Mealworm Feeding 101
Photograph by Eileen Fox
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Mealworms will attract many different types of birds that may not be coming to your seed feeders. Robins, Bluebirds, Blue Jays, Wrens, Chickadees, Woodpeckers, and many other songbirds will come for mealworms. Because mealworms are so high in protein, birds are especially attracted to them during nesting season and will feed the mealworms to their nestlings. Once the baby birds have left the nest, the parent birds often bring them to the mealworm feeders. I have Mountain Chickadees that nest in my yard every year, but I never saw the babies once they left the nestbox. After I put up a mealworm feeder, I was rewarded with seeing all the fledglings lined up waiting to get their chance at a juicy mealworm.
Type and placement of your feeder is very important to your success at feeding mealworms. You must keep in mind the natural way the target bird likes to feed. Robins for example prefer to feed on the ground, while chickadees will be attracted to a feeder that is mounted above the ground. With a little effort, Bluebirds can be attracted to a feeder placed specifically for your viewing pleasure. You can start out putting the feeder in a location nearby the nesting site (not too close, the nestbox
will not be used if there is too much bird traffic close by, so at least 30 feet away) and once they are familiar with the feeder, you can move it to a location that suits you, closer to your patio for example. I have even heard of Bluebirds eating mealworms out of peoples' hands.
The next thing to consider is the type of feeder. Some feeders make the mealworms available to any bird that wants them. If you only want to feed Bluebirds, you have other options. Bluebirds are not apprehensive about going inside a feeder after mealworms, but most other birds will not. So, you can choose one of these "restrictive" feeders to limit your mealworm feeding to just the Bluebirds.
Storing Mealworms
Mealworms are the larvae of the beetle Tenebrio molitor, also known as the darkling beetle. They stay in this larvae (worm) stage typically for about 10 weeks before turning into beetles. Keeping them in a refrigerator retards their development and increases their shelf life. If you plan on feeding them within a week or so, you do not need to refrigerate.
TIPS: Mealworms become dehydrated during refrigeration, so before offering them to your birds, you should "plump" them up. Place a thin slice (almost paper thin) of apple, potato, carrot peels, etc. in the container for the worms to eat. Mealworms will die if they are exposed to direct sun, so once your birds are coming to your mealworm feeder, you can place those paper thin slices of apple, potato or carrot peels over the worms to give them some shade. The birds will find them by flipping over the peel. Unless you have birds that come swooping to the feeder as soon as you bring out the mealworms, do not feed during rain, the worms will drown.