There is no surefire way to keep birdseed from sprouting.

Some people sterilize bird seed by heating it on a cookie sheet in a 300 degree oven for 30 minutes, but that is a lot of work to do on a consistent basis. Some people rake up the spilled seed once or twice a week with a Shop Vac.

You can buy the sunflower chips (shelled, broken sunflower seeds) and they won't sprout because they have been "damaged" by being broken. They are more expensive than mixed birdseed, but there is no waste.

You can rake the area under the feeder once or twice a week to break up the sprouts before they are well rooted.

Sometimes ground-feeding birds eat the seed spilled onto the ground before it sprouts--it just depends on how many ground-feeding birds you have hanging around your yard. At our house, birdseed and hen scratch don't get a chance to sprout because the doves (and cottontail rabbits) eat it all.

There are many plants you can incorporate into your plantings to attract birds. Many of them will attract butterflies and hummingbirds as well.

TREES: Trees like oaks, cedars, elms and hackberrie provide food, cover and nesting sites for birds.

NATIVE PLANTS are the ones that most attract birds since these are plants they already use as a food source. These include trees, shrubs and vines like junipers, yaupon hollies, possumhaw hollies, viburnums, Mexican plums, rough-leaf dogwood, elderberries, sumac, Virginia creeper vine and red mulberry. Pretty much any tree or shrub that produces berries or other small fruit (like crabapples or persimmons) will attract birds. Blackberry and dewberry brambles attract birds, as do fruit-bearing trees like cherries, peaches and plums.

To Attract Hummingbirds: You can attract hummingbirds using hummingbird feeders, but you have to change the nectar about once every three days to keep it from fermenting and harming the birds. They also are attracted to plants. Here's some you can plant that they like:

Red-flowered yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora)
American Cross-vine (Bignonia capreolata)
Trumpet Creeper (Campsis radicans)
Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis)
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
Red-flowered Morning Glory (Ipomoea sp.)(annual)
Cypress Vube (Ipomoea quamoclit) (annual)
Purple Horsemint (Monarda citriodora)
Wild Bergamont (Monarda fistulosa)
Spotted Beebalm (Mondarda punctuata)
Tropical Sage (Salvia coccinia) (usually annual, may reseed)(aka Texas Hummingbird Sage)
Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii)
False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa)
Heart-leaf Hibiscus (Hibiscus cardiophyllus)
Scarlet Hibiscus (Hibiscus coccineus)
Standing Cypress (Ipomopsis rubra)
Drummmon's Phlox (Phlox drummondii)
Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja indivisa) (spring wildflower)
Lantana (Lantana horrida)

Many birds are attracted to composite flowers that provide seeds, including sunflowers, zinnias, Mexican sunflower, purple coneflowers, safflowers, etc. After they bloom, you don't deadhead them if they were planted for the birds. You leave the flowers on the plants so the birds can "harvest" the seeds as they dry.

Don't forget to provide some kind of water source for the birds--a birdbath, a mister, a dripper, etc.

Different kinds of birdseed attract different birds. To attract goldfinches in the winter months, put out a goldfinch feeder filled with thistle seed. Sometimes you can attract orioles by putting out oranges, orange-flavored nectar or grape jelly.

Dawn

I have read that it's possible to "sterilize" seed so that it won't germinate by heating it in the oven. I have not been able to find any specific instructions on how to that, though, and the problem is that you do not want to heat the seed enough to actually roast it as that alters the nutritional value of it.

I have a stone circle, about 3 feet in diameter, that the previous owner used for planting annuals in. It's just one of those rings you can get to go around a tree. I've been putting the seed in there, on the ground. That keeps the weeds confined to that small area and also encourages ground feeders who wouldn't fit at the hanging feeders to stop by. You could do a search on plans for a platform feeder. A platform feeder will accomodate some of the larger birds, like doves, who won't or can't use hanging feeders. The shorter the distance the seed has to fall from the feeder, the more limited will be the area where the weeds will sprout up. If you've got the space, you could consider making them a platform feeder and just allocating a small area around it to let whatever the seeds sprout grow.

Another thing you could try is mixing your own seed. That way you control what goes in it and can more easily identify and remove anything that germinates and grows.

One of the best foods for most seed-eaters is black oil sunflower seeds. If you wanted to try growing food for them, you might look into that. I also buy corn chops at a local feed store. This is corn that has been cut with steel blades. Since it's cut, it won't germinate. It's probably not the most nutritious food for them, but the doves especially like it so I mix it in with the rest of what I buy.

It would help to know what kinds of birds you have and want to attract. My ground feeder also gets a good number of grackles, and some people don't care for them. Knowing what kinds of birds you have will also allow you to find out what foods they like best and are best for them.

Some birds are really very fond of peanut butter which can be stuffed into pine cones and hung on trees. You can also roll the stuffed pine cones in bird seed. Many birds like suet which you can just tack to a tree trunk. You can buy suet for this purpose in feed stores, but my mother always just got it from the local butcher. If you have cats, either your own or roaming ones in the neighborhood, you might want to look into ways to keep them away from the bird feeders. Mom put a wide ring of chicken wire, like a skirt, around the tree below where she tacked the suet. Also, you might as well figure on feeding squirrels too, if there are any in the area. Squirrels have a great talent for finding and getting to bird feeders. I've found it's just easier to plan on putting food out for them as well.

I've never liked having to clean up the weeds that grow from dropped birdseed, but so long as I can contain it to a fairly small area rather than my whole yard it's really not so bad. If pulling weeds is the price I have to pay in order to wake up each morning to the sounds of birds' songs then I guess I'm really still getting the best end of the deal!

I'm including a link you can use to help identify and find out more about the birds who visit your yard.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell Lab of Ornithology

I usually use the black oil sunflower seeds. I've been pretty happy with them. I do get sunflowers out of it :) I have also bought the safflower seeds (I think that's the name, they are white).

{{gwi:704858}}

You might look into making suet this winter. I like to do that every so often. There's all sorts of recipes for it. Walmart carries actual lard. I prefer using the lard versus crisco.

Lisa

thanks so much for all the suggestions!!!! You guys are awesome.

I used to feed mixed birdseed and also had a lot of "dropped" seed. Then one winter day as I sat on the glassed porch watching a titmouse and goldfinch take turns at the feeder, I realized the seed wasn't being accidentally dropped; it was being deliberately jettisoned. Birds evidently just aren't that fond of millet. I switched to black oil sunflower seed and prepared suet blocks and had no more weed problems. The birds drop very very few sunflower seeds. Out in the garden and around the chicken pen black oil sunflower plants have been coming up for years. I love to watch the goldfinchs hang on them each fall. (Obviously there the seeds are falling.) I have seen bluebirds eating pokeberries but you might not want them as they stain when the birds excrete them. I'm in the country and like having poke though. Dorothy

Dorothy,

We prefer the black oil sunflower seeds as well and I put that in the birdfeeder, and consider the "surprise" sunflowers to be a bonus! Over the years, the birds have sat on the fence around the dogyard and "planted" seeds that grew into sunflowers that shade about 50% of the dog yard every summer. It is a pain, at times, to weed-eat around the sunflowers, which are now 8' to 12' tall, but the dogs need the shade and the winter birds love to pick the seeds out of the flower heads. And, it is one thing I DON'T have to plant myself and fret over!

Dawn