By Staff
One of the more frequent questions I'm asked is what's the best kind of bird food. Of course, that's like asking what's the best people food. It just can't be covered with one dish. The basic set up to attract all the species inclined to come to feeders is pretty straightforward.
It requires multiple feeders, a thistle seed tube or sock for finches, two hopper type feeders, one with sunflower seeds and the other with mixed bird seed, a suet basket for the various insect eaters and, in the summertime, a small sugar water feeder for hummingbirds and a larger one for orioles. Those really into bird feeding take it even further, serving treats such as oranges for orioles, a variety of nuts and so on.
It's when we get into what type of seed to fill the feeders with that things get more complicated. Black oil sunflower seed is the best for general purposes and the standard thistle seeds found in the stores is fine. It's the mixed bird seed where things go fluky as every brand is different. Avoid those with lots of the little round, red millet seeds. Nothing eats that stuff. I don't like sunflower seeds in with the mixed bird seed, either. Birds such as cardinals, blue jays and red-bellied woodpeckers that prefer sunflower seeds high grade through to find the occasional sunflower seed, dumping out a lot of the other stuff in the process. That's why I prefer to serve the sunflower seeds as a stand alone dish. It's hard to find mixed seed that's completely sunflower seedless but I look for one with the least amount.
The other day my sister-in-law called asking about bird seed mixes. The birds were scattering more on the ground than they were eating and she assumed the little gourmets were sorting through for the good stuff and pitching the rest out. If you have a really junky mix this may be true to a degree. However, after much observation and experimentation I've concluded the seed flipping thing has more to do with the slovenly habits of several species, specifically English sparrows and house finches, two of the most common inhabitants of city feeders. They're just sloppy little pigs. Even with plain cracked corn where there is nothing to sort they flip their beaks with each bite, throwing seed in all directions.
Another common worry is when the birds seem to quit coming to the feeders, at least in the usual quantities. This could be an indicator of disease infected feeders or tainted food and is an excellent opportunity for a thorough cleaning and seed overhaul. More likely, however, it's something else. Sometimes it's a hawk moving into the area. The birds lay low for however many days it takes until the hawk moves on. Most commonly, though, it's caused by a more preferable food source becoming available. This could be a neighbor serving up better chow than you but it's more likely natural, like when a particularly tasty berry or weed or flower seed ripens. Given equal effort in obtaining it, most birds prefer the natural stuff.
Food preference also depends on the time of year. In the summer many of the species such as juncos that like the mixed bird seed move on north. In their place come summer migrants like rose-breasted grosbeaks that insist on sunflower seeds. In addition, in the warmer periods all the birds seem to prefer the oil rich sunflower seeds. Even the goldfinches elevate sunflower seeds to equal status with thistle seed. Come the cold, bitter days of winter, however, many switch to the high carbs of the seed mix, especially cracked corn. At least at my place, during the summer and early fall when natural seeds are abundant the mixed seed is almost a waste of time. Lastly comes the suet blocks. They come laced with a variety of everything from peanuts to oranges, apples and blueberries. The theory is the peanuts tend to attract woodpeckers while the fruit ones favor other berry eating birds. I've tried them all and at least to my customers it doesn't make a whit of difference. Carpe diem.