Two Out of Three Birds...

Two weeks ago, I tried a backyard experiment—I changed the feed in my birdfeeder from sunflower seeds to a seed mix, hoping to attract a larger assortment of birds. I didn’t get the results I hoped for. Only one or two intrepid yet desultory house finches strayed to the feeder and pecked gently at the food in contrast to their usual vigorous feeding habits. Just the previous week, my feeder attracted flocks of birds—Black-capped Chickadees that flitted in and out as they grabbed one seed at a time, House Finches that squabbled aggressively among themselves, and so many Black-eyed Juncos that they overflowed into the front yard.

Meanwhile, I learned about which bird feed is desirable and which is not, from a bird’s-eye’s view. Information on the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s Web site (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=1179) confirmed that birds “spurn” cheap fillers such as the red millet my mix contained.  Sunflower seeds on the other hand are the most popular food and have the high fat content that birds require during the winter.

To attract birds other than my usuals, I might use safflower oil, white millet, shelled and cracked corn, peanuts, milo or sorghum, and rapeseed. Birds reject canary seed, red millet, golden millet, and flax, or the feed may attract species people generally consider undesirable such as cowbirds, a competitive bird that drives out others.

Three days after I returned to sunflower seeds, the birds returned en masse. The accompanying photo shows mounds of sunflower seed shells beneath the feeder. The backyard experiment didn’t turn out as I had hoped or expected—I didn’t attract more birds or more species—but I did learn how to take care of the birds I do have.