Quick and easy birdseed feeder cakes for your garden birds

We make these birdseed feeder cakes regularly, because we love to feed and watch the birds in our garden, and making bird seed feeders is an easy activity anyone of any age can do.

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This is great to do in autumn when the birds might need a bit of extra feeding to help them but we make them all year round and hang them in the garden to see which birds come to visit and have a snack.

Feeding birds in your garden over winter is a lovely thing to do in the UK. Natural food gets scarce when it’s cold, so putting out seeds, suet, nuts and fresh water can really help them survive. It’s also a great way to bring more life into your garden – you’ll soon spot robins, blue tits and blackbirds popping in for a snack. Watching them up close is calming and rewarding, especially on grey winter days. Plus, regular feeding helps local bird populations stay healthy and strong, meaning more songbirds around when spring arrives. A small act makes a big difference.

For these birdseed feeder cakes you can use vegetable fat or lard, whichever you prefer. You can get this from the supermarket, or if you are very thrifty, save your fat when you cook meat, until you have enough. Lard or fat is brilliant for garden birds in winter because it’s packed with energy.

When it’s cold, birds burn loads of calories just to stay warm, so high-fat foods like suet or lard give them a quick boost they really need. It’s also easy for them to eat and digest, even tiny birds like blue tits. You can mix seeds, oats or dried fruit into melted lard to make homemade fat balls – much cheaper than shop ones. Just don’t use salty fat like bacon grease. A simple blob of fat can keep birds going through chilly, frosty nights and mornings.

This is a cheap and easy project too. Bird seed you can get from most supermarkets in the pet section these days, or even the pet store, or online* Make sure it is suitable for garden birds, and safe for them to consume. Most bird seed mixes in the UK contain a blend to suit different species. You’ll often find sunflower hearts or black sunflower seeds – they’re full of oil and energy, perfect for tits, finches and sparrows. Niger seed is tiny but rich, great for goldfinches. Peanuts (always unsalted and crushed) give protein and fat for larger birds like woodpeckers. Millet and canary seed attract small ground feeders like dunnocks. Some mixes also add suet pellets or dried mealworms for extra protein. The variety means more birds can benefit, each finding the food that matches their beaks and natural feeding habits.

You need:

twelve cupcake cases

a muffin tin tray

500g or so of good quality bird seed

500g of fat in solid form.

String, twelve pieces cut into about 25cm lengths

A pair of scissors

How to:

Melt your fat, either on the stovetop or in the microwave until it’s liquid.

Meanwhile, make a small hole in each cupcake case and thread the string through and tie a knot at the end so it can’t come out.

Place them in the muffin tray holes.

Add your seed to each case. We didn’t really measure, but used 500g of seed and just shared it evenly between the 12 cupcake holders.

Pour the hot fat into each case, carefully, until the seeds are covered.

 

 

Leave to cool until solid. Remove from the muffin tray and hang them up in your garden. You remove the cupcake case holders once they are hung up. You also store some of them in an airtight container in the fridge if you don’t want to use them all at once.

When you hang these birdseed feeder cakes in the garden, you will need to watch out for squirrels, who will also love these, so just keep an eye out to make sure the birds get their fair share.