If you run out of bird food, you can feed birds several safe emergency foods from your kitchen, but you must avoid foods that are toxic or unhealthy. Safe temporary foods include black oil sunflower seeds if you have them for cooking, unsalted peanuts, unsalted and unroasted nuts like walnuts and almonds chopped small, plain suet or unseasoned lard without additives, unsweetened and unflavored cereals like plain Cheerios or oatmeal in small amounts, cooked plain rice without salt, defrosted frozen peas and corn, and fresh fruits like apple slices without seeds, blueberries, grapes cut in half, and raisins soaked in water. You can also offer hard-boiled eggs chopped up for protein. For hummingbirds, you can make nectar with four parts water to one part white sugar, boiled and cooled, without honey or artificial sweetener. What you should never feed includes bread, crackers, and baked goods which have little nutrition and mold quickly, salty foods like chips and salted nuts which are toxic, chocolate, raw potatoes, milk, spoiled seeds, or anything with seasoning, garlic, or onion. Put emergency food in a clean feeder and clean it daily to prevent mold and disease. This should be temporary until you can buy proper bird seed like sunflower seeds, nyjer, and millet.
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