This is excellent information, Bet. There are many people who feed mealworms to bluebirds simply so that the birds will remain in their area. It's important to understand the impact that supplemental feeding has on the nutrition and health of our blues. I began adding crushed eggshells to my homemade suet recipe a couple of years ago and, due to the mealworm shortage last winter, have lessened my mealworm feeding. The blues love the suet and I feel better knowing it's also good for them.
Kathy

Thanks Bet! I see how much Ca chickens need per day, but do you know how much bluebirds need? I'm thinking too much is almost as dangerous as too little. If you have this information, we could make better decisions on how much Ca to add to the mealworms per day, based on expected bluebirds, etc.

Thanks,

Ann

Hi Ann - I doubt anyone knows specific requirements for bluebirds. Probably some data out there for caged birds. There are also issues associated with calcium availability, the calcium-phosphorus ratio, and varying needs depending on stage of growth, gender, time of year etc.

Figure chickens are laying LOTS more eggs, and have a less varied diet than bluebirds.... My khaki campbell ducks lay 200 eggs a year! A bluebird probably lays no more than 20.

If you offer it in bite size pieces my guess is they will eat what they need

I bought all this stuff last year to make a recipe I saw on the internet, but the birds that were here didn't eat it, o they just eat it in the winter when insects arent available? I bought everything from lard to sunflower seeds, and they wouldn't eat it. Just mealworms.

Mine wouldn't at first either, Gibby. You have to persist and slow the feeding of mealworms. I would scatter a few mealworms in with the suet and, eventually, they began to eat it as well. I add dried fruit (chopped cherries or blueberries) as well as peanut hearts and sunflower chips to my suet mixture and all the birds love it. I had a flock of about 15 bluebirds, mostly males, at the feeders over the weekend. We've had ridiculous amounts of snow here in my part of Maryland and I'm just happy that the birds are surviving. S-N-O-W is definitely a 4-letter word around here these days!
Kathy

I put out a bowl of sterilized, crushed eggshells in the spring on a covered feeder (like a tray with a roof over it so they don't get wet). All the birds seem to appreciate them around laying time.