Placing Nesting Boxes
Feb 29, 2020Feeder Placement
Mar 4, 2020
Getting Started
Choosing the Right Seed
REMEMBER: YOU’RE BUYING BIRDS, NOT SEED!
Stop by BWS and let us help you find the seed variety that’ll have your yard filled with flying friends from dawn through dusk!
That’s the reason you fill your feeders, right? You want to attract as many glorious birds as you can all year long! At BWS, we receive 2,000-pounds fresh seed from our Ohio co-op every other week. And it’s filled with the seeds and other delectables your birds are guaranteed to love, including:
BWS No-No List
Don’t be attracted by cheap bird seed blends. By “cheap blends” I mean those that contain large amounts of the stuff on the BWS “NO-NO List” below.
RED MILO – NO!
Some seed mixes are filled with this stuff. Yet in a report based on 1.2 million bird feeder observations, this is the seed birds flat our ignored the most. Meaning if you have a lot of red milo in your feeders, you WON’T have a lot of birds.
CRACKED CORN – NO!
A little of this in a mix is fine. But some economy blends contain 10, 20 or even 30% of the stuff. Cracked corn is birds’ second LEAST liked food, so it won’t attract much other than silence.
OATS AND WHEAT– NO!
These attract European Starlings and Grackles – the birds most people don’t want at their feeders. So, skip the cheap blends that contain a lot of oats and wheat.
CANARY SEED – NO!
Know what likes canary seed? Canaries! But out in the wild, the only bird that goes for it are House Sparrows – a species most people want to avoid like a case of smallpox.
BIG-BOX SEED – NO!
Studies show that most seed blends at big-box retailers sits for 1 YEAR before even making it onto the shelves. So fresh it ain’t. Sitting that long makes the nut meat inside black oil sunflower and other seeds shrivel and lose its fat content. (And birds can tell!) Plus, big box seed contains way too much of the filler outlined above. Yes, you may save a few bucks. But you’ll pay for it with abandoned feeders!