The High-Protein Food Robins Will Keep Returning To Your Garden For

If (like me) you find robins a particularly welcome addition to your birdfeeding setup, you might fare better with a table than a hanging feeder.

That’s because the critters usually eat from the ground, unlike tits and finches, which literally scoff their lunch on the fly. 

Once you’ve worked out how to feed robins, though, the question becomes what to offer them for the best chance of a repeat visitor. 

Luckily, experts at theRoyal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the Wildlife Trust agree there’s one food that the little birds “particularly” love.

Robins love mealworms

Though robins like fruit, suet balls, sunflower hearts, raisins, crushed peanuts, and seeds, mealworms are usually a standout favourite. 

They’re also a favourite of blue tits and pied wagtails, along with other birds that usually eat insects. 

This is because mealworms have roughly the same moisture and protein content as earthworms, which robins like to eat but which can be harder to find in the cooler months, when the ground hardens.

However, most often, mealworms come in a dried form, which (obviously) changes how much water they contain. 

So, Woodland Trust advised, “you can give them an extra helping hand by soaking dried mealworms in water, giving the robins some valuable moisture from the food”.

You don’t have to feed them mealworms on their own. Instead, you can place a mixture of mealworms and fruit on a feeding table and watch the robins get to work. 

Ensure your feeding table has a roof, too, because damp foods can harbour mould and bacteria. 

Don’t accidentally feed hedgehogs too many mealworms in the process, though

Robins aren’t the only ones who love mealworms – hedgehogs do too, but too much can be really bad for them. 

It can lead to a condition called metabolic bone disorder, which can unfortunately be fatal. But even if mealworms don’t lead to that, hedgehogs can eat too many relatively low-calorie mealworms and become too full to consume more nutrient-dense fare (a bit like ducks with bread).

So if you’re feeding robins mealworms, make sure you don’t leave them on the ground for hedgehogs to find.