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FAQ in this category 'Bird Food' |
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Yes! In time of shortage the provision of supplementary food can reduce competition between adults and young for natural food as the adults will quickly ?top-up? at the bird feeders and use all the caterpillars etc that they find to feed their young (but see note below about peanuts). Back to top
Peanuts should only be provided in mesh-feeders, as whole ones can choke nestlings. Back to top
Can I feed suet products in summer as well as winter?
CJ Wildlife?s Suet products are fine for summer use except in the most southern parts of the USA. Look out for our ?Never Melt? suet products as the weather turns warm. Back to top
Our food is prepared using top quality ingredients, mostly supplied to human consumption standard. In hard weather a small bird may consume up to 30% of its body mass per day! This sort of metabolic rate greatly increases the bird?s susceptibility to any impurities in the food. Many cheaper mixes will be found to contain high proportions of cereal, grass seed, lentils, split peas and broken dog biscuit, most of which will be ignored by practically every thing except hungry pigeons.
Peanuts can sometimes be contaminated with a naturally occurring poison called aflatoxin (produced by a mould) which is roughly ten times deadlier than strychnine or cyanide. Our peanuts are tested in independent laboratories to a ?nil-detectable? level of aflatoxin ? 5 parts per billion is regarded as toxic. This tends to make our peanuts at least 50% more expensive than the going rate for so-called ?wild bird grade? nuts, but there is no other way of guaranteeing that the nuts are not going to quietly kill-off the birds that eat them.
It may sound corny, but it is true to say that with our food you get what you are paying for - food suitable for wild birds - and in the average garden very little will be left uneaten. Back to top
There is less mess in the form of seed husks and so on if you offer peanuts, but a seed mix will usually attract a larger variety of birds. Seeds can be offered loose on a bird table or the ground throughout the year, but peanuts should really only be provided in mesh feeders ? certainly during the breeding season which is effectively from late March to late August. Peanuts are susceptible to aflatoxin (see answer above), so seeds are definitely a safer option. Back to top
If kept cool and dry, we would recommend keeping food for up to three months, but in practice it may well last longer. Food that has been kept for much more than six months may well have gone off. As a general rule, any food that has been uneaten for more than ten days should be disposed of, and in mild, damp weather peanuts should really not be out for more than a week. Back to top
No! A seed feeder can produce ideal conditions for growing moulds on peanuts, some of which may be harmful. During the breeding season whole peanuts should not be offered except through a mesh feeder, as there is a danger that they could cause nestlings to choke. It is possible to provide seed mixes in a peanut feeder, but there will probably be a degree of wastage. Back to top
Which is the best bird seed to feed my birtds?
It depends on your birds and how you want to feed. All CJ Wildlife seeds are the best that we can buy, many are of human food quality, and our peanuts even surpass the USDA aflatoxin levels considered safe for humans.
The best all round seed is Black Oil Sunflower. It is liked by the greatest variety of birds and is very nutritious at 500 calories per 100 grams. Our Sunflower Hearts and Kibbled Sunflower Hearts offer a cleaner seed without husks and are super nutritious at 610 calories per 1200 grams
Our mixes and blends contain a variety of seeds and attract the most birds; they are very nutritious ranging from 420 to 550 calories per 100 grams. Some even containing Oyster shell grit to aid in digestion and egg shell production.
CJ Wildlife blends contain no filler seeds, and all our foods are double cleaned to ensure the minimum debris. Back to top
Which bird seed will attract the greatest number and variety of birds?
Black Oil Sunflower seed or better yet our cleaner Sunflower Hearts and Kibbled Sunflower Hearts will do the trick Back to top
If you want to attract Finches, Goldfinches, Titmice, Redpolls and on the ground, Mourning Doves and Juncos then Nyjer seed is your choice..
Nyjer (thistle) can be an invasive plant and it is therefore controlled by the US Dept of Agriculture. All CJ Wildlife Nyjer seed is sterilized, therefore cannot germinate and grow and is USDA approved. Back to top
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