Provide backyard birds with high-quality seed mix that meets their nutritional needs with this tasty treat. Aim for a mix containing more popular seeds such as sunflower and millet than fillers such as cracked corn or milo; additional dust, clumps of hulls or inedible debris must also be avoided.
This classic blend draws in finches, sparrows, as well as juncos, cardinals, towhees, quail doves and buntings of various species. Perfect for both hopper and tube feeders!
Contents
Black Oil Sunflower Seed
Sunflower seed is a favorite among backyard birders and most birds that visit feeders, offering warmth and energy for them. Black oil sunflower seeds can be placed in tube, hopper or ground-feeding feeders to attract cardinals, finches, chickadees, nuthatches and sparrows as they provide energy-rich warmth while providing protein, calcium, vitamin B complex and potassium rich nourishment to these feathered guests.
While striped sunflower seed may attract most birds, many birders prefer black oil sunflower seeds due to being easier for smaller birds (finches and titmice) to crack open. Hulled black oil sunflower seeds also exist which helps minimize waste underneath the feeder while conserving energy for birds. You can use hulled black oil sunflower seed during wintertime to attract larger species like grosbeaks and cardinals while growing these seeds for birdseed yourself: harvest time is typically 60-100 days from sowing.
Nyjer Thistle Seed
Guizotia abyssinica, commonly referred to as the niger thistle seed, is an immensely popular species among finches. First seen at feeders in the 1960s, this oily foreign wonder quickly became the favorite seed of most finch species. For reasons related to confusion with other thistles (niger) plants in 1998 it was given its current name of Nyjer.
While many backyard birders like to keep nyjer in their feeders, its expense makes shipping and transporting from Africa and Asia costly, making it one of the more costly wild bird seeds. Therefore, thistle seed is often mixed with cheaper filler seeds such as sunflower chips or millet to reduce costs and make thistle seed less costly for birds.
Note, however, that certain birds like hummingbirds, orioles and waxwings will pass over a feeder filled with nyjer in favor of other foods instead. And although its name might suggest otherwise, nyjer is actually part of a flowering weed family belonging to which also includes ragweed and thistles.
White Proso Millet
Quail and doves alike enjoy nibbling this warm season annual, making it a staple component of many seed mixes and erosion control mixes. Also referred to by its various common names – proso millet, broomcorn millet, panivaragu, hog millet and french white millet – Panicum miliaceum is a C4 short duration crop domesticated 10,000 years ago in China (Leder 2004).
Proso, barnyard, little and kodo millets are climate-resilient crops with vast genetic variability for stress tolerance related traits. Core collections have been established worldwide to identify new sources of variation related to both biotic and abiotic stress tolerance.
White millet combined with other seeds is an effective way to attract ground-feeding birds such as sparrows and juncos as well as doves, mourning doves and finches. But it must not be offered alone as that may reduce lysine levels in birds – rather, offer multiple seeds at the same time for maximum effectiveness.
Peanuts
Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea) belong to the legume family, and like beans and peas they possess nitrogen-fixing bacteria in their root nodules that make them ideal for crop rotation. By having such beneficial microbes present they reduce nitrogen fertilizer needs while providing additional biodiversity benefits for other crops in rotation.
Peanuts are one of the few foods known to trigger asthma symptoms in some individuals and it is important that anyone allergic should avoid eating or feeding peanuts to their pets. To be on the safe side, always read labels carefully and choose foods clearly marked as containing peanuts.
Peanuts & Fruit Mix can be used in hopper, tube and platform feeders to attract nuthatches, chickadees, finches and titmice. It may also draw jays and woodpeckers. Please read label carefully as this seed blend contains peanuts that meet strict FDA standards of Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act 2004.
