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Choosing the right wild bird foods does make a difference in the kinds of birds you attract and can make a big difference on how expensive your bird-feeding hobby becomes. There are some items that you can cut costs on, but watch out when buying non-brand name birdfeed and getting too "good of a deal". Some people may wonder why you would pay more for wild bird seed from a specialty catalog or a specialty store when you can get the same thing cheaper at the corner store?

If it was truly the same thing, than the question would be valid, but unfortunately, it is not the same thing. Cheap bird seed is often full of sticks and other harvesting debris. In most cases, it contains a lot of “filler” seeds that many birds won’t eat, such as milo, wheat, and millet. These seeds are okay for some types of wild birds, but you don’t want them to predominate in the bird seed mix because they only appeal to a few types of wild birds. It only makes sense not to pay for sticks, debis and seeds that most birds don’t like. Premium seed will actually give you more edible seed per pound.

Pure, black oil sunflower seed wins the award for "Top of the List" bird seed because attracts the widest variety of birds. It’s economical and all seed eating birds love it. Black Oil Sunflower Seed is rich in nutritious oils and the thin shells are easy for all size birds to crack. It should b a staple in most bird feeding plans. Sunflower hearts are a real favorite too. Gray striped sunflower seeds are larger than black-oil, and have a harder shell. They're fine for heavy-billed birds such as grosbeaks, jays, goldfinches and cardinals.

Bird suet, either plain, peanut butter or fruit flavored, or mixed with seeds is a food that attracts a variety of birds - more than just seed eaters. If you can only feed one other food besides black oil sunflower seed, make it bird suet. Wrens, catbirds, bluebirds and mockingbirds are a few of the insect eaters that will come to a suet feeder, along with chickadees, woodpeckers, nuthatches and titmice to name a few. Suet is a high fat bird food that provides birds with lots of energy for winter survival, spring nesting, and also helps them load up on the extra fat needed for migration.

Wild Bird Suet is a year round food, not just for winter feeding! Suet is technically beef fat, but any foods that supply fat in quantity can also be used, such as vegetable shortening and peanut butter. Suet cakes are a convenient way to offer suet, needing only an inexpensive suet basket to place them in. You can purchase No-Melt suet for hot climates.