Have A Little Patience When Changing Your Wild Bird Seed

One of the advantages of owning a wild bird seed store is I get to try out a lot of different things. Such as, occasionally a feeder will be returned for one reason or another... these typically end up in my backyard.

Another item that can collect around here are broken bags of bird seed. Usually I'll just tape them up and mark them down. Sometimes I'll bring it home and fill one of the feeders. Which leads me to the nature of this post.

Blue Jay taking a raw peanut

The feeder above is one of my favorites, it's a "fly through" feeder that is big enough for any bird (including crows). The feeder holds right at one day's worth of food. I typically put a  50/50 mixture of roasted peanuts and sunflower chips in it everyday.

I chose this mixture because I want to give some of the bigger birds like the blue jay a food that naturally attracts them. Put out some raw or roasted peanuts and you'll be the blue jay's best friend.

Once the birds get used to the idea that peanuts will be served they come. This along with all of the feeders in the yard become part of the birds local food route. When customers come into our Wild Bird Center of Johns Creek they often speak about "My Birds."

This term is actually correct. These are yours and your neighbors birds. For the season or in the case of the northern cardinal and blue jay these birds will stay in your neighborhood for the entire year. Some may stay their entire life. So what happens when you suddenly change seeds???

Don't Worry, But Have a Little Patience

#1 The birds on the neighborhood route may not like the new seed. In my case I switched to a "berry blend" with lots of everything in it. More birds - right? Actually wrong, all the seed was eaten but the berries where left behind. There is nothing wrong with the seed, it's just the birds on the route weren't looking for berries, they want nuts! You have to have a little patience when changing seeds. It takes a while for all the birds in the backyard, and in your neighborhood to realize there is something new and yummy in the feeder.

#2 Don't worry about the birds starving because you changed the seed. Have a little patience. They may not have gotten their fill at your house but you are not the only stop on the route. Neighbors, fields, pastures, wood piles, trees that drop nuts, trees that drop fruit. All this is bird food. They will not starve.

Male Norther Cardinal on Tube Feeder

So don't worry if you change seeds, don't worry if you go on vacation, don't worry if you run out of seed, the birds will come... They just have to put you on their specific food route.