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"I'm told squirrels don't like black oil sunflower seeds. Not sure if that is correct or not."

They love them! With the old feeders I had they would set there for hours eating and in doing so keeping the birds away. This also was costly as they would eat them up a lot faster then if it were just birds feeding.

I don't mind let them have some seeds and the birds drop enough so that the ground feeders and squirrels have some but there is a limit on how much I feel I can spend on seeds. This year the prices are down so I've been a bit more generous.

We use to have neighbors who also would feed the birds, they have all moved off over the last few years, well really the last one was about 5 years ago so it has been a while. I'm sure there are other people feeding but not that we can see.

Ed

I go through 40lbs (SAMs club) seed every month. Two feeders.

Problem is SAMs club bird seed has peanuts and fruit chunks that the birds love but the squirrels love better. I have one squirrel that attempts a suicide leap for the feeder he makes it about every fifth time. Then I move the feeder another foot or so away. Got the two feeders to close and the squirrels were leaping from one to the other to get around the squirrel shields.

The black grackles come in and tose the grain seed out until they get to sunflower seed. So the doves and ducks sit below the feeder with their mouths open. Some times the neighbor's chickens come over and tear up everything under the feeders getting their share of the seed.

Ed in Tampa wrote:I go through 40lbs (SAMs club) seed every month. Two feeders.

Problem is SAMs club bird seed has peanuts and fruit chunks that the birds love but the squirrels love better. I have one squirrel that attempts a suicide leap for the feeder he makes it about every fifth time. Then I move the feeder another foot or so away. Got the two feeders to close and the squirrels were leaping from one to the other to get around the squirrel shields.

The black grackles come in and tose the grain seed out until they get to sunflower seed. So the doves and ducks sit below the feeder with their mouths open. Some times the neighbor's chickens come over and tear up everything under the feeders getting their share of the seed.

I buy black oil sun flower seeds from the local farm supply store about 2 miles from my house. 50LB bags. I bought the first bag on 14 Nov but I had almost a full bag left from last year. I have bought 5 bags so far with one feeder. No squirrels. The doves pick on the ground. Mostly sparrows of various kinds and hawks looking for a meal. Last week I looked out and there was a hawk sitting on the deck railing about 6' from the door with a sparrow in his talons. Maybe that is why the sun flower seed consumption has been down lately. BTW, I need to buy another bag tomorrow. That will be number 6, 300 pounds.

Has anyone tried safflower seeds? Again I'm told squirrels don't like them but that birds really do.

Last year I went through 120 lbs of seed. The year before which was colder I went through about 200. Plus my neighbor is feeding also and is going through seed nearly as fast.

Feeding birds are down this year. Nothing like years past. Wonder why? I suspect t the mild late winter up north kept many birds from migrating south.
Our Cardinal population is way way down. Again I wonder why?