My neighbor told me to stop filling my feeder with cheap seed mix

Last spring my neighbor Dave said I was attracting too many house sparrows because I used the cheap mix from the grocery store. I switched to straight black oil sunflower seed and within a week I started seeing cardinals and chickadees I never had before. Has anyone else had better luck swapping out their seed type like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

marymorgan27d ago

oh puh-leez, Dave needs to mind his own business. I've been using the cheap grocery store mix for years and my yard is like a bird buffet. House sparrows gotta eat too, right? They're not hurting anything, they're just birds. And honestly, half the time the "fancy" seeds just sit there and rot cause the birds don't even touch 'em. My feeder's been going strong with that same mix and I see plenty of cardinals and finches anyway. You do you and ignore the bird police next door.

elizabeth_williams27d ago

My buddy Tom tried that same cheap mix for two winters. His feeder was completely taken over by starlings, about 20 of them every morning. They chased off his little chickadees and nuthatches until he had nothing but starlings and a couple fat squirrels. Took him three months of switching to straight black oil sunflower before the small birds came back.