How to Make a Birdseed Cake | Bird Feeders & Backyard | Garden Gate Magazine 

Thank You! 🙏🙏🙏

Corn syrup and flour are not good for the birds at all. FYI

@@marcmadonna725 dawg ur 3 years late

looked like cold water in the video

Oh no!

So nice of you. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for watching and commenting!

Great. Thanks for watching and commenting

I have never made these before, so i'm researching recipes and that brought me here to this video. I've read so much conflicting info my head is about to explode. Some say DO NOT use corn syrup, corn meal, or gelatin in these cakes. Bad for birds and gelatin melts in rain or snow. Some say it's fine. Other say use suet (beef fat), lard (pork fat) or crisco (vegetable fat) instead to bind. Then others say NO animal fat because it's harder to digest (fat is supposed to give them energy, but they spend half that energy digesting the animal fat so crisco is better) and animal fat can quickly go rancid above 70 degrees. I'm going to press ahead and make some of these because I've already bought all the ingredients and supplies, but next year I may just get some feeders to fill and keep it simple. Only two things to worry about with those.....position them correctly and keep them clean. :-)

Thanks for watching

Thank you 😊

We reached out to Iowa State ornithologist Tyler Harms and asked him about corn syrup in bird seed cakes. His response: “I think it’s likely better if cakes didn’t have it but I know of no evidence that suggests it is significantly harmful to them.” Sugar itself is not a bad thing but it’s important to determine what kind of sugar we’re talking about. Refined sugar has been processed and contains no nutrients. Because nutrients the bird needs to sustain its metabolism have been removed from refined sugar the bird’s metabolism must sacrifice its own nutrients in order to metabolize refined sugar. If you want to make seed cakes without corn syrup, consider using molasses or gelatin as a substitute.

@@GardenGateMagazine Thank you for the in-depth reply, I can agree about the bird’s metabolism must sacrifice its own nutrients in order to metabolize refined sugar.

@@GardenGateMagazine why does it have to be sweet at all?

Wonder if adding a paste of corn starch would be ok or help contain the hardness?

@@ZilrenNana The bird seed cakes I make do not harden as well as I would like. What is your experience? What do you recommend?

Thanks for watching!

Yes -- corn syrup is a big no-no!

@@lanialost1320 I used honey, when I made them. They looked delicious, even to me, but the birds didn't touch them?? Instead, the squirrels came and took them

Yes, lard is commonly used here also. Thanks for watching and commenting

By using lard you have made a suet cake and not a Bird seed cake

12 oz

@@GardenGateMagazine Thank you... I made last night...Filled 2, 18 oz cups. :)

This is the ratio of ingredients that we tested. And although peanut butter is often used in suet cake recipes, those usually require a cage to hold the softer "cakes". If you decide to try some modifications, we'd love to hear about your results!

We reached out to Iowa State ornithologist Tyler Harms and asked him about corn syrup in bird seed cakes. His response: “I think it’s likely better if cakes didn’t have it but I know of no evidence that suggests it is significantly harmful to them.” Sugar itself is not a bad thing but it’s important to determine what kind of sugar we’re talking about. Refined sugar has been processed and contains no nutrients. Because nutrients the bird needs to sustain its metabolism have been removed from refined sugar the bird’s metabolism must sacrifice its own nutrients in order to metabolize refined sugar. If you want to make seed cakes without corn syrup, consider using molasses or gelatin as a substitute.

Yes, that should work! Thanks for visiting.

Excellent!

We used 9 oz. but you could make either work.

We do use these in winter when food sources are harder to find for the birds.

@az stuff Please share your recipe with us. I would very much like to know how you make them. We have hot weather here in Tennessee also.

@az stuff The birds really don’t need to be fed during the Summer. Water yes, seed cakes not so much.

We reached out to Iowa State ornithologist Tyler Harms and asked him about corn syrup in bird seed cakes. His response: “I think it’s likely better if cakes didn’t have it but I know of no evidence that suggests it is significantly harmful to them.” Sugar itself is not a bad thing but it’s important to determine what kind of sugar we’re talking about. Refined sugar has been processed and contains no nutrients. Because nutrients the bird needs to sustain its metabolism have been removed from refined sugar the bird’s metabolism must sacrifice its own nutrients in order to metabolize refined sugar. If you want to make seed cakes without corn syrup, consider using molasses or gelatin as a substitute.

Excellent point … except birds don’t have teeth!

We use peanut butter and honey for ours

Some recipes use natural peanut butter or gelatin as a substitute binder instead of corn syrup. Let us know if you find a good substitution!