cheap birdseed mistake

9 years ago

Being new to bird watching (and financially strapped right now), I made the mistake of buying cheap bird seed at the grocery store. The birds just will not eat it. Is there anything I can do to it or use it in that will make it more attractive to them? I hate to just throw the rest of the bag away. I make suet but I'm afraid if I put it in the suet, they will not eat it either.

Featured Answer

Tim

9 years ago

last modified: 9 years ago

Personally, I don't believe there is such a thing as cheap birdseed. They may not be eating your "cheap" bird seed now only because there are other food sources available. But wait until there is a few inches of snow on the ground, then they will eat it. But if you really don't want to use it as plain feed then I suggest that you mix it with suet and make suet bricks out of it. Place these in small wire cages or spread the melted suet mixture onto pine cones and hang them from a fence or branch. Some birds will eat it, even if they are just starlings.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (13)

susanwv
9 years ago
Black oil sunflower seed, most birds love it !
User
Original Author
9 years ago
Yes, I have some of that now but I'm wondering what to do with the bag of cheap seed besides throw it away.
Related Discussions
Purchasing birdseed suggestions?
Q
Comments (16)
GMX2, I don't know how well thistle seed lasts, but I would store it in a dry, cool place and try again in the fall. The only birds I know that eat it regularly are the migrating goldfinches, so you'll have to wait until they are passing through again. I only had 2 or 3 goldfinches this year, too, compared to at least 20 or more last year, which stayed for weeks. I hope that's not a bad sign! Maybe they found a better source somewhere else. Generally, I wait until I see the first goldfinch at my regular tray feeder before I hang out a thistle sock or wire thistle feeder. Sometimes I sometimes add a little pile of thistle to the tray feeder to help them "get started." I find a tray style feeder to be the best all around feeder in the yard. Gets a larger variety of birds than any other type, though I hang several out there. I always have at least one with a very small perch area so the little birds have a good chance, too. Not all birds will eat safflower, but many will, and it is a great hit with cardinals and titmice. The black oiler sunflower seeds are definitely the best overall birdseed, drawing in more types of birds than anything else. And I'm loving the hull-less mix I got yesterday at PetSmart. It has peanuts and a bit of fruit in it, too, and boy do the birds love it. A much smaller mound of it goes as far as a HUGE heap of seeds in the shell. This morning, a red-bellied woodpecker was taking advantage. (They are just about the only woodpecker that will come to the feeder. The rest prefer insects. The red-bellied will eat both insects and some seeds...usually sunflower. A photo of two red-bellied males enjoying some peanuts, another favorite of theirs. You can tell these are both males because the red on their heads comes all the way foreward to their beak. On the females, the red starts back much farther on the head.) Marcia
...See More
Help! Birdseed growing in yard
Q
Comments (11)
I have had the same problem a few years ago with a WalMart mix that "looked" very nice (to avoid pigeons and feed cardinals, juncos, etc.). It had lots of oil sunflower and red millet, for instance... but also, I was to discover, an awful lot of mustard-type seeds - I once researched it but cannot recall if it really was mustard-related or not - that the birds here simply ignored, and that sprang like rage all over the place!! I killed it by pulling and using heavy mulch. Then I replaced those mixes with pure oil-type sunflower + pure white millet (which I scatter in specific, inconspicuous places in order to avoid attracting pigeons... which works!!), and no problems anymore. This all depends on the region you inhabit. Take the trouble and talk to a good wild bird seed specialist in your area about what can be troublesome there for the environment vs. the birds species you really want to help.
...See More
'cheap' birdseed?
Q
Comments (7)
Hey deanie! I can only answer for myself and give my opinion. I agree with Kendra. I think that the less you spend for seed mixes, the more millet, corn, and milo you get in the mixes. So, "cheap" seed is the seed with tons of that stuff which draws in the undesirables. I only feed Black Oil Sunflower, Thistle(Nyjer),Suet,Peanuts,Sunflower Hearts/Chips, and dried cherries and raisins. Look for seed mixes that contain NO millet, corn, or milo. There are loads of great options, even at Walmart. Every single time I have tried any mix containing any millet, here come the flocks of undesirable birds. That is just my experience. Some people may not have that problem. HTH.~~Angie
...See More
any sterile mixed birdseed?
Q
Comments (7)
One of the simplest solutions to seed mess is to feed seed that birds in your region readily eat. Many seed mixes have filler seed, such as wheat, that birds don't prefer so they throw it out of the way so they can get to the stuff they do like. Feed seed they like and the birds will waste less. I don't know what type of feeder you're using but some seeds work best scattered on the ground. Corn in any form is one as are millet and milo. Milo, the little round orange basketball looking seed, is one of the most common filler seeds used and one of the least bird preferred seeds there is. Yes they will eat it but usually only after all the good stuff is gone. That being said, doves of any type will eat milo but what won't they eat? Rodents also like milo and milo loves to grow in gardens and lawns. Millet is a very well liked seed but it is best fed out of a tray of some sort or directly on the ground. Most birds that like really like millet prefer to eat low or on the ground, native sparrows and juncos for example. Another way to avoid shell mess or sprouting issues is to feed a hulled seed. Hulled seeds have had their outer hull removed by mechanical means. When you remove a seeds hull it won't sprout, at least 99% of the time. Also, no hulls = no hull mess! Hulled seed and seed blends do cost more than regular seed but you get more edible seed per the same amount of weight. 25 lbs. of hulled seed is 100% edible whereas 25 lbs. regular seed (with hulls on) is not that high and you're buying hulls that will be thrown on the ground. I'm not saying the 25 lbs. of regular seed is not edible, I'm saying that part of that weight is made up of inedible hulls. Lastly, you get what you pay for. Cheap seed is cheap seed. Cheap seed is often old or stale. Birds will waste a lot of it looking for more palatable seed which may or may not be in there. Cheap seed often is bulked out with filler seed/grain that will wind up on the ground. It's also often bulked out with gravel. I'm not kidding. A large discount chain whose name starts with a "w" and ends with a "t" often sells seed which contains fine gravel. I inquired about it and was told, "Everyone knows birds need rocks in their food". Well, that wasn't "grit" and I'm not feeding parakeets. The points of this harangue are feeding quality seed that is mixed for your regional birds is the easiest way to lessen waste and mess. If it's within your means feeding a hulled seed/blend will lessen it even more. If possible, avoid blends containing corn or milo. If you do feed these, feed them on the ground instead of putting them in a feeder as they are more readily consumed by ground feeding birds. Buena suerte!
...See More
littlebug zone 5 Missouri
9 years ago
Cheap seed is worth what you paid for it. Not much. Plus it may draw undesirables to your yard: squirrels, raccoons, and rodents.
User
9 years ago
Compost it?
User thanked User
User
Original Author
9 years ago
I thought abt that but I don't think my compost gets hot enough to kill seed. Because I have a bad back and can't turn a compost pile, I got one of those tumblers. I don't think it holds enough to get really hot or maybe I'm doing something wrong. I need to get a compost thermometer to know for sure.

As much as I hate to do it, I may just throw the seed over my back fence into the woods.
catherinet
9 years ago
I would just add black oil sunflower seed to it.
User thanked catherinet
User
Original Author
9 years ago
I picked out the sunflower seeds to save and then threw the rest over the fence into the woods. Hopefully, some tiny woodland creatures or even insects are enjoying it.
catherinet
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Just curious........when you say the birds won't eat it, do they come up to it and then fly away? Were you saying that because you put it out and they didn't come to it? Did the seed have any additives? If you just put it out and no birds came, it may be because this time of year, most birds have their food places figured out and it might take awhile for them to find the new place.
User thanked catherinet
User
Original Author
9 years ago
They would come and eat the sunflower seeds out of it and leave the rest. I read that is a common problem with cheap grocery store bird seed.
Tim
9 years ago
It's the milo. Birds don't care as much for milo as they do other types of seeds. They will eat it if there are no other food sources available, but it is not their first choice, or second, third, or fourth choice as far as that goes. I also have economy bird seed and the majority of it is milo. The birds have picked out all of the millet, sunflower seeds, and corn and have left the milo. In fact they actually push the milo out of the feeder and onto the ground in order to get to the types of seed they enjoy. I think the reason for this may be that milo isn't as high in protein and other nutritional qualities that birds need, especially in the winter. Milo is like survival food. They mostly eat it to survive. It is also cheaper to grow than other types of seeds, which is why many bird seed companies use it as a bulk filler in their bird seed. I have learned that the best way to go is straight black oil sunflower seeds. Then if you want you can add a bag of millet in it and throw in a few raw, unshelled peanuts for the jays. I guess we live and learn.
User thanked Tim
User
Original Author
9 years ago
That's what I had read abt the filler (after I had already bought the bag, unfortunately). I got a songbird mix a couple of days later that has exactly the ingredients you list and the birds love it.
catherinet
9 years ago
Thanks for that explanation samnsarah!

cheap birdseed mistake

Tim

Comments (13)

susanwv

User
Original Author

Related Discussions

littlebug zone 5 Missouri

User

User
Original Author

catherinet

User
Original Author

catherinet

User
Original Author

Tim

User
Original Author

catherinet

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

cheap birdseed mistake

Comments (13)

UserOriginal Author

Related Discussions

UserOriginal Author

UserOriginal Author

UserOriginal Author

UserOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

User
Original Author

User
Original Author

User
Original Author

User
Original Author

User
Original Author