Learning a bit about bird seed

If you provide feed for wild birds, you are in good company – an estimated 55 million Americans do so.

Winter is an especially critical season for feeding birds since insects they normally eat can be in short supply.

Some folks toss out bread and food scraps as their contribution to our feathered friends. While well-intentioned, this often results in a moldy mess, as well as food for opportunistic raccoons.

Best bet to be really helpful to birds is to set up a tube or platform feeder featuring black oil sunflower seeds.

I keep my tube feeder under a roof overhang so it is out of the weather and easily available to birds.

I use black oil sunflower seeds exclusively since they are high in oil content and are very nutritious.

Striped sunflower seeds are also nutritious, but they have a thicker shell and are hard for some small birds to crack.

Other seeds on the market include nyjer or thistle, shelled or cracked corn, white proso millet and milo or sorghum. Goldfinches are especially fond of nyjer seeds and ground birds such as turkeys and quail enjoy corn. Cardinals like safflower seeds, with thick shells they find easy to crack.

Many seed mixture are high on such “filler” seeds as red millet and oats, while skimping on more nutritious seeds.

Remember, if you want to go first class and provide the best for your wild birds, feed them black oil sunflower seeds.