Science Diet’s dry dog and cat chows are an excellent base for temporary feeding of wild baby birds. Powdered and moistened with water to an applesauce consistency is the usable bird formula. Exact, a birdseed manufacturer, makes a powdered baby bird hand feeding formula, that I have NOT had positive results using. Be advised that none of these foods is as complete as the diet provided by the natural parents.
The substitution list below provides general information and is by no means a guarantee that the nutritional needs of the baby bird are met in full. Be sure to provide fresh water.
| Bird | Natural Food | Substitute |
| Cuckoos | Tent caterpillars, worms, insects, lizards | Meal worms, beef heart rolled in bone meal, Science Diet Puree |
| Roadrunner | Snakes, sunflower seeds, pecans and lizards | Beef heart, mealworms, mice and chicks. |
| Jays and Crows | Insects, sunflower seeds, pecans, lizards | Science Diet, mealworms, nuts, seeds, fruit, and crickets. |
| Mockingbirds, Robins, Catbirds, bluebirds, Thrushes, Cedar Waxwings, Warblers, Thrashers, Starlings, Sparrows Blackbirds, meadow larks, Cowbirds, | Pokeberry, holly, sumac, grapes, cherries, chinaberries, pyracantha, cedar berries, insects, weed seeds. | Raisins, chopped fruit, Science diet, Mealworms, wild bird seeds |
| Cardinals, finches | Insects, sunflower seeds, weed seeds, fruit | Mealworms, sunflower seeds, wild birdseed, chopped fruit, Science Diet. |
| Shrikes | Insects, wasps, small birds, rodent and frogs | Beef heart rolled in eggshell, meal worms, grasshoppers, crickets, mice, Science Diet. |
| Hummingbirds | Nectar from flowers, tiny insects | Commercial hummingbird mix |
| Kingbirds, Nighthawks, Whippoorwills, Swifts, flycatchers, Swallows | Insects. Eat in flight and must be hand fed. | Beef heart rolled in eggshell, meal worms, crickets, insects, Science Diet. |
| Kingfishers | Fish, crabs, frogs, lizards, locust | Smelt, beef heart, lean beef |
| Woodpeckers, Flickers | Grubs, ants, beetles, some fruit and berries | Mealworms, chopped apples, beef heart rolled in egg shell, Science Diet |
| Chickadees, Titmice, Nuthatchers, Towhees | Pine seeds, sunflower seeds, insects, some fruit | Sunflower seeds, pine nuts, Science Diet, fruit mealworms. |
| Doves, Pigeons | Seed, | Pureed Science Diet, baby strained chicken add avian vitamins. |
