the ROI on birdseed is constant joy and wonderment

At any given time I have between four and six bird feeders filled with seeds/suet around my home. The results of this abundance of bird feeders have been delightful, and now not only am I a “feed the birds, tuppence a bag” kind of girlie, I also constantly proselytize the ongoing benefits of bird feeder ownership to my friends, fans, family, and folks at home.

The benefits of investing in birdseed include:

1. Most obviously, an increase in bird activity around your home.

Actually you know what? I don’t even need to add to that list. We all know what bird feeders are for: ATTRACTING BIRDS. When we moved here, the main birds I saw around my house were house sparrows. Now I do not deny that a house sparrow is one of god’s creatures and thus deserves respect for life etc etc, I ALSO know that they are an invasive species who out-compete native birds for resources. One way to help native birds is to simply: introduce more resources suited for the needs of native birds. When I had one (1) bird feeder? The house sparrows bullied other birds away. Now that I have ~6 bird feeders? The sparrows will use one feeder and the nuthatches, dark-eyed juncos, native sparrows, downy woodpeckers, and house finches have free rein over the other feeders.

Pals, I know so much more about birds now than I did pre-bird feeder. I can differentiate between a song sparrow, white-throated sparrow, fox sparrow, and a house sparrow! I can identify some birds by their song (shout out to the Merlin Bird ID app!)! Not only this, but now my neighbours have hung their own feeder. Birds abound!

Some bird feeder pointers:

1. Especially if you have a resident flock of house sparrows, get more than one feeder. We love wide resource distribution! Give the birds choices between food sources so they’re less likely to fight*.
2. Get a pretty big feeder. birds are greedy bastards and will empty your feeder so quickly when they set their tiny little minds to it. Once you start feeding them (especially in winter) you gotta KEEP feeding them** so spare yourself a few trips to the feeder and back.
3. Related: hang your feeders somewhere that is easily accessible to you. If you have to run an obstacle course every time you need to refill your feeder, you won’t refill it.
4. Think like a bird when hanging your feeder. Birds like to be able to escape easily. Hang your feeder so that a bird can get to a bush or a tree quickly. We have a couple more sheltered feeders, and they are always emptied before the feeders that are further from cover.
5. Get seeds AND suet. When I tell you that I have been ecstatic for MONTHS about a family of pileated woodpeckers moving into my nieghbourhood and VISITING MY SUET FEEDERS, omg.
6. Resist seed blends that are bulked out with millet and corn. They aren’t as good for the birds as other seeds and in my experience the birds don’t even like millet; they’ll toss it on the ground in pursuit of better seeds. I buy a bag each of shelled peanuts, in-shell sunflower seeds, and shelled/cracked sunflower seeds. Our native birds are more likely to prefer sunflower seeds over millet/corn, and if they drop the seeds well I guess I have a sunflower garden, boo hoo. YES I spend what may seem to some to be “too much” money on birdseed.
7. Be patient after hanging your feeder/s. It may take some time for the birds to realize that you have provided a reliable food source, but if you build it they WILL come (eventually).

A word on squirrels. Some consider squirrels to be interlopers in their quest to feed birds, but when God sings with his creations, won’t a squirrel be part of the choir? You can buy seed that has been coated/infused with capsaicin and the squirrels will avoid it***, or you can get complicated “squirrel-proof” feeders which tbh are likely to malfunction, OR you can accept that the squirrels need to eat too and fine, they can have some seeds. Having multiple feeders is helpful here, as the squirrels will likely claim and defend one as their own.

ok I hope after all this you are convinced. May you be blessed with the sight of a chickadee on a branch holding a sunflower seed with its little foot while prying it open with its little beak omg so cute.

*It’s as if everyone having what they need makes life better and more peaceful for everyone, and one group hoarding resources makes life worse for everyone. Huh, wonder where I’ve heard of that before?

** If it’s like -20 and a bird spends a bunch of energy getting to your feeder and it’s empty, that’s a bunch of energy wasted and lord knows they don’t have much to spare.

*** Birds do not share the mammal’s sensitivity to spicy foods; lucky them or poor them depending on how you look at it.