Birds love wild bird seed and will eat pretty much any seed you put in a feeder, that's why it's up to you to purchase quality food that will provide nutrients to the birds.
Wild bird seed
Wild bird seed comes in all shapes and sizes. Some wild bird seed mixes contain large seeds, such as sunflower seeds. Other mixes have big and large seeds. Before you decide to purchase a bag of wild bird seed, you should take inventory of the birds that live in your area. Different birds have different eating preferences and some birds can't or won't eat certain seeds.
Wild bird seed is a great addition to your bird feeder but, when you're trying to figure out which birds to attract, ask yourself if wild bird seed is the right way to go. Many birds prefer fruits and berries to seeds. So, if you want to attract these birds, make sure your backyard has plenty of fruit bearing bushes. If these birds stick around for winter, they will eventually hit up your wild bird seed because the bushes will lose fruit when the winter months roll around.
Maintain your seed
You wouldn't knowingly feed your children or your pet dog rotten food and you certainly want to apply the same rule to the birds that feast on your wild bird seed. Wild bird seed can get moldy and it can get stale. While stale wild bird seed won't technically hurt the bird, it does cause the seed lose nutritional value. Mold will hurt your birds and it will build up on the seed if the seed gets wet. If you think your wild bird seed has gotten wet, throw it away. Many times you cannot see the mold collecting on the seed.
Where do I put the wild bird seed?
You can get as simple or as fancy as you like. One of the easiest places to put wild bird seed is in an upside down trash can lid or a carved out liter pop bottle. The pop bottle can be hung, which help protect the birds from predators, but the trash lid can't, so you may get fewer birds with this method.
Pet stores, grocery stores and hardware stores carry plenty of different bird houses and feeders that are specifically designed to distribute wild bird seed to your birds. Some of the feeders look like houses and others are a simple platform style with a peaked roof to protect the wild bird seed from the elements. Like wild bird seed, feeders attract different birds so read up on the feeder and make sure it will suit your backyard needs.
