Wagner’s is an industry pioneer, offering premium, regional, and deluxe bird food blends since the dawn of backyard birding. Their Classic Recipe blend is an excellent option for everyday feeding of backyard birds.
This mix features black oil sunflower seeds, which our research shows attract more songbirds than any other variety. Furthermore, it features an adequate balance of other popular ingredients.
Contents
Black Oil Sunflower Seed
Black oil sunflower seeds are popular choices among many birds because of their high fat content and thin shells that make it easier for birds to crack open and consume them. Black oil sunflower seeds are included as staples in most wild bird seed mixes.
Seeds from annual sunflower plants (Helianthus annuus) take approximately 100 days to mature before being collected several weeks after flower heads begin to droop.
Seeds may be provided through hopper, platform or tray feeders; ground-feeding birds also enjoy them on the ground. Consider tube feeders to reduce spillage and mold growth when providing these seeds; these types of feeders also allow you to monitor levels effectively without over-feeding your flock.
White Proso Millet
Millet is a warm-season summer annual that thrives best in full sunlight and is suitable for most soil types – although coarse or sandy ones should be avoided.
Ground-feeding birds like doves, sparrows, towhees, and juncos adore white proso millet. Additionally, this seed can make an excellent addition to mixes for exotic birds such as goldfinches or pine siskins.
Proso millet belongs to the grass subfamily Panicoideae and, like foxtail, pearl millet, maize and sorghum, uses C4 photosynthesis. Due to its thick husks requiring longer soaking times for moisture extraction, proso millet can thrive even in less fertile soil than its counterparts such as barley or wheat.
White Millet
White millet (also referred to as proso millet or foxtail millet) is another essential ingredient in wild bird mixes, particularly because ground feeding species such as sparrows, juncos, and towhees prefer it as food source. Milo is often included in cheap mixes simply due to its affordability, while white millet is highly valued by birders as it attracts their interest – particularly because it attracts these ground-feeding birds that love this cheap but nutritious seed source!
Colder weather calls for warming grains that are easy for birds to digest, providing lots of protein and essential vitamins. They’re especially useful during stressful periods like molting and weaning when bird health may be compromised.
Mix this seed with thistle seeds for optimal finch feedings – goldfinches, house finches and pine siskins all love these treats! Provide it to them on low platform feeders in your yard or garden or simply scatter it near cover areas for best results.
Oat Groats
Oat groats are whole grain foods that include the endosperm, germ and bran in each grain kernel. Due to being low on the glycemic index and taking longer for digestion, they provide steady nutrition over an extended period of time. Oat groats contain iron and fiber as well as adding an irresistibly delicious, nutty taste if toasted.
Groats can be prepared into a tasty breakfast cereal, used in soups or baked goods, ground into flour for healthier bread or baked goods and stored for up to one week in the fridge before being frozen to extend their shelf-life. Our research found that pre-soaking didn’t make much difference in cooking times or texture – they can even be stored frozen!
Corn
Corn (Zea mays) is one of the world’s most crucial crops and wouldn’t exist without human intervention. It evolved from an ancestral species called teosinte, which resembles corn but has features (fewer fruits that are difficult to open) which make it unlikely as its source.
Few things are more iconically American than enjoying a picnic with delicious popcorn, cold beer and creamy grits – or enjoying our wide variety of colors and flavors like the iconic Painted Mountain with yellow multi-colored kernels or Sweet Sunshine with bright white kernels – Corn is also used as fuel, food products and condiments – even being an important dietary staple in many cultures around the globe. We provide all kinds of colors and varieties so that everyone can find what they are looking for here!
