The cost of wild birdseed

[sleepallnight]

My wife loves to put out wild birdseed in our backyard, but ends up paying a small fortune for it at the local drug store. I was wondering if there were easy alternatives to buying birdseed that would attract birds to the back yard? Anyone have any experience with this?

[GREENBACK]

I put out shelled corn in the winter only. About 6 bucks for 50 lbs. at the local farm store. Squirrels like it and most birds, especially Mourning doves. They don't need it in the warm months so I get them off welfare then. The hawks hang around my place in the winter too cause I draw in a lot of easy meals for them. Hey, they gotta' eat too.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Take some of the sunflower seeds out of the bag and plant them. This will attract many birds, including goldfinches and cardinals if those live in your area. You can also plant the millet and niger thistle seeds. Millet and niger thistle only need to be planted about an eight inch under the soil. Sunflower can go about a half inch, maybe one inch if soil is soft. Plant as big a patch in these seeds as you can because, as you can see, birds can eat a lot of them!

If you are buying the niger thistle, put it in a dispenser or "sock" that only small birds can eat from. The larger birds can eat the larger, less expensive seeds, so it is better not to have them feasting on the pricey thistle. Save the thistle for birds too small to eat the cheaper seeds.

Peanuts can also be homegrown in much of the midwest and south. I don't know about other parts of the country. You can learn about shrubs and trees that feed the birds, too. Like-- dogwood trees, crab apple trees, well, any fruit tree (they clean off my neighbor's pear and I have to cover my apples with a net if I ever want to eat any of them myself), all kinds of berries, wild cherries, grapes, even locust trees.

Gardening in general is great for birds. In spring robins hang out with me as I turn the soil. I only have to walk away about five feet for one to fly over and snatch worms from the newly turned soil. Mocking birds stay nearby singing, but I think they wait till I leave before they come into the garden. Thrashers like to flit about in the leaf mulch I leave at the base of the shrubs and perennials. They toss leaves into the air looking for insects to eat. Don't deadhead all the spent flowers in your yard. Birds like to come and eat the flower seeds if you will let them. Plant red flowers for humming birds. Red salvia, red honeysuckle, and Campsis trumpet vine are humming bird favorites.

[Johansen8]

Because of the high cost of wild bird seed we have been giving our birds dry bread crumbs.?
Are there any foods we may have on hand other than suet or dried fruits which are also costly that would help us feed our birds during the long harsh winters?

[PetMom]

I used to go to a feed supply store to get cheaper seeds - you might want to check out that option.

The sunflower seeds are very easy to plant and the gigantic ones produce some seeds.

I mix the home grown sunflower seeds (always save some to plant) and mix with Wal Mart parakeet seed which most birds seem to like.

Feeding only during very cold or hot is a cheaper alternative - and also
make sure you give them water.

And don't forget people used to just throw out some bread crumbs or stale crackers for birds.

[Goldy1]

bulk at Meijer grocery is my mode of feeding my birds. (ok my outside birds( I buy thistle for finches and that is it.