Christmas Presents for Winter Birds
Wild birds will often have a hard time finding energy-filled food during the winter. And you may feel stuck indoors when the weather outside is frightful. So why not entertain yourself and make a homemade Christmas present for winter birds that may visit your balcony garden? After you offer the wild birds your gifts, you can sit in your favorite chair and stare out of the window and watch the birds while you sip a hot chocolate!
You can be as creative and intricate as you’d like with these wild bird treats. You can slap them together to attract the birds (the birds don’t care how pretty it is!) to your balcony garden or you can mold the treats into little square Christmas presents topped with a bow made of nesting materials. Do as little or as much work as you want. The absolute least you can do is go out and purchase a suet cake from your local birdfeed store and set it outside. It’s as easy as that!
Pine Cone Feeders
This festive birdfeeder is easy to make. Just tie a piece of string to the top of your pine cone, and make sure it will be able to hold the pine cone for a long time. Spread the peanut butter over the pine cone and roll it in birdseed. Hang the cone outside from your balcony’s awning and wait for the wild birds to come.
Festive Popcorn Garlands
Instead of making a decorative popcorn garland for inside, take it outside! Pop some popcorn that has no butter or salt on it (Healthy Choice is a good brand) and let it cool. Also get sugar-free dried cranberries. Get some sturdy thread and a needle, and string the cranberries and popcorn onto the string and tie it up outside. While making this treat, you may want to sneak a little for yourself! It's a healthy Christmas treat for both wild birds and humans!
Suet Christmas Presents
Ingredients
1 lb chopped suet
1 cup mixed birdseed
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup butter
1 cup rolled oats
Melt the suet in a pan over low heat and stir in the rest of the ingredients. Once the ingredients are thoroughly mixed and coated with suet, spoon the mixture into a pan and let it cool. Once cooled, cut into neat blocks (as you would when making fudge). If you want to wrap your presents with bird ribbon, use string, yarn, human hair or animal fur, cotton balls or shredded paper and wrap a little bow around your treat. Hang outside in a suet feeder or place presents on the ledge of your balcony and wait for the wild birds to come and "open" their Christmas presents!
