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

If there's that much waste then you may want to think about changing to a more efficient feeder first. If we feed the birds then eventually, every one of us will have the same issue. I for one, changed to a deeper feeder and then modified the bottom seed tray to be even deeper than the original manufactured design. Now, about the only seed debris I have is from sunflower shells and those are not bad at all. In any case, your ground cloth idea would probably work but do you want to be constantly sweeping/cleaning IT off just as you do now? If you feed the birds then it IS always an issue but I know of no good way to train the birds to not to be quite so messy... Steve in TX

Yes, I think we feed every single bird and squirrel in our town by the amount of $ we spend on seed, plus bread and peanuts. We have 4 feeders plus a hummingbird feeder and birdbath in our back yard and 5 feeders plus a hummingbird feeder in our front yard, plus two tube feeders and 3 watering dishes/birdbaths. We call our front yard our "Wildlife Entertainment Center". Some of those crazy squirrels we have named: Barny, Metal, Logger, Chewy, Loco and Loco Jr. Soon we will have an influx of redwinged blackbirds that will strip all feeders clean. This happens twice a year. They stay around at least 3 months each time.Our feed bill doubles then. Our hummers have left now to travel further south and won't return until April. Sure miss those little darlings.

It is much easier to spray with water. I keep a spray nozzle on the hose and I can pick it up and spray a stream a good distance. Farther than you could spray with a water gun. I yell at them at the same time. It really does work. I have always fed the birds and I have more cats than you can count because the shelter asks me sometimes to take cats that have been neutered but there for so long and no one adopted them. They help out with my cat food and vet bills for them. They also vaccinate them for me. I know a lot of people are convinced that all outside cats catch birds. They don't. But, the ones that do....are very determined. There used to be a snake here that hid in the sunflower seed hulls under the feeder and caught birds that came down to the ground to eat them. I saw him eat a cardinal and a dove. I didn't kill the snake....because I don't do that...but even though I hated that he did it, I understand that is nature and what snakes do. Still, I wouldn't want my cats to kill birds, because they are well fed. Almost every morning I find a little dead mouse that "someone" killed. They don't eat them. I don't put out poison, and I have no near neighbors so I give it to one of the possums. It's a treat for them. What I hate more than anything is the cats killing lizards. They will just about all do that. Still, there are lots of lizards here and lots of geckos, which must have come from some other place because they aren't native to this area. I guess the eggs came in on plants or something. They lay the cutest little eggs. White, and look like tiny little chicken eggs.