Love Birds in Colorado
Feed the Birds
Show your backyard birds some love this winter by creating nourishing homemade Colorado seed feeders. High-calorie and high-fat foods, such as black-oil sunflower and nut butters, provide high energy content and nutritional benefits for birds during winter when natural resources such as insects and fruit are harder to find.
Use Colorado-harvested grains in birdseed blends available at birding shops, feed stores and co-ops. Sunflower seeds attract the widest variety of birds, while white millet is favored among ground-feeding birds.
Visit Colorado Parks & Wildlife to learn more about the diet and habitat of more than 30 common bird species in Colorado and checkout our free Colorado Roots guide or app for local-food eaters, craft-beer lovers, scenic-byway drivers, fresh-fruit pickers, history-museum browsers, tiny-lamb petters, dude-ranch fanciers and everything in between. And there's a lot in between!
Birdseed Hearts Recipe
Ingredients:
1/3 cup Justin’s Peanut or Almond Butter
2 cups Colorado birdseed blend
1/4 cup water
1 envelope (.25 oz) unflavored gelatin
Directions:
1. Mix birdseed and nut butter in a bowl.
2. Dissolve one envelope of unflavored gelatin into hot water. Stir until dissolved.
3. Add water mixture to birdseed mixture. Stir to combine.
4. Fill heart-shaped molds or cookie cutters with mixture. Press mixture down to compact. Note: If using cookie cutters, place on a wax-paper-lined baking sheet.
5. Cut a drinking straw in small pieces and insert into your heart to create a hole for hanging. Leaving straws in, place in refrigerator for two hours.
6. Remove and allow hearts to harden for 24 to 48 hours. Hang outside with jute or twine and enjoy!