How to make treats for garden birds
Learn how to make bird fat balls and other treats with our DIY bird food recipe.
On this page, we’ll show you how to help any feathered friends stay fed throughout the year with these easy-to-make, high-energy foods for birds.
- Suitable for: Adults, and children with their adults!
- Season: All year round
We share our outdoor spaces with many different kinds of birds in the UK – so why not share our kindness with them, too?
Garden birds spend a lot of time foraging for food to keep their energy levels up. In spring, they search for extra to feed their young, and in winter, they need to find enough food to get them through the night.
Which is why our simple recipe for high-energy (high-fat), seed-studded suet biscuits can help birds not just survive – but thrive. By making these bird treats, you’re providing them with an extra source of nutrition, turning your outdoor space into a haven for wildlife.
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Found a sick or injured bird?
If you spot a bird that appears to be sick or injured, report your concern to us, and we’ll do what we can to help (or watch our video on helping birds here).
Make your bird treats
Instructions
- 1 Place the foil or greaseproof paper on the baking tray.
- 2 Put the suet in the bowl (you can grate it or chop it into pieces if it feels hard).
- 3 Add the birdseed and knead it all together.
- 4 When it's thoroughly combined, flatten it out on the baking tray.
- 5 If you have them, use your cookie cutters to make fun shapes – or simply roll the mixture into balls.
- 6 Keep combining the trimmings and reusing them until you've used up all the mixture – don’t let any go to waste!
- 7 Use the skewer to make a hole through the middle of each shape, then place them on the baking tray.
- 8 Put them in the fridge for a few hours.
- 9 Slide the biscuits off the tray and thread string through each hole – but don't tie the ends yet.
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10
Take your bird biscuits to a quiet, sheltered spot in a tree, bush, bird feeder (make your own eco bird feeder here) or bird table, and tie them in place.
And there you have it – treats for garden birds!
You can also add raisins and sultanas (but make sure no cats and dogs can get to them, as they’re poisonous to them) or oats and peanuts. If you add peanuts, make sure they’re crushed into very small pieces to stop younger birds from choking.
What you'll need
A big mixing bowl
Around 240g of beef suet (not vegetarian)
Around 240g of seed mix for wild garden birds (the packets should tell you which birds they attract)
A baking tray
Foil or greaseproof paper
A skewer or chopstick
Natural string
Cooker cutters (optional)
Look after your bird treats
To keep the treats fresh, keep an eye on them and remove any that start to look ‘off.’ If the birds have stopped eating them, this could also be a sign that they’ve spoiled.
If that’s the case, this activity is fun and repeatable; make more whenever you fancy! Birds will always welcome a free snack.
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