Birdfeeders

We all want to make it easier for our local birds to survive the cold winter months. First we need to remember that birds need extra energy to make it through the long, cold winter nights. Then they need to replenish first thing in the morning. Therefore, it is important to make sure all of our bird feeders are full a couple of hours before sunset. That way, there will be plenty of food for them to fill up before dark and food still available at daybreak. In our yard, by 7:00am all our bird feeders are very busy. So what is the ideal diet to feed birds? The simple answer is one that is high in fats and proteins. Sunflower, safflower, peanuts and nyjer are 20-25% protein and 30-40% fat. Therefore, these are favorite foods. We buy them all in bulk and make up our own mix. If you buy a blend, be sure to check the ingredients for most of these mixes include wheat, milo, oats, etc which birds don’t like. These contain much less protein and fat so birds will ignore these seeds and pick out the favorite seeds. Usually, these unwanted seeds end up on the ground under the bird feeder, making a mess and wasting much of your mix.