Bird Table News

As you can see from the photo below black sunflower seed and nyjer seed are very similar.

But nyjer seed is so much smaller than black sunflower seeds. 

I’ve found it hard to feed nyjer seed to birds - if I put it on a birdtable it blows away with the slightest breeze.

I put it in a very small feeder but none of the birds seemed to catch on. 

Now I mix sunflower seed and niger seed together and pour some melted lard over over the mixture.  As the lard hardens it binds the seeds together making them heavy.    I spoon the mix onto the birdtable.  It’s not a fat ball, just seeds held together with solidified fat. 

The mixture works really well, especially on windy days.  It’s also got the added benefit that birds get extra fat in their diet.

When feeding birds we have to forget what we humans like  - which is low fat.  Birds need just the opposite to survive.  Birds need high fat content food to survive.  

I’m trying feeding nyjer seed because it’s

• A real delicacy for many birds

• Loved by siskins, finches and many other small songbirds. 

• Can be mixed with black sunflower and makes a good comination.

• Squirrels and larger birds find Nyjer unattractive.  For this reason Nyjer is attractive to me as I have problems with Squirrels and larger birds..

• Nyjer is a seed of the Sunflower familly (it’s not a thistle). An absolute must for attracting Goldfinches into your garden. 

• Other birds such as Siskin, Greenfinch and Sparrow will also like Nyjer 

• High in calories and oil content, .

Take a minute to read about Black Sunflower Seeds

If you have any questions about feeding birds let me know.