This video breaks down what is best for you and your backyard songbirds when it comes to live or dried mealworms. We look at budget, nutrition, preference, handling, seasonality and so much more.
Some of the answers may surprise you. And to make this video educational and truly informative, I investigated research papers and even performed my own experiments to really determine what is better for your songbirds.
-MEALWORM SUPPLIER FROM THIS VIDEO-
A great online supplier of live and dried mealworms that many bluebird hosts trust is Rainbow Mealworms. www.rainbowmealworms.com
-VIDEO ABOUT EASILY SEPARATING LIVE MEALWORMS FROM BRAN-
-LINK TO FIRST ROUND OF MEALWORM PREFERENC EXPERIMENTS-
**Use the table of contents to navigate to the video in the page.
*As of right now, this video is NOT sponsored and links are currently NOT affiliate links.
References:
Blem, C. R., & Blem, L. B. (2006). Variation in mass of female Prothonotary Warblers during nesting. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 118(1), 3-12.
Dubois, S., & Fraser, D. (2013). A framework to evaluate wildlife feeding in research, wildlife management, tourism and recreation. Animals, 3(4), 978-994.
Freed, L. A. (1981). Loss of mass in breeding wrens: stress or adaptation?. Ecology, 62(5), 1179-1186.
Graveland, J., & Van Gijzen, T. (1994). Arthropods and seeds are not sufficient as calcium sources for shell formation and skeletal growth in passerines. Ardea, 55(1–2), 299-314.
Johnson, L. S., & Barclay, R. M. (1996). Effects of supplemental calcium on the reproductive output of a small passerine bird, the House Wren (Troglodytes aedon). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 74(2), 278-282.
Kröncke, N., Grebenteuch, S., Keil, C., Demtröder, S., Kroh, L., Thünemann, A. F., … & Haase, H. (2019). Effect of different drying methods on nutrient quality of the yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor L.). Insects, 10(4), 84.
Mariod, A. A. (2020). Nutrient composition of mealworm (Tenebrio molitor). African Edible Insects as Alternative Source of Food, Oil, Protein and Bioactive Components, 275-280.
Wahome, C. (2022, May 26). Eating mealworms: How it can benefit your body. WebMD.
Zhao, X., Vázquez-Gutiérrez, J. L., Johansson, D. P., Landberg, R., & Langton, M. (2016). Yellow mealworm protein for food purposes-extraction and functional properties. PloS one, 11(2), e0147791.
Check out the Hosting Bluebirds Guide and Coloring Book! https://shorturl.at/bdwK7
Katharine spent a year working on the illustrations (most based on her own photography) and the information inside this book. It’s a deeply informational coloring book, excellent for adults and kids (note the content warnings in case – nature gets brutal). It’s available on Amazon, and if you scroll the page, you’ll find all the topics it covers including predators, types of housing, types of feeders, live vs. dry mealworms, identifying house sparrows, examples of native sparrows, native competition and so so so much more.
Check it out here: https://shorturl.at/bdwK7
Will soaking dried mealworms through nesting season be okay or are soaked ones no good either? I have been soaking dried mealworms in lukewarm water for 30 minutes before putting them out 🙏
I am on my second order of mealworms and I put them in substrate with moist carrots and then put them in the refrigerator I take them out at least every 2 or 3 days and then I put them in the feeders I have them in three feeders but much to my surprise the birds do not seem to be eating them. I thought birds absolutely loved live mealworms especially since they are expensive I’m surprised that the birds have either not discovered them or don’t seem interested in them.
GREAT INFO!
THANKS!
You didn’t mention canned mealworms. FLUKERs sells canned mealworms; they are not “live,” they are dead and they are moist, not dry. My BBs have yet to touch dry mealworms. My BBs like live as well as canned (dead) mealworms. Being that the canned worms are moist and already dead it saves the trouble of keeping live mealworms alive.