Millet Gets a Bad Rap

When you own a wild bird seed store (like I do) you gain a preference to particular seeds and seed blends. On the other hand you develop prejudices for others. Preference vs. Prejudice = Seeds vs. Grains.

In the layman's world, in which I live, the difference between a seed and a grain comes from its shell. Seed tend to have shells that can be removed, think sunflower, and grains have an outer coating that is difficult to remove, think corn.

Also in the layman's world seeds are relatively expensive compared to grains. Almost by a factor of 2x. So you can immediately tell by price if your seed blend has a lot of grain in it. The more expensive the wild bird seed blend the more seeds and nuts in that blend. The less expensive wild bird seed blends will have mainly corn, millet, wheat, etc.

One such grain that gets a bad rap is millet.

Male and female cardinals enjoying millet.

Millet is a very small round seed that is plentiful in the world. It is basically a grassy weed. There are several different varieties but all are inexpensive. Many birds will eat millet (and many humans as well, it is considered a "cereal grain"). Cardinals, Chipping Sparrows, Mourning Doves, Cowbirds any many, many more will eat this grain. I throw about 3 large handfuls on the patio everyday.

Chipping sparrow eating millet

The bad rap with millet stems from its ability to grow quickly. The issue for most low end seed blends is that the bag is fill with so much millet and other grains that there are not nearly enough birds to eat it all. Thus... The "grassy weed" begins to grow and prosper!

I did this video years ago to show just how fast millet can grow. In about 5 days it's time to mow!



So, inconclusion, millet does get a bad rap. It's not that birds will not eat it, in fact many, many wild birds love it, it is the fact that if it is NOT eaten it will immediately germinate (i.e.: Produce Weeds).

My advice, if you want more birds, particularly ground birds that don't come to feeders, due to their size or other factors, is to purchase millet separately.  Just take a handful or two everyday and throw it on the ground. You can get a pound of it at my store for way under a $1 and a pound of millet is a lot of grain.

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David Peterson is the owner of the Best Nest of Georgia, Inc. which includes in its corporate family a retail store called the Wild Bird Center of Johns Creek Georgia. The Wild Bird Center focuses on bringing nature to your backyard using bird seed, bird feeders, mealworms, and bird houses to attract wild birds to your yard. You can reach the Wild Bird Center at 770-418-1990 or by contacting David via email: david@thebestnest.net

A Brown-headed Cowbird Invading a Bluebird's Nest

There is a black bird out there called a Brown-headed Cowbird. You can easily spot the bird. They're about cardinal sized with a jet black body and a head that is completely brown. The cowbird is native to the US but a lot of folks consider it to be a problem child.

Brown-headed Cowbird

The cowbird is considered a problem because it is also a "brood parasite." This means the female cowbird takes NO responsibility raising it's own chicks. In fact it will enter a nest box, remove one egg from the box and then... lay it's own egg.

The interesting part is the actual birdhouse owner (think bluebird, nuthatch, etc.) will raise the cowbird as part of its own brood. Most birds can't recognize that a different bird's egg is in its clutch. Thus it will raise it until it fledges and learns to feed itself.

If you are in your backyard and you see a bluebird feeding a cowbird you now know why.

Yesterday I was taking a picture of one of my nesting boxes and this brought up this blog post (see pic below). The cowbird egg is in the top right. I left it there. There are rules to native birds, even though the brown-headed cowbird is considered a pest, it is native and cannot be destroyed. (Not that I would destroy any of God's work but that another story.)

3 bluebird eggs and 1 cowbird egg

Nature is beautiful. Bringing nature to your backyard is the goal of our retail store "The Wild Bird Center of Johns Creek" Let nature bring peace to your hectic life.