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Robins

Robins

Robins are insect eaters first and seed eaters second, which is why a garden that is full of them can still have a robin that ignores the feeder completely. Dried mealworms are the single most reliable thing you can offer one, and suet pellets run a close second — both give the fat and protein a robin is actually looking for, especially in hard weather and again in spring when there are chicks to feed.

The bigger mistake is usually not the food but the height. A robin will not cling to a mesh or tube feeder the way a tit will. It wants to feed from a bird table, an open dish, a ground tray or the top of a wall, ideally within a short hop of a hedge or shrub it can retreat into. Put mealworms in a shallow dish rather than scattering them, and put the dish somewhere with cover nearby.

If mess underneath is a concern, a husk-free mix leaves nothing to sweep up or sprout, which makes a ground feeding spot much easier to live with.

Related ranges

Robins take the same foods that suit blackbirds and thrushes. The full ranges are in mealworms, suet pellets and wild bird seed.

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