New on the block are suet nuggets in soft or hard form, as you put the suet balls in a wire bird feeder for birds to peck at them while avoiding birds taking the whole ball away.

With dried mealworms this can be a hit or miss, and while mealworms can be put in a wire bird feeder, the size of the gaps in the wire varies - thus it can be easy or made harder for birds to pull dried mealworms out.

What you put in a wire bird feeder can be all this, with an idea of putting in a few of each.

How birds will feed on any of these wild bird feed is to cling on the wire itself, in doing so at any direction, including upside down.

Wire feeder used for peanuts

I used to only associate wire style bird feeders for use with peanuts only, and while this remains true - nuts continue to be used in this reliable steel mesh bird feeder with ease.

Birds are used to tackling a peanut feeder with a small hole wire mesh surround; birds would cling to the side of the mesh exterior in any direction to feed - of which an upside down position is a trait in Chickadees or Woodpeckers.

Put peanuts in a wire bird feeder knowing what type of wild bird peanuts you use, the nuts will remain secured behind the wire yet still accessible.

Similarly, a wire bird feeder is almost always going to be compatible with peanuts, with no compatibility issues at all.

Wire bird feeders can be sold as a seed, suet nugget or mealworms bird feeder - in all it still remains a spruced up peanut feeder, promoted for other uses.

Wire bird feeders can be light while becoming heavier with a load of peanuts. The wire mesh can expand with peanuts protruding through the wire holes, though perfectly acceptable as the wire allows it to.

Can add Dried Mealworms

Personally I believe the best way to feed mealworms to wild birds within the confines of a hanging bird feeder, is in an open dish, with or without a dome cover.

Wire bird feeders can be made compatible for use with dried mealworms, due to the way birds can pull out mealworms through the small open gaps.

I'd say for birds to access dried mealworms in this wire bird feeder can be difficult as the mealworms can become stuck - to which a flat stainless steel 'hole type' bird feeder is better than wire.

Regardless, you can continue to use a wire bird feeder to cater to insect eaters, with an option to use it for peanuts or suet nugget if it doesn't go to plan.

Fill up the wire bird feeder with fewer dried mealworms in the event birds feed on the mealworms less so. And that can be true as insect-eating birds tend to feed off the ground - with a hanging wire bird feeder outside of realm of their capacity.

On the plus side to use less dried mealworms in general will save waste, well at the same time you'd get an idea how well a wire bird feeder performs with dried mealworms.

Suet nuggets are optional

What else you can put in a wire bird feeder in which has only come onto the scene in the last couple of years, is a bunch of rounded or square shape suet nuggets.

Suet nuggets cannot be pulled through a wire bird feeder at all, thus the idea is to allow birds to eat the suet balls though the open wire gaps. No suet ball will be pulled out all the way, as birds can only bite a little bit at a time.

I believe suet nuggets can rot far sooner than any other type of bird food to put in a wire bird feeder - with the possibility of suet becoming greasy, as suet bird feeders get messy more than others.

Put in suet nuggets or balls, or whatever they happen to be called in a wire feeder, in the likelihood they can cause a mess, thus a tidy up and replacement of new suet balls is needed more regularly.

Bird feeders of the wire mesh cage can put up with it, only you'd need to soak the wire mesh to remove any greasy film.

Don't bother with a wire bird feeder sold for suet balls or nuggets, as one designed for use with peanuts is all you need.

Sunflower seeds, only seed

Remarkably, bird seeds are usually put in what is always going to be a clear window, plastic tube seed feeder.

Seed feeders are unique in that the seeds compress down to allow one seed at a time to be taken by perching birds via the port holes, usually situated near the bottom.

Sunflower seeds can be added to these kinds of seed feeders, with a wire bird feeder benefiting wild birds more with greater access.

Sunflower seeds are quite large seeds, thus a regular seed feeder can be problematic.

Put sunflower seeds in a wire bird feeder than as your birds can peck at them through the wire, while taking away what they need. Birds won't have any difficulty in accessing these seeds behind the wire - while the wire bird feeder remains reliable for this use.

If your hanging wire bird feeder has a tray mounted to the base then this could be a specialty sunflower seed feeder, as the tray catches falling seeds and the husk, or what is the outer shell birds bite off to feed on the seed kernel in the center.

To summarize

I would say there's up to four type of wild bird feed you can put in a wire bird feeder, while this type of bird feeder used to only be used to serve up peanuts.

Peanuts remain the popular choice for adding in a not so much a wire bird feeder, but what is classed as a stainless steel, mesh bird feeder.

Nuts are perfectly shaped to be secured behind the wire, while birds will take what they need over the course of the day.

What else can be used in a wire feeder are actual dried mealworms. Now I will say it can be a trial and error, thus too many mealworms shouldn't be used to avoid waste, whilst only filling it a little way up.

New type of bird food that is more of a convenience than completely different are suet nuggets. Suet nugget can be soft or hard with the ability to serve them up in a wire style bird feeder only.

And while seeds are put in a clear plastic tube seed feeder, sunflower seeds are more tricky, thus a wire bird feeder is made compatible with this larger seed.

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