Live Mealworms

When coming to feed live mealworms to garden birds, there are a number of different types of live mealworm feeders that will help birds visiting your garden to access them.

When feeding, bear in mind that mealworms do not cope with being submerged in water, so you should make sure any bowl or dish is covered properly from rain. The cover on our Robin feeder would work well for this

You can buy live mealworms for a number of different species of bird, so when thinking about feeding methods, consider using different types of bird feeder. Certain types of feeder can accommodate different sizes of bird to access the food in them. Caged feeders prevent larger birds from getting into them for instance. It's important to place live mealworms in feeders that let different sized birds get to the larvae, as larger birds will also feed them to their young during the nesting and fledgling seasons.

Many people who consider feeding mealworms and other livefoods to birds often wonder how to store live mealworms for birds. Live mealworms can be stored in a cool, dark place and kept at a consistent temperature of 8-10 degrees Celsius. Many people choose to store them in a sealed, plastic tub. It is important that you keep live mealworms in these conditions because this prevents the larvae's hormones from forming, meaning they won't develop into a mealworm beetle. Before storing your mealworms, you should make sure they are properly fed with mealworm food. When you are ready to feed them to your birds, take them out of the fridge/cold area and allow them to reach room temperature.

Live mealworms are good for birds for several reasons.  Firstly, they are a highly nutritious form of bird food. They provide crude protein and fat which are essential food groups for all species. The protein content of live mealworms is especially beneficial to birds during moulting season; when birds shed their feathers to grow new ones. Birds going through this process need more protein than usual to help with the regrowth process. 

They also contain a lot of moisture, which means they help to keep birds hydrated. This is important during the breeding season in particular, as birds need to provide moisture to their young. 

Including livefoods such as mealworms in your bird food selection may help the diversity of wild bird species that visit your garden. It encourages species of ground feeding bird, like Song thrushes, Blackbirds and Robins to visit your garden, especially during dryer months. During these months, where there is lower rainfall, earthworms will not rise to the top of the ground, which means birds won't be able to access them. During these months, feeding live mealworms to birds makes up for this, and offers birds a wider range of food sources. 

Some people choose to feed dried mealworms to birds over live ones because they prefer them. For some people, the wiggle of live mealworms is off-putting.  Dried mealworms do have their benefits. This includes being able to store them for longer periods. However, they do not contain the moisture that live mealworms do. The water content of livefoods like mealworms (and also waxworms) is important, especially if you are feeding birds during the breeding season.  However, dried mealworms can be substituted for live ones. If buying dried mealworms, you must soak them in water for at least 30 minutes before putting them in your garden. This adds the water content and makes them more beneficial to the birds that feed on them.  We suggest including a combination of foods, including livefoods, in your garden. This will help you attract lots of birds. For best results, include live or dried mealworms alongside a range of other bird food types, like suet pellets or balls, peanuts, seed mixes, straight seeds or sunflower hearts. 

Many birds are attracted to live mealworms, particularly soft-billed bird species. This includes Robins, Blackbirds, House sparrows, and tits. Birds that eat live mealworms include:

Blackbird

Blackcap

Blue tit

Dunnock

Great tit

House sparrow

Nuthatch

Robin

Starling

Song thrush

Wren

Stored mealworms, which become 'dormant' if kept in the proper conditions, will last up to two weeks. Live mealworms will naturally stay in their larvae form for around four to six weeks before developing into a beetle. Once placed in an appropriate feeder in your garden, it's likely the mealworms will be eaten within minutes. For this reason we recommend putting out relatively small quantities at a time, but doing so at intervals throughout the day.

You can buy live mealworms from Vine House Farm, easily and online. As part of our delivery service, live mealworms are sent directly from the supplier to ensure longevity. They are delivered by Royal Mail and can take up to four working days to arrive. If you are ordering live food for delivery to Northern Ireland, orders can only be taken via telephone. Please call 01775 630208 to place your order.

Never feed live mealworms to hedgehogs! Whilst they will readily eat them, the high phosphorus and low calcium causes damage to bones, resulting in fractures and losing the ability to walk.