Straight seeds or mixed seeds?

People who feed wild birds frequently ask the question - "should I feed a prepared mixture of seeds or should I feed individual (or straight) seeds?" There is no one good answer to this question, but here are some things to consider.

1. Each species of wild birds has its' favorite seeds and will go to them before eating other available seeds. When feeding a mix, you can observe birds throwing less favorable seeds out of the feeder in order to get to their favorites. This causes waste, which means money.

2. Many people set up several feeders in their yard and put different straight seeds in each of them. By observing the activity at each of the feeders, you can determine which birds prefer which seeds and you will usually attract more birds to your yard.

3. In mixed products, it is difficult to determine the actual content of the product. The list of ingredients on the package label will tell you what is in the product, but it will not tell you how much of each seed type is in it. Lower priced products tend to have high amounts of "filler" ingredients such as milo because it is much less costly than premium seeds such as sunflower seed. Most birds don't like milo and therefore there is a lot of waste.

4. Consider mixing your own blend. Once you know what your birds prefer, you can purchase straight seeds and mix them in any proportion that you want. This insures that you get just what you want and you know exactly what is in the mix. Mixing is easy to do in a bucket that you can then use to fill your feeders easily. You can also change the mix so suite the seasonal changes in your bird population.

5. Some "premium" mixes contain specialty ingredients and vitamin/mineral fortification components which may be difficult to purchase individually if you are mixing your own blend(s). If you want these items in your birdseed, it is usually better to purchase a mix. Typically, these products sell at a premium price so you must consider the benefits that you believe these products will provide.