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PSA: Stop putting out mixed seed blends if you want to actually see cardinals in your yard

I dumped out a bag of cheap mix from the hardware store last week after noticing only house sparrows and starlings were touching it, and switching to straight black oil sunflower seeds brought three male cardinals to my feeder in under two hours so why are we still buying filler like milo and cracked corn?
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2 Comments
riverowens
riverowens22d ago
Is it really that surprising that birds skip the cheap mixes when half the bag is literally just filler that nothing wants to eat? You're totally right about the milo and cracked corn thing, those are basically bird junk food that only aggressive species bother with. The whole industry pushes these blends because they're cheap to produce and have a long shelf life, not because they're good for local birds. I switched to just sunflower chips last year and my feeder went from a pigeon party to having chickadees, titmice, and even a pair of cardinals showing up daily. What made you finally decide to ditch the mixed blend?
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aaron_wilson17
aaron_wilson1722d agoMost Upvoted
Did you notice a big difference in how much food you were going through after switching, like did the sunflower chips last longer since less of it was ending up on the ground untouched?
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