If seeds are wet and uneaten for more than 3 days, you should consider throwing it out and starting over.Īgain, if seed remains in the feeder more than a week, it should probably be thrown out.Īlso, many bird seeds deteriorate after several months in storage. Birds won't come to your feeder because your seed is too old or has gone badīird seed can go bad in your feeder, especially if it rains or is covered by snow or ice that melts.īacteria or fungus can grow on the seed, especially if it gets wet. I link to it at the end of this article.Ĥ. See my article on how often to refill your feeder. There may be times to let your feeder go empty. To keep birds coming back to your feeder, be sure to fill your feeder again at the end of each day so it is ready for the birds to eat at dawn. If they eat in the morning and then run out of food by noon, that's okay. It is especially important that there is seed in your feeders first thing in the morning. But if days go by and your feeder is empty, there is a chance birds will go elsewhere. Once you have an established feeder, running out of seed occasionally won't matter. If your feeder regularly runs out of bird food for several days at a time, birds may stop visiting. The birds that visit your feeder probably roam the neighborhood visiting other backyard bird feeders. Birds stopped coming to your feeder because you let the feeder go empty too long These are Amazon affiliate links that help support this blog. If it isn't available, a close second is Wagner's Greatest Variety. Wagner's Songbird Supreme bird seed is my favorite for attracting the most kind of birds to my feeder. Cracked corn should be listed 3rd or later, or not at all. To get a wider variety of birds to come to your feeder, avoid mixed bird seed with red milo or cracked corn as one of the first 3 listed ingredients.īird seed labels list ingredients in order of abundance. Some other backyard birds eat cracked corn, but it isn't the favorite of any you are probably trying to attract to your feeders. And the birds that like this seed are not desirable at your feeders, especially the messy European house sparrows and voracious blackbirds (including cowbirds and grackles).Ī few more species eat the cracked corn, especially quail and doves, but also the house sparrows and blackbirds. Unfortunately, most native birds in the United States do not like to eat red milo. Why? They produce it in mass quantities for the poultry industry. Two such filler foods are red milo and cracked corn. They add this cheap "filler" to mixed bird seed, and offer less quality foods like black oil sunflower seeds. They do this by offering bird foods that are cheap and produced in large quantity for bulk profits. In order to entice buyers who always are looking for a low-price "deal," bird seed manufacturers offer some products that are rather inferior. Few birds come to your feeder because your bird seed has too much red milo or other filler seeds More information on sunflower seeds and white proso millet is linked at the end of this article.Ģ. To get birds to come to your feeder, make sure you are feeding them black oil sunflower seeds and white proso millet. These two seeds are the favorite foods of most of the birds you want at your feeder. The favorite small seed of these birds is white proso millet. ![]() Some smaller-billed sparrows and juncos like smaller seeds. ![]() Most seed eating birds absolutely LOVE black oil sunflower seeds! Most of the birds that come to your feeder are seed eating birds. Birds aren't eating at your feeder because you aren't providing black oil sunflower seed and white proso millet So if birds aren't coming to your feeder, a problem with the food itself is probably the place to start.ġ. ![]() They are very good at noticing changes in their environment-such as a new feeder being set up. The first area to investigate when birds aren't coming to your feeder is the bird food itself.īirds are very good at finding food in their home range. Problems with your bird food may keep birds away from your feeder We'll discuss, specifically, the problems that may exist in your yard keeping birds from eating at your feeders. If there are no birds at your feeder, it is likely due to one or more of those problems listed above.
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