bird balls

It is winter, the snow spreads its great white coat. It is magnificent. The birds sing…because they are hungry. And yes, winter is a time of hunger. The perpetual expansion of our cities and the freezing of the ground makes it very difficult for birds to find food. Usually, a feeder or a few seeds on the windowsill are enough to help them. But in winter, because of the cold, they consume more calories and need a little extra fat. Fat balls are a very good way to help them overcome their deficiencies. But be careful, this is only in winter and as a boost. They are like mammals, subject to cholesterol, so we are careful and we do not give them every day. One scoop per week when the temperature drops below zero is more than enough. You will do a great service to the birds around you and you will witness an extraordinary show. Since I put seeds and grease balls in my window, I see birds every day, it’s magic.

However, I don’t recommend commercial fat balls. First, they are very expensive. Secondly, since there is not much regulation on them, they often contain additives, pesticides and oils from deforestation. Whatever you do, don’t take the ones with nets around them! The birds cut themselves on it and get tangled up. Most of the time this ends in the death of the bird. It’s the same with bread. It is a bad idea to give bread to birds. Their digestive systems are not equipped to digest cooked food. They die from it, slowly but surely.

But back to our sheep, to make the fat balls, you will need seeds. You can use any kind of seeds as long as they are natural and especially without salt. For the binder, we will use 100% vegetable oil. It is very important not to use animal fats. We need an oil that solidifies at room temperature like sunflower or corn margarine or coconut oil. Where I live, you can’t find margarine except in very small jars wrapped in a triple layer of plastic, so I resorted to coconut oil.

So this is what I used for my fat balls:

• sunflower seeds
• coconut oil
• small cake pans
• string
• 1 pair of scissors
• 1 saucepan
• 1 tablespoon

First, we’ll heat the coconut oil in the pan. In terms of quantity, I ladle it in a bit. I put two tablespoons of solidified oil per mold and heat it up over low heat. Then, we will cut pieces of string of 10 to 15 centimeters. We make as many as there are molds. We will take a piece of string and we will make a circle with it in the bottom of the mold, like on the picture. The remainder of the string, we let it exceed. We make that in all the moulds and after, we fill them with sunflower seeds. There, we are going to get our oil which must be melted, and we are going to pour it in the moulds, on seeds and the string. Here, it is made. It does not remain any more but to put them at the expenses. Given the temperatures, I put them on my balcony but if you do not have an outside, you can put them in the refrigerator. After 10/15 minutes, they will have solidified and you can unmould them. The string will allow you to hang your grease ball.

Remember to place them out of reach of predators. If you are a cat lover like me, I suggest you put your greaseballs in a place where they can’t get to them but can look at them. It’s very relaxing for cats to watch birds and life in general. You’ll see.

For those of you who are not satisfied with my explanations or need visual support, a video of how I make my fat balls is available on our Instagram account. I hope this article has been helpful to you. Feel free to comment, either here or on social media. Even better, if you have pictures of your new feathered friends, feel free to share them. I’d love to see them. Anyway, see you soon for new articles.

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