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Best fat balls for feeding birds
Fat balls are a popular choice for feeding birds, but while some brands will
attract birds to your garden, others fail to impress
In this article
- Best fat balls for feeding birds
- Full results for fat balls for feeding birds
- Which types of birds eat fat balls?
- What type of bird feeder should I use for fat balls?
- When should I feed fat balls to birds?
- What ingredients should I look for in fat balls?
- How we tested fat balls for feeding birds
The best fat balls will contain quality ingredients, attract lots of species of birds and will be able to withstand being outside without crumbling too quickly or growing mould. However, the worst we’ve tested will be hard, dry and unappetising to our garden wildlife.
Fat balls also vary in price, with some costing as little as £6 for 50 balls and others costing almost three times as much.
We wanted to discover which fat balls are worth buying and, more importantly, which will bring the most birds flocking to your garden.
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Best fat balls for feeding birds
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| Brand | Overall score | Bird visits | Range of birds visiting | Feeding* | Weathering | Quality of ingredients |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finchleys Suet Dumlpings | ||||||
| Gardman Fat Snax | ||||||
| Glenwood Fat Balls | ||||||
| Feldy Golden Food Balls | ||||||
| Johnson & Jeff Ltd Selected Fat Balls | ||||||
| Peckish Extra Goodness Ball | ||||||
| National Trust Ultimate Fat Balls |
The more stars the better. Ignores price and is based on: bird visits 30%, range of birds 20%; feeding 20%, weathering 15%, quality of ingredients 15%
*Feeding - how quickly the fat balls were consumed assessed by weight
National Trust Ultimate Fat Balls
Price £10.99 for 30 balls
Where to buy birdfood.co.uk; Ocado
Overall score 87%
Birds appeared to love this product. No matter which feeding station it was placed in, it was consistently visited by a range of birds including dunnocks and robins who would rather feed on the ground generally. The fat balls looked temptingly like stuffing balls, packed with peanuts and sunflower seeds. This product had plant-based oil and fats.
Peckish Extra Goodness Balls
Price £12.49 for 50 balls
Where to buy Aylings Garden Centre; Amazon
Overall score 84%
This was another extremely popular product, attracting birds consistently across all the feeding stations. It was a soft fat ball that crumbled easily. The yellowish base fat was studded with a mix of peanuts and black sunflower seeds that our tester described as ‘korma-like’ and was especially attractive to blue tits, long-tailed tits and great tits.
Full results for fat balls for feeding birds
| Brand | Overall Score | Bird visits | Range of birds visiting | Feeding* | Weathering | Quality of ingredients |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Buy National Trust Ultimate Fat Balls | 87% | |||||
| Best Buy Peckish Extra Goodness Balls | 84% | |||||
| Recommended Finchleys Suet Dumplings | 74% | |||||
| Recommended Johnston & Jeff Ltd Selected Fat Balls | 72% | |||||
| Recommended RSPB Super Suet Balls | 72% | |||||
| Squawk Suet Fat Balls | 64% | |||||
| Verve Suet Fat Balls | 59% |
The more stars the better. Ignores price and is based on: bird visits 30%, range of birds 20%; feeding 20%, weathering 15%, quality of ingredients 15%
*Feeding - how quickly the fat balls were consumed assessed by weight
Which types of birds eat fat balls?
Not all types of birds will come to fat balls, as some are ground feeders or prefer insects, but here are the species you might spot:
- Blue tit
- Great tit
- Dunnock
- Long-tailed tit
- Robin
No-grow bird seeds - find out which bird food won't create weeds under your feeder when spilled.
What type of bird feeder should I use for fat balls?
Feeders for fat balls come in an enormous range of shapes and sizes. We’d advise you to look out for one that doesn’t contain too many balls, so that the birds can eat them before they start to disintegrate.
- Squirrels will remove fat balls wholesale, so do invest in a ‘squirrel-proof’ feeder if this is likely to be a problem.
- Never buy fat balls surrounded by a plastic mesh. This is actually a hazard for small birds, as they can easily get entangled in it.
- Place your feeder close to cover, such as a leafy bush or tree, so that small birds can hop on and off quickly to avoid predators.
- Place it where local cats won’t be able to access it.
See our squirrel-proof bird feeder reviews.
When should I feed fat balls to birds?
We often think of feeding the birds as a winter job, but actually their winter food sources, such as berries and nuts, will often last them through until mid-winter or beyond.
February, March and April are important times to feed the birds, as summer insects won't have emerged yet and winter food sources will be running low.
We also reveal the gardening jobs to do each month of the year.
What ingredients should I look for in fat balls?
The most popular fat balls in our trials had high suet content and tended to be quite soft. This made them easy for the birds to eat, but also meant they did have a tendency to fall apart. Don’t worry if this happens. If you have a problem with rats, pick up the pieces and pop them onto a bird table. If not, ground-feeding birds, such as chaffinches, blackbirds and starlings, will appreciate the treat.
Include some sunflower hearts and mealworms in your feeders to attract a wider range of garden birds.
How we tested fat balls for feeding birds
We selected 13 popular fat balls for feeding birds and purchased 50 balls of each product.
We set up three identical feeding stations comprising of a hanging fat ball feeder without perches, hung from a pole, and started feeding the birds with our previous Best Buy fat balls to get them used to the feeding stations.
After two weeks we started testing the fat balls, trying three brands at a time. We placed the fat balls in identical cage feeders and weighed them at the beginning and end of the week to see how much of the balls were eaten.
We monitored the feeding stations recording species and number of birds visiting, using a wildlife camera as well as direct observation.
Each brand of fat ball was offered to the birds three times, each time on a different feeder.
Separately, each brand of fat ball was hung outside for six weeks in a cage to prevent birds from feeding, to assess how they stood up to the weather; how swiftly they crumbled, if they absorbed water or went mouldy.