There is no such thing as a bargain when it comes to bird seed. I learned this the hard way.
Bargain-priced seed mixes are mostly seeds-that-no-bird-will-eat, like the round, red seed called Milo. To quote the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:
“A reddish-colored, round grain, milo is often a major component of inexpensive seed mixes. Unfortunately, it is not a favorite of most birds, and the seed often goes to waste. Western birds tend to consume milo more than eastern birds. In the east, it is best to avoid mixes with large amounts of milo.”
I have proof that this is so. I was organizing my seed buckets, in happy preparation for spring. I opened one bucket, and found an unhappy surprise: the seed was wet, and not worthy of my feeders. So I dumped the lot out onto the hillside, where it has remained, untouched by any birds (or beasts). No one has come near:
Maybe everybody loves Raymond, but I promise you: Nobody loves Milo.
I noticed over the last season that different seeds attract different birds. When I switched from the top-of-the-line mix that contained mostly black-oil sunflower seeds, safflower, and peanut chips, my feeder was graced with a variety of birds, including cardinals, jays, nuthatches, finches, chickadees, and woodpeckers.
Enter the recession, and I switched to a bargain brand. I noticed that my feeder was now busiest at the base, with ground feeders like sparrows and juncoes that hopped about the spilled millet. And, as I noted earlier, the round red milo was both spilled and untouched.
I tried another economical mix from BJ’s, and found to my dismay that it contained mostly corn. Enter the grackles and starlings. My feeder looked like the B-version of “The Birds,” with these smaller blackbirds pushing out every other species.
After doing a little research on the internet, I learned about milo (and my folly), and I learned that safflower seed has an amazing ability to attract the birds I especially like (cardinals) and discourage the birds I find pushy and annoying (grackles and starlings). The site http://www.buzz.com had this to tell me about safflower seeds:
“…there do exist some species which avoid eating these seeds for their bitter taste. These include the grackle – the long-tailed American blackbird typically characterized by iridescent black plumage, starlings – the small to medium-sized passerine birds which have been recently introduced in North America, various species of blackbird, etc. All these species are notorious as ‘feeder hogs’ – a term bestowed upon them owing to their tendency of chasing other bird species away from the feeders.”
So off I went to a small store in the neighboring town: “Feed the Birds!” in Croton-on-Hudson. I had a nice chat with the owner, who sold me a blend called “Backyard Best” and a sack of nyjer seed (more on that later).
I put the new seed in an empty bucket and spooned a bit of the older, less-worthy mix on top of it, so you could see the difference in quality:
You can easily tell the not-much-of-a-bargain brand: It's mostly corn. The better brand is black-oil sunflower, safflower, and peanut chips.
I have filled my feeder with the better mix, layered with some of the inferior stuff, because I cannot bear (or afford) to waste seed:
The layers are visible -- a bird seed parfait!
Now to the nyjer. This seed, often called thistle seed, is beloved by gold finches (which are beloved by me). Spring is coming, and one of my favorite harbingers of the season is to watch the finches arrive in their olive-drab winter garb, and leave wearing their finest bright yellow plumage. Little drops of cheer at the feeder — I love them!
But my nyjer feeder was a mess — cracked, damp, and musty. I took it down, undid all of the screws, removed the perches, and scrubbed it clean.
Disassembled, and drying in the brisk February wind.
I filled another feed bucket with nyjer seed:
Beautiful stuff, and I always feel rich when the buckets are full!
Here is a photo of my two feeders, side by side:
I cannot wait to see who comes to visit, and I’m feeling a bit better about my credentials as Hostess. I am laying out a bountiful table, of elegantly slim nyjer, bitter-and-discriminating safflower, and robust black-oil sunflower. Dinner is served!
WORDS FROM OTHERS
“My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather.”
— Loire Hartwould
Amy in the Garden 
Good post!
Now—find out what discourages those BlueJays…
Gorgeous birds, but so aggressive!
Hi Sue, This is from allexperts.com:
“How are your feeders arranged? Are they near your windows? Blue jays love shiny surfaces and tend to dominate feeders that are affixed to or near windows. They also prefer feeders that are platform and don’t require them to cling or hang upside down to retrieve the contents.
The type of food is also relevant. Jays tend to go after peanuts, in and out of shell, sunflower seeds, and any type of fruit. Also if you have sunflowers growing in your yard, blue jays are attracted to those.
Anything designed to deter jays will ultimately deter other birds as well. If you can’t beat them, join them. Put up a feeder with peanuts in shell, just for the jays, in a completely different spot than all your other feeders.
Mockingbirds do not typically visit feeders with seed in them anyway. If you want to attract those, you’ll need suet or some dried fruit arrangement. Of course, the fruit will attract the jays. So that’s a catch 22. Cardinals like sun and safflower seeds. Both will be attracted to any sort of shallow water source that can act as a birdbath. But again, so will the jay.”
Personally? I’m liking that idea of a separate feeder with peanuts-in-the-shell. I can’t do that at my house, because my husband would be out there constantly, and the jays would go hungry, but maybe it could help at your house?!
And this is from the owner of Feed the Birds:
The easiest way is to:
1.) Avoid seed mixes with a lot of peanuts in them. (We were closed today, so I didn’t see what type of seed, if any, you purchased.) Our backyard best blend is better, for example, than the backyard supreme in this case.)
2.) Set up a platform-type feeder with whole peanuts on them away from the other feeders. BlueJays love whole peanuts more than anything.
I’m sensing a trend here — whole peanuts, far far away from your other feeders!
That’s an intriguing question, Sue, and I will see what I can find out for you! First stop: emailing the owner at “Feed the Birds”! I will report back…..
Excellent post! I had a bunch of cheap, junky birdseed go to waste. The birds wouldn’t touch it and all it did was cause weeds to sprout.
I have several different feeds all over my yard. The birds really bring us a great deal of joy (and entertain the cats on the other side of the windows!).
Interested to know what types of birds you typically get in your area. Share?
Hi Amy, I love watching the birds visit my bird feeder (we have a lot of blue tits and a few great tits) and have also found that what some species love, others hate, and in the end the feral pigeons always clean up the left overs!! 🙂 And you are right, you get what you pay for so it’s always better to source out good quality seed when you can afford it. Unfortunately, good quality peanuts (unshelled) are so expensive in the UK so we cannot afford to give them to the birds all the time. Especially when the squirrels clean us out! 😀
Oh, the squirrels — a problem here, too! My current feeder is somehow positioned perfectly, and they don’t have a launching site to leap through the air onto our feeder. So they must be content with feeding on the ground along with the sparrows and juncoes. I’m sure the squirrels feel the company is undesirable, but I’ve noticed their high opinion of themselves is set aside when it comes to food!
LOL, so true. We put a squirrel guard on our feeder to stop them climbing up and scoffing all the food, but one big squirrel still manages to jump above it and climb up! In which case, I let him enjoy what he can get since he’s so talented at the high jump. 🙂
Agree, effort should always be rewarded!