Selecting Quality Birdseed

Get the best value for your dollar when purchasing birdseed.

Inexpensive birdseed often contains a high percent of cracked corn, oats, wheat and sorghum (also known as milo). Few types of birds eat these seeds so much of it ends up on the ground, creating a mess or sprouting into weeds.

Instead, select the best seed or mixture for the birds you’re trying to attract. Visit allaboutbirds.org for help with your selections.

Sunflower seeds attract the widest variety of birds. Black oil sunflower seeds have a high fat content and thin shells that are easy for seed eating birds to open. Striped sunflower seeds have a thicker, harder shell that can help limit some unwanted visitors to your feeders.

Unfortunately, the squirrels also like sunflower seeds. You may need to add squirrel baffles or use feeders that are better at excluding these hungry critters.

A bit more information: Many individuals, myself included, find safflower seeds to be less appealing to squirrels. These seeds attract cardinals and other big-billed birds. They do not, however, attract as wide a variety of birds as sunflower seeds.

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