The short answer: As much black oil sunflower as you can afford. It will get you the most variety of birds.
If you want to know about bird feed mixes…that is a separate post.
Longer/nuanced answer below.
Way back when I started this blog in 2004, I worked for a wild bird seed company in the Twin Cities. I managed more than one location in my eight years there. And sure, the owners could argue that my inventory budget was higher than they liked, yet I consistently met and exceeding my store’s sale’s goals. I know bird feeding, I know how to attract birds and do it well.
Recently, with the pandemic and people getting into bird feeding and bird watching, I’m getting questions like, “Do I have to buy from a specialty store, it’s so expensive.”
Fifteen years ago, these were valid reasons why I’d tell you to purchase from a wild bird specialty store:
- The seed is always from the most recent crop at a wild bird store and therefore the freshest where as big box stores get old seed. Nut meats shrivel over the years and if you don’t believe me, here’s a blog post where a former USDA researcher tested to see if my claims were true. If you have seed that’s two years old in your feeder and your neighbor has fresher seed, the birds will head to your neighbor’s first.
- You can’t see the seed inside the bags and there’s no regulation on mix labels. A bag of seed can list sunflower as the first ingredient, that does not mean it’s the main seed in the mix. There could also be excessive amounts of chaff or meal moth webbing.
- Those big companies do not understand the bird feeding market. European birds on the bag for US bird seed (you’re never getting great tits at your feeder in the US), the bags were often chock full of sorghum which is great if you have quail in the yard, but lousy if you want cardinals
When I moved to a home with a yard as the pandemic kicked in, I stopped at a wild bird specialty store to get back in the game. I didn’t want to be indoors long (it was before our first lock down), I knew the seeds I wanted and I wanted out of there. When I was told what my total was, I thought, “Ouch…” Bird seed prices had increased quite a bit since the last time I purchased it. I knew the seeds I wanted to feed were on the higher end, but I don’t want to be the person spending $80 a week to feed the birds. At first, I thought there had been a rough crop year…and then someone took me on a date at a Menard’s. Yes. That’s right, a Mendard’s. Man, have I mentioned how dating in your 40s is weird?
Here’s what happened:
Him: How does this Menard’s compare to others you’ve been too?
Me: I think the better questions is, “What do you think of Menard’s now that you’ve been in one?”
Him: YOU’VE NEVER BEEN IN A MENARD’S???
Me: I live in an apartment, why would I go to a Men…OMFG look at that green finch poster above their bird seed, that’s not a Minnesota bird. That’s not even a North American bird. Oh chaffinch, hawfinch, ch, come on, European goldfinch. See that nuthatch, you’re not going to get that at your feeder, because that’s a European nuthatch. And that, you think that’s some weird titmouse, but it’s a crested tit, I almost always see them in Austria when I go. And that blue tit, never going to be at your feeder…well, I take that back, sometimes those do show up here, but that’s because some bird dealer in and around Chicago keeps releasing them.
Him: I’m beginning to get a clearer picture of why you don’t get many invitations to Menard’s.
However, I noticed the prices and I noticed that most of the bags were clear plastic. You could see the quality of the seed. Clearly hardware stores and bird feeding companies has noticed what people want in quality bird seed and have mended their ways over the years.
I even noticed that some of the sunflower seeds looked like they were lower in chaff content. Have you ever noticed how some bags of seed are super dusty and that some bags have more plant stems? Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret. When stores or seed companies are purchasing seeds like black oil sunflower, they can get different pricing for what they will tolerate. A bag of sunflower that has more chaff in will be cheaper. If you pay a little more, the seed can go through a centrifuge process to get rid of excess chaff. If a store pays even a little bit more, a tiny bit of oil (safe for birds) is added to minimize dust and make the seed look fresh and shiny…see how things add up?
That’s not to say that you should buy any old black oilers, older seed is not going to be as attractive, but fresh seed that has a little extra oil on it it going to cost more. And that’s for our benefit, not the birds.
