It's so cold out there today on the Pennine Mountains of West Yorkshire that the snow, which fell during the early hours of yesterday morning, has turned to ice with roads like skating rinks, not to mention my garden paths. As always, all year round, I am feeding the birds but I think some people focus on the little birds because they look so vulnerable and sweet, but big birds need food too. I've filled up the seed feeders with nutritious sunflower seeds and I've made some fat balls from lard, sultanas, sunflower seeds, and chunky oats. The fat balls have only been outside for minutes and already about a dozen medium size birds are having a go at them. And they are dropping bits on the ground. Good. Squirrels have been coming around recently and I've been throwing down sunflower seeds on the ground for them and the big birds.
Making fat balls costs money, of course, and I am very much aware that some people will not be able to afford to feed the birds but for those who can, or who want to, making your own can be a lot cheaper than buying them. The cheap store-bought fat balls are just that: cheap. They are made up with cereal fillers that look like sawdust, when what the birds need to give them energy to cope with low temperatures is nutrition, not just belly fillers. It's no good just throwing out bread either, as that is just a belly filler. If you must give unwanted bread, smear some lard or butter on it. And never ever give birds porridge; it can congeal around their beaks and set like concrete. Don't do it! And
do not give them salty food! Please check the other links below. Thank you.
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Birds feeding on homemade fat balls - winter 2013
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Don't put fat balls out in the warm months as the fat will go rancid. Not good
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) - Feeding scraps (external link)
Gardeners' World - how to make fat balls (external link)