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How to store bird seed

We feed the birds, black sunflower seeds, and I keep it in a metal garbage can outside near the feeder.  But it seems to collect moisture on the bottom then making it moldy, and I have tried a plastic pail inside the garbage can and eventually that gets moisture on the bottom. Is there a better contained to store the seed in? ~ Sioux City, IA

Sometimes it’s better to buy smaller quantities of bird seed more often than to attempt to store very large amounts. Birds know the difference between fresh seed and older, stale or moldy seed! Fresh seed has higher oil content and is much more nutritious for the birds. Birds are very efficient foragers and like to make every calorie count especially in the winter.

Under optimal conditions, in a cool, dry place, out of the sun, bird seed can be kept for up to three months. One excellent way to store bird seed is to leave it in the original bag and put it in the freezer. Suet and seed kept in the freezer can be kept up to 6 months.

If don’t have freezer space, Wild Birds Unlimited - East Lansing has galvanized steel containers with locking lids to keep out water and unwanted guests. If the container is kept outside in the winter it will keep out moisture from the air and also keep out the drying sunlight. I always leave the seed in their original bags so you are never dumping old seed on top of new.

These few steps when storing bird seed and suet will extend the shelf life of the food and also attract more birds!

Related articles:
- What is No-Mess Bird Seed?: http://bit.ly/pl516I
- What birds like peanuts?: http://bit.ly/qKbHT0
- Seed Storage Cans and WBU Seed Scoops: http://bit.ly/q6th9R
- Do I need to clean my bird feeder?: http://bit.ly/nYKz40
- The best bird feeders at Wild Birds Unlimited: http://bit.ly/pv36W6
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How to make handmade bird treats

My little helper.
While you are enjoying the many tasty treats that abound this holiday season, don't forget to share some goodies with the birds. Decorating a tree for our feathered friends and other wildlife is an activity the whole family can enjoy.
 
One of my favorite crafts is a pinecone dipped in birdseed. They are so much fun to make I thought I'd share my secret recipe. So if there are any little hands out there that need to be kept busy over the holiday break, this is a fun and easy project.

Pinecone Treats for the Birds

What you need:
¼ cup powdered unflavored gelatin
2 cups water
12 medium pinecones
2 cups WBU No-Mess blend bird seed
Raffia to hang

Place water in a glass bowl that is big enough to dip in a pinecone. Heat the water in the microwave for 50 seconds. The water should only be warm, but this should be supervised by an adult.

1. Pour the powdered gelatin in the water and stir until it is dissolved.
2. Dip the pinecone into the gelatin water
3. Roll pinecone in a bowl of bird seed.
4. Set the dipped pinecone on wax paper and let it dry for a couple hours.
5. Once it’s dry, tie a raffia ribbon around the cone, hang on a tree outside and watch all the birds flock.
6. Or place the pinecone in a cellophane bag and you have the perfect party favor for your guests to take home.

Additional Treat Ideas
Other decorations that can be strung and placed on trees include popcorn, fresh cranberries, thick fresh orange slices, peanuts in the shell, dried apples or dried figs. You can also string rice cakes, crab apples, baby dried corn bundles, or grapes.

Natural rough brown string, ribbon and raffia can be used for hanging the decorations. The birds will use this material for nesting in the spring.

For more easy recipes to decorate a tree for the birds go to: http://www.wbu.com/education/brochures/DecorateATree.pdf

 Related Articles:
- What birds like peanuts? http://bit.ly/sOmvEe
- Let's all share Nature's bounty http://bit.ly/tgPkrv
- Decorate a Tree for Your Birds http://bit.ly/t3QtGV
- Filling Up on Fatty Foods http://bit.ly/tUElnw
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Choosing the best bird seed

I am experimenting with making my own bird seed mix rather than continuing with purchasing commercial products which have a considerable amount of undesirable fillers, e.g., red milo, wheat and grit that only end up as waste. My formula will consist of black/striped sunflower seeds, safflower and white proso millet. Do you have any other suggestions? ~ East Lansing, MI

Food is essential to provide birds with the energy, stamina and nutrition to endure the elements. An ample supply of fresh high-calorie foods is crucial to a bird's survival.

I too used to make my own blends before we opened our Wild Birds Unlimited store in East Lansing, MI. I knew there was no point in buying a seed blend where half the bag was full of seeds that the birds in our area didn’t eat. 

Wild Birds Unlimited has regionally formulated seed blends to provide the most nutritious food for your birds. The first ingredient in our top 4 seed blends is sunflower seed. Oil Sunflower seed is the favorite of most of the backyard seed eating birds and I always like it to be the first ingredient in my bird seed blend.

Choice, Supreme, and Deluxe all have oil sunflower, striped sunflower, safflower, and sunflower chips. Deluxe also has white proso millet to attract the ground feeding birds like the juncos, sparrows, and doves.

Choice is the Wild Birds Unlimited - East Lansing’s second most popular blend. It has peanut pieces in the mix. Now when I tell that to most people they say, “oh, no that will attract squirrels”, but the peanuts in the mix are for the birds. Lots of bug eating birds like the woodpeckers, wrens, chickadees, and nuthatches love to pick out the peanuts. Peanuts have a high calorie/ounce ratio due to its high fat and protein content. Lots of interesting birds love peanuts.

We get our seed in almost every week and for the East Lansing Wild Birds Unlimited store and I order the most of the No-Mess Blend by far. We have to bring in so many bags of no-mess that it is sometimes hard to find a place to store the extra tonnage on the floor.

Our unique No-Mess Blend features seeds that have had their shells removed so only the meat of the seed is left. No hulls on the seeds make for a tidier feeding area, since there's no debris on the ground to clean up.

The first ingredient in the No-Mess blend is sunflower seed without the hull, then peanut pieces, and finally a little millet without the hull. Pound for pound, our No-Mess Blend offers the best value because you do not pay for the shells. The birds eat everything.

Each of our blends is mixed to attract the birds that live in our area. We do not include cheap filler grains like oats, wheat and milo that decrease the price per pound of a mix but aren't eaten by the birds in Michigan. Therefore, there is no wasted seed. Wild Birds Unlimited blends actually end up costing less to use while attracting more of the birds that you want to watch.

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Prevent mice access to your bird seed

With the onset of cool autumn weather, House Mice Mus musculus might come in from the fields, fencerows, and wooded areas, where they spend the summer and move closer to human dwellings for warmth. They’ll find cracks in rocks or walls, create underground burrows, utilize woodpiles, or storage sheds to make an area for their cozy nests of rags, paper, or other shredded material to keep warm.

House mice, generally nocturnal, are quick runners (up to 8 miles per hour), good climbers, jumpers, and swimers. Despite this, most mice do not live beyond 12-18 months. They are eaten by a wide variety of predators including cats, foxes, weasels, ferrets, snakes, hawks, falcons, and owls.

Originally native to Asia (probably northern India), the house mouse can now be found in all parts of the world that have human settlements. They most likely came as stowaways in livestock feed.

Make your home less attractive to mice by storing your bird seed in a Wild Birds Unlimited closed steel container that prevents any unwanted seed thieves access.

Related articles:
- What is No-Mess Bird Seed?: http://bit.ly/pl516I
- How to keep moths out of bird seed http://goo.gl/qF2SW1
- Seed Storage Cans and WBU Seed Scoops: http://bit.ly/q6th9R
- Who ate all the birdfood during the night? http://goo.gl/DuZPWp
- How to winterize your bird feeding station http://bit.ly/xucuF8
- How do I keep squirrels off my bird feeders? http://bit.ly/yiZsML
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Take the suet challenge

I love to watch the birds up close but we have a mess on our porch because the woodpeckers flick the suet on the wood. Is there a plate I can put under the feeder? ~ Dewitt, MI

I enjoy the woodpeckers too and have a couple suggestions. First we have an Advanced Pole System that can swing your feeder away from the porch. Second, I would change your suet. The only reason your birds would be throwing stuff on the porch would be if they didn’t like something in it. Sometimes cheap suets are filled with milo or other filler seeds to take up space which forces the birds to pick around to find what they want.

When you come into Wild Birds Unlimited - East Lansing, MI you can choose from a variety of high quality seed and suet cakes that will attract a wide number of different bug eating birds like woodpeckers, chickadees, nuthatches, titmice and wrens.

What is suet?
Our Suet is made with only the highest quality processed beef kidney fat. It is the most concentrated source of energy you can offer wild birds. In spring, it meets the increased energy demands of nesting birds. In the summer months, it provides a good substitute for insect-eating birds, especially in years when insects are not very plentiful. In fall, suet helps wild birds store fat to prepare for migration or the coming winter. And of course, in winter, suet replenishes depleted stores of energy and nutrients, to help birds survive the long, cold months.

Is there really a difference in suet cakes?
Not all suets are created equal. When you are choosing your breakfast cereal, you might choose a less healthy, colorful, sugar loop and pay the price later with less energy and a blah afternoon. But birds must always be on alert and in top form, especially during times of stress like nesting season or long winters. You should always read the nutritional labels and strive to provide wild birds with food that is healthy and has the proper nutrition.

How do I read suet labels?
The first ingredient should always be rendered beef suet. Some people feed straight suet only. If you want to offer more protein the next ingredient should usually be peanuts or tree nuts. Never, never buy suet where milo, oats, wheat, processed grain by-products or artificial flavorings are in the ingredients. These filler ingredients are used to make a cheaper cake but the birds will toss it to the ground.

The Wild Birds Unlimited- East Lansing store’s best seller is the peanut butter suet cake, which has only three ingredients: rendered beef fat, chopped peanuts and peanut butter. Again, no milo, no wheat, and no millet - no filler ingredients! This is my favorite suet cake too (for my birds, I mean).

What is the Guaranteed Analysis?
Looking at the Guaranteed Analysis, you will see several lines of information: Crude Protein, Crude Fat, Crude Fiber, and Moisture. What does all that mean to a consumer? A good suet cake will have a minimum crude protein of around 6% and crude fat of 35% (the more the better). And it’s acceptable for suet to have a maximum crude fiber of 12% and moisture of 10%.

At Wild Birds Unlimitedwe are dedicated to the promotion of responsible feeding. Anything we sell in the East Lansing, Michigan store is good for the birds; no fillers, no by products, just top-quality food. I encourage you to take a suet challenge. Try our #1 selling quality Peanut Butter suet and see if your birds are happier.

I'll come right in! Thanks for your quick response and good suggestions.

Related Articles:
- What birds eat suet? http://bit.ly/q2Sfje
- Can I make my own suet? http://bit.ly/rsc1JT
- How do I Attract Woodpeckers? http://bit.ly/o4CLqI
- Filling Up on Fatty Foods: http://bit.ly/ob0NIq
- Michigan made suet feeders: http://bit.ly/rbKskX
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What do warblers eat...besides poison ivy berries?

I ask because for the last few years I've had a large number of yellow-rumped warblers eating the poison ivy berries from a stand of willow and poplar that grows in a low area in the pasture, but I've never seen them come into the feeders in the yard.  I am NOT stocking the feeders with poison ivy berries! ~ Lynn

Poison Ivy: Leaves of three, let it be! Berries white, take flight! 

Most warblers eat beetles, flies, wasps, caterpillars, moths and other insects. However, before and during migration these insect-eating songbirds add more fruits and berries to their diet.

Poison ivy is a very widespread and productive plant that produces dense clusters of white berries that ripen between August and November. Over sixty species of birds have been documented to eat the berries of poison ivy. These birds, obviously, do not become sensitized to the volatile oils and do not experience allergic reactions to the plant.

During migration, many birds may fly at night for hours without a break on their way to their wintering grounds. At each rest stop they must forage for sufficient food to hold them over for the next leg of their journey.

Of course most people aren’t comfortable cultivating poison ivy even if it helps the birds. But there are other native plants that can provide food and shelter for the birds that you can feel comfortable planting closer to the house. Virginia Creeper, viburnum, holly, spicebush, American bittersweet, dogwood, crabapples, sassafras, and grape vines are just a few. Pokeweed, not normally sold in greenhouses, also produces a late summer cluster of pretty, purple berries that is irresistible to a lot of birds.

To attract warblers to a seed feeder try a blend with sunflower seed and peanuts like our no-mess blend. I often see warblers that are passing through stop at my suet or nut feeders. You can also smear peanut butter and left-over suet on tree bark for them to find.

I've been told that Bluebirds are the responsible/guilty party for much of the poison ivy that springs up in inappropriate places, but I had no idea there were THAT many perpetrators. Kinda makes me wonder what the berries taste like, that they attract such a following.... But, no, the curiosity only extends so far.

You can blame the birds for depositing the seeds but man is more responsible for the expansion of the poison ivy plant. It is more common now than when Europeans first arrived in North America. It is believed that development of real estate adjacent to wild, undeveloped land has produced "edge effects," enabling poison ivy to establish vast, lush colonies.

In the open field the grass usually wins over time, and in the deep woods the ivy probably can't get enough light. But at the edge of the field, forest, parking lot, or road - the poison ivy wins out. 

WARNING: All parts of the poison ivy plant can cause harm to humans because the urushiol oil present in the entire plant including the leaves, stems, roots, berries, and vines. The oil is present in live plants, dead plants, and in dormant plants (like the vines in winter). Contact with the plant through touch or from release of oils through burning can cause rashes, difficulty breathing, swollen eyes, or throat and immediate medical attention should be sought.

Related Articles:
- Warblers in Michigan http://goo.gl/0YNOc3
- Attracting Michigan Songbirds http://goo.gl/Gmn0b
- Michigan warblers begin migrating http://goo.gl/37QhV
- What’s the best suet for Michigan wild birds? http://bit.ly/yAR4pm
- Best field guide for Michigan birds http://bit.ly/vPOMx1
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Chickadee with no tail

I suspect a predator stole my chickadee’s tail. He’s been doing fine at my feeders but I wonder if he can survive the winter with no tail feathers. What do you think? ~ Taylor, Michigan

Chickadees have to molt every one of their feathers each year in late summer and early fall. They are done nesting, it’s still warm hopefully and there is plenty of high fat and high protein foods available to help them grow quality feathers to sustain them through the next winter, spring and summer.

If a chickadee has an accident or a close call with a predator and loses a bunch of feathers, a healthy chickadee can grow replacement feathers quickly. In a few weeks the tail can grow back and look completely normal. But sometimes the replacement feathers might come in white and then change back to the normal color at the next regular molt. The white feathers may not be as strong as the originals but they can still help the chickadee steer his flight.

If you’ve ever watched a chickadee flying you know that even with proper tail feathers their flight is slightly undulating with rapid wing beats and their maximum speed is only 12 mph. But that suits the Black-capped Chickadees because they seldom go very far. Most live their whole adult life in a small area and their average flights are about 50 feet. The birds hop along tree branches searching for food, sometimes hanging upside down or hovering and they may make short flights to catch insects in the air.

Hopefully the chickadee you observed with no tail has learned his lesson and will grow another healthy tail and steer clear of further dangers. And if you continue to fill your feeders with sunflower seeds, peanuts and suet he has even greater success at survival. Research has found that survival rate of chickadees near feeders nearly doubled, compared to those birds that obtained less-accessible food from the wild during severe winters.

Help Chickadees Feel at Home
Chickadees are among the easiest birds to lure into your yard, especially during winter. Here are a few tips to help attract them:
1. Chickadee food: Put out fresh sunflower seeds, peanuts, seed cylinders or suets.
2. Chickadee feeder: Almost any bird feeder will attract chickadees if it offers good food. I like to use the no-mess blend which has sunflower chips and peanut halves.
3. Chickadee habitat: Chickadees like natural cover near feeders to pop into and avoid predators or harsh weather.
4. Chickadee house: Roosting pockets or a small birdhouse with a 1 1/4-inch entrance hole, placed in heavy natural cover, will provide a winter shelter for the birds.
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Should I change my birdseed blend in the fall?

I am a lifetime backyard bird feeding enthusiast. I follow you on Facebook and have found your blog posts to be very helpful. I finally convinced myself to leave the tried and true supreme blend to try your no-mess blend after you kept writing so much about it. Now I’ve been using no-mess since last spring and it’s like how could I have used anything else. I get more birds, fill the feeders less often and have no mess on the ground! Please tell me this blend is also OK to feed in the winter. ~ Laingsburg, MI

The Wild Birds Unlimited - East Lansing No-Mess Blend is perfect for winter bird feeding. Our unique No-Mess Blend bird seed features seeds that have had their shells removed so only the meat of the seed is left.

The first ingredient is Sunflower Seeds without the shell, the favorite of the seed eating birds like the cardinals, finches and doves. The second ingredient is diced peanuts. This attracts all the bug eating birds like the chickadees, jays, nuthatches, woodpeckers and titmice. The third ingredient is hulled white proso millet. This attracts your juncos and other ground feeding birds.

Our No-Mess blend is made to best meet the nutritional needs of our mid-Michigan birds. We do not include filler grains like oats, wheat, milo or “grain products” that decrease the price per pound of a mix, but the birds ignore. Because there is no wasted seed, our blends actually end up costing less to use while attracting more of the birds that you want to watch.

The National Wildlife Federation did a 2005–2008 study on which foods attract the most birds and keep them the healthiest. They found:

1. Birds require foods with high nutritional content, especially protein and fat.
A bird’s diet must fuel a metabolism that can require up to a whopping 10,000 calories a day (equivalent to a human consuming 155,000 calories). A bird’s inner furnace burns especially hot during flight, the breeding season and on the coldest days.

This means birds must make highly efficient choices about what they eat. A backyard feeder is an especially efficient place to forage because it mimics what scientists call a “resource patch,” a cluster of food much like a fruit-laden apple tree.

But don’t worry that birds will become too dependent on your feeders. Evolutionary pressures encourage birds to continuously sample a wide variety of foods because any bird that becomes dependent on a single patch or type of food will perish if it runs out.

2. Birds must have high-quality food.
Birds are remarkably proficient at assessing potential food items for nutritional content and quality. Fresh sunflower seed, peanuts, white proso millet, safflower, Nyjer thistle seed and high quality suets are some of the best choices. Low-quality foods are discarded on the ground and may be avoided.

3. Birds choose seeds that are easily handled and digested.
The study emphasizes that for birds, eating is not only about nutrition but about consuming a lot of food very quickly while avoiding predators. This makes the easy to eat, already shelled no-mess blend, very attractive to the birds.

No shells on the seeds makes the no-mess blend attractive to me, since there's no debris or weeds on the ground to clean up. Pound for pound, this blend offers the best value because you do not pay for the shells and the birds eat everything.

Related Articles:
- Common winter birds in Michigan and their food preference: http://bit.ly/yp9YQA
- How to choose the best suet cake http://bit.ly/xATYPQ
- How to have more colorful birds at your feeder http://bit.ly/qizlNh
- How to winterize your bird feeding station http://bit.ly/xucuF8   
- Why do Birds Scatter Seeds from Feeders? http://bit.ly/vZ6gzM
- Choosing a seed blend to feed wild birds http://goo.gl/5FpPr7
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Fun-shaped Seed Cylinder: Rascal Raccoon at Wild Birds Unlimited

They arrived at the East Lansing Wild Birds Unlimited store on Tuesday and we've already had at least a dozen find new homes. This fun-shaped Rascal the Raccoon seed cylinder is the newest bird food creation. 

He is made from sunflower chips, peanuts, apples, cherries, and blueberriesheld together tightly with gelatin so the birds have to work to grab seeds. Instead of birds swooping in, grabbing a bite, scattering seeds and taking off, Seed Cylinders give you a few extra moments of enjoyment and no seed spray. And if that isn’t adorable enough he is also holding a tiny corn on the cob.

Simply slide the Rascal Seed Cylinder onto our WBU Seed Cylinder Feeders or WBU Dinner Bell™ feeder and enjoy the feathered visitors. They can help attract many of your favorite birds, including cardinals, chickadees, woodpeckers and goldfinches.

While only here for a limited time, you can replace the fun-shaped cylinder with our exclusively-formulated Cranberry, Supreme Fare and Safflower seed cylinders here year-round. The Cranberry and Supreme Fare cylinders have pecans as the first ingredient. After I put out one of these pecan rolls, I like sit back and watch the action. Why pecans? Pecans are a very high energy food and the birds appreciate a good meal during this stressful time.

If you don't have a baffled Wild Birds Unlimited Advanced Pole System and worry about the squirrels, you can choose to use the Safflower cylinder to keep squirrels and blackbirds away.

I can tell you that Seed Cylinder feeders are undemanding. They are easy to clean, easy to fill, leave very little mess and attract a wide variety of birds. The feeders are popular with beginners and for people like me who have been feeding birds for over 40 years. He also makes a great gift and it is a nice way to introduce someone to feeding birds.
 
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Fall Bird Watching Basics

Often, people think of feeding birds in the winter when their natural food supplies are scarce. But many birds also visit feeders during their spring and fall migrations and during summer while they are nesting, so you may enjoy keeping feeders up all through the year, offering different types of foods during different seasons.

To keep birds visiting your yard year-round:

Choose the best food
For seed eating birds in Michigan, studies indicate that Black-Oil Sunflower, Fine and Medium Sunflower Chips, Peanuts, White Proso Millet, Safflower, and Nyjer® Thistle are among the most preferred seed types. At the East Lansing Wild Birds Unlimited store, customers’ and birds’ preference by far is WBU No-Mess Blend. Read more. 

Choose the best bath
Water is one of the most important necessities that birds need year-round. Baths not only provide clean water to quench thirst, baths also help birds maintain their feathers. A good part of a bird's day is spent just cleaning and grooming their feathers by bathing, scratching, and preening. It’s so important that it is often the first place parent birds bring their newly fledged babies. Read more. 

Choose the best birdfeeder
There are a lot of feeders to choose from. With over 30 years of research and experience, Wild Birds Unlimited® is proud to offer you the highest-quality birdfeeders and birdfeeding equipment on the market today.
1. Any feeder you choose should be easy to fill and easy to clean.
2. Look for quality. Most Wild Birds Unlimited feeders come with a Lifetime Warranty.
3. Determine what birds you want to attract. There are certain feeders that are made for specific birds (i.e. finch feeder, hummingbird feeder).
4. Decide where you are going to put the feeder. Is it going to hang in a tree, on an Advanced Pole System, on a window, or off a deck? The best place to put a feeder is where you can view it easily.
Read more. 
.
Choosing the best bird shelters
People provide bird houses or “nest boxes” because in nature most of these birds use tree hollows or old woodpeckers’ nests. But today we are quick to remove dead and decaying trees with holes because they could become dangerous and fall in storms. So we help Mother Nature by providing alternate homes. Some benefits of putting up birdhouses in the fall:
1. Birds will have plenty of time to locate them before the breeding season.
2. The houses will be well weathered by spring.
3. Some birds will use nest boxes as roosting sites in the winter. Read more. 
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Why are the birds so hungry in the fall?

As many of you have noticed, birds have been attacking the feeders like there is no tomorrow. And there won't be if they don't bulk up now to prepare for a harsh Michigan winter or a long journey south. Birds change into a “superbird” state when their internal clock is triggered by shorter days and cooler weather at the end of summer.

Right now a bird needs to increase its fat reserves by as much as 1-10% per day. This feeding frenzy is called hyperphagia. In human terms, this would mean I would have to gain 12 pounds per day. That gives "eats like a bird" a whole new meaning. But remember that their fat increase is vital for the extreme energy required to survive the coming months.

Keeping your feeders filled with high energy, high fat foods can provide your birds with the critical nutrition they need to survive. High on the list of best choices to meet this nutritional need is suet.

Seeds also provide fats, but in varying degrees. High on the list are peanuts, which provide 412 fat calories per 100 grams. Other high fat seeds include sunflower chips (429 fat calories per 100 grams) and nyjer (thistle) seed (342 fat calories).

Wild Birds Unlimited is dedicated to offering fresh, top-quality seed. Our no-waste bird seed blends are made from 100% edible seed and have been exclusively formulated for the feeding preferences of our local birds. No cereal fillers—just fresh, high-quality seed your birds will love.
 
Our most popular Wild Birds Unlimited seed blends are No Mess and Choice Blend because they are filled with many of these high fat seeds and nuts making them ideal foods, along with suet, to offer your birds this fall.

Source:
Zoological Society of Milwaukee Bird Migration Facts by Kerry Scanlan, Vicki Piaskowski, Michelle Jacobi and Steve Mahler 

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Squirrel Buster Plus squirrel proof feeder

I like the Brome Squirrel Buster Plus and so do our customers. It is our number one selling feeder at the Wild Birds Unlimited - East Lansing store. I’ve had mine for over five years now and I’ve never had a problem.

Squirrels can’t figure out how to open the feeder. It has a lock top you push down and turn to fill. The tube will hold a lot of seed and is long enough so that squirrels can’t hang upside down to reach the feeding ports. The Squirrel Buster also has a cardinal ring so cardinals can sit and eat comfortably or if you just want smaller birds, the ring can be removed.

When a squirrel tries to eat from the feeder his weight closes off the feeding ports to deny him access to the food. You can also adjust the tension to make it sensitive enough to shut down on the large starlings or blackbirds. Backyard birds average 0.3 – 2.0 ounces while blackbirds are about 4 ounces and squirrels are about a pound.

The best thing about the feeder is that it is easy to disassemble for cleaning because there are no tools required and this beautiful feeder comes with a Lifetime Factory Warranty.

You can fill the Squirrel Buster Plus with any quality seed and hang it from a pole or tree. I like to use the Wild Birds Unlimited No-Mess seed blend and I have mine hanging on a tree hook. The feeder attracts a variety of pretty birds that I can watch when I come home from work and no squirrels. The poor squirrels don’t understand that the seed you put out isn’t for them.

Squirrel proof feeders are the easiest way to keep them out of your “bird” seed and the Squirrel Buster Plus is one of the best feeders guaranteed!

We also have the Droll Yankees Flipper, Whipper, Dipper and a variety of other squirrel-proof feeders available at the Wild Birds Unlimited East Lansing, MI store.

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Watch and listen for Baby Goldfinches

While most birds have finished nesting and some are flying south, 
the goldfinches are just starting to nest.

American Goldfinches build nests from the end of July to September in the fork of a deciduous shrub or tree. They delay the start of their nesting behavior until the thistles and other flowers come into bloom so they can anticipate an abundant and reliable supply of seeds for their young.

So now is the time to make sure your Wild Birds Unlimited finch feeder is clean and filled with fresh Nyjer® (thistle) seed to welcome the finches to your backyard refuge. Click HEREto read more about the best finch feeder and how to attract more finches to your yard.

This is my favorite time of year. It's a joy to see a flock of goldfinches raining down to the feeder or dancing in the flowers in search of seeds. And the happiest sound in the late summer is the call of baby goldfinches!
Every morning I wake up to the tinkling tune of baby goldfinches. They look similar to the female or a goldfinch in winter colors and their baby call reminds me of a squeaky dog toy. "♪ High, low...♪ high, low, low."

I know that they'll soon have it all figured out including a grown up song and I'll miss their little "Ma me...Da de de" in the morning.

American Goldfinches are in mid-Michigan all winter, so if they find your feeder now you can enjoy these sunny sounding birds even during the bleakest winter months. To watch a little video of the finches eating No-Mess Blend at the Squirrel Buster Squirrel-proof feeder click HERE.

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Why feed birds in the fall

More Colorful Birds- Birds have a varied diet and the best way to help them develop brighter plumage is to create a habitat with lots food high in fat in protein in the fall. Most backyard birds go through only one full molt a year in the fall. They replace their tired old feathers with a new set that will last through the next winter, spring, and summer. Feathers are made of more than 90% protein, primarily keratins, so every molting bird needs extra proteins to grow strong feathers for proper flight and effective insulation.

The Northern Cardinal, one of the most colorful birds in the area undergoes an annual molt in the late summer at which time males acquire their plumage coloration for the following year. Right now they are eating wild fruit seeds, weed seeds and buds from a variety of trees. At the feeders they are looking for nuts and sunflower or safflower seeds. Their new feathers don’t come in bright. The tips of the new body feathers are brown/gray and make the cardinals appear a bit dull or more camouflaged in the winter. These dull colored tips wear off in time to leave them more colorful for breeding season in the spring.

Territories are forming - Birds are staking out their winter territories right now. Young birds like chickadees and titmice find new territories to hook up with other young birds at the end of summer and join local adults to form winter flocks. If you are feeding a good birdseed blend you will attract lots of birds that will remain in the same general area for the rest of their adult lives.

Personal Experience - I have noticed that the longer I feed, the more birds I get passing through in the spring and fall. Each year it’s exciting to see new faces mixed in with my regular visitors during migration. I always make sure I have fresh water, food, and shelter to make their journey a little easier. A recent study found that migratory birds are finding fewer areas to use as their rest stops.

Types of Feeders - New easy to clean and easy to fill feeders are also being developed every year for seed, suet, bug, or nectar eating birds. With over 30 years of research and experience, Wild Birds Unlimited® is proud to offer the highest-quality birdfeeders and birdfeeding equipment on the market today. It is recommended that you clean your feeders once a month to keep your birds healthy. These new feeder designs are so simple to wash, maintenance is a breeze. And of course most of them are made in the U.S.A and come with a lifetime guarantee.

Variety of Food - Regardless of the season, the bird species you attract is determined primarily by the seeds you offer. To provide the most beneficial foods to meet birds' nutritional needs, the birds in Michigan should be fed fresh Black-Oil Sunflower, Sunflower Chips, White Proso Millet, Safflower, Peanuts, Nyjer® Thistle, nectar, mealworms, or suet.
Avoid purchasing seed blends that contain milo, oats, wheat, canary, flax, rapeseed, and rice. These filler seeds found in cheaper blends will be kicked out of the feeder and can leave a dangerous moldy pile under your feeders.
Wild Birds Unlimited No-mess Blend is our best selling blend. It has everything the birds want and leaves no messy shells behind. For more info on our unique No-Mess Blend bird seed which features seeds that have had their shells removed so only the meat of the seed is left, click HERE.
Whatever seed, seed cake, or suetyou choose at Wild Birds Unlimited, we guarantee it will be fresh and a healthy choice for our local birds.
 
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How to feed birds with less mess

Like feeding the birds but don't want a mess on the ground? At Wild Birds Unlimited (WBU) I recommend the following combinations of food, feeders and accessories so you can enjoy feeding your birds and have a tidy backyard, too.
Ranchette Retreat bird feeder is a fully functioning bird buffet that holds over 10 pounds of WBU No-Mess birdseed and two WBU suet cakes. Our unique No-Mess Blend features seeds that have had their shells removed so only the meat of the seed is left. No shells left on the ground and nothing will grow under the feeder. You will attract all the seed and suet eating bird species such as cardinals, finches, jays, chickadees, woodpeckers and more.

To protect the seed, the Ranchette Retreat has an extra large green roof that overhangs the extra large tray area. It also has a mesh screen bottom with a built in seed diverter to keep seed moving through the feeder smoothly and to prevent moldy seed.
This feeder is good for a compact, yet versatile tidy feeding station. Fill with the WBU No-Mess birdseed blend so there are no shells left on the ground.

As a bonus the Wild Birds Unlimited's Quick-Clean feeders have removable bases that make cleaning a breeze. They’re also easy to fill and hang. Simply add our Weather Guard dome to your feeder to help protect the seed and birds from inclement weather. The Seed Tray prevents seed from falling to the ground and serves as an additional feeding area.

3. The WBU Seed Cylinder feeder 
Cylinder feeders are versatile feeders that can provide a tidy dining experience. The Seed Cylinder feeders are popular with people who have been bird feeding a long time and for beginners. It is one of the easiest feeders to maintain and attracts a wide variety of birds.
Our popular Cranberry Fare Solid Seed Cylinders are packed pecans, sunflower chips, peanuts, safflower, black oil sunflower and cranberries - everything you need to get lots of birds to visit your backyard with very little mess.

If you are worried about squirrels and don't have a baffled Wild Birds Unlimited Advanced Pole System, our Safflower cylinder will keep squirrels and blackbirds away.

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Male and female cardinals remain in close contact year-round

A regular resident of mid-Michigan backyards, the Northern Cardinals form one of the bird world's most faithful pair bonds. The male and female remain in close contact year-round, singing to one another through the seasons with soft, bubbly whistles. The female is known to sing while on the nest, and it is believed that she is informing her partner whether or not she or the young need food.

The red color of the Cardinal’s feathers is the result of pigments called carotenoids. The amount of the pigment ingested, and then deposited in the feathers as they molt in the fall, influences the quality and depth of their red coloration. A study done by the Ohio State University found that juveniles, less efficient foragers than adults, often have a duller red feather coloration.

At the feeding stations the birds tend to prefer seeds that provide the most nutrients. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a landmark study of bird food preferences in 1980 for several bird species and found cardinals exhibited the greatest preference for fresh oil sunflower, peanuts, safflower, and millet. They avoid buckwheat, cracked corn, milo, oats, wheat, nyjer, canary, flax, rapeseed, and rice.

A cardinal's food habits in the north consists of more than 75% plant material from November to April. From May to October it changes to about 50% plant and the rest consists of animal matter predominately from insects, including beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, butterfly and moth larvae, cicadas, treehoppers, leafhoppers, and dragonflies.

Regardless of the season, the bird species you attract is determined primarily by the seeds you offer. To provide the most beneficial foods to meet birds' nutritional needs, the birds in Michigan should be fed fresh Black-Oil Sunflower, Sunflower Chips, White Proso Millet, Safflower, Peanuts, Nyjer® Thistle, nectar, mealworms, or suet.

Avoid purchasing seed blends that contain filler seeds that will be kicked out of the feeder and can leave a dangerous moldy pile under your feeders.
Wild Birds Unlimited No-mess Blend is our best selling blend. It has everything the birds want and leaves no messy shells behind. For more info on our unique No-Mess Blend bird seed which features seeds that have had their shells removed so only the meat of the seed is left, click HERE.
Whatever seed, seed cake, or suetyou choose at Wild Birds Unlimited, we guarantee it will be fresh and a healthy choice for our local birds.

Related Articles:
Category ›
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