Wednesday, October 12, 2011

#73 Backyard Tip: Safflower Seed

The easiest way to attract Cardinals is to introduce safflower seed to your feeders. This large white seed is their favorite!

Safflower has the added benefit of being too bitter for squirrels, and too hard to crack open for gregarious blackbirds, such as grackles and starlings - all species we associate with quickly depleting the backyard feeder stock!

While it is one of the more expensive seeds, I prefer to fill a feeder with just safflower to see which other birds it attracts. I have seen House Finches, Tufted Titmouse, chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches, Mourning Doves and woodpeckers. A more affordable way to introduce safflower is to purchase a seed mix that includes safflower, and these species will readily enjoy picking them out.
photo © adrian binns

No comments:

Post a Comment