I posed this challenge over a year ago; perhaps there is someone out there
with some knowledge about wild bird nutritional needs. I am concerned
that efforts to keep spilled seed from sprouting around feeders may alter
oils and proteins plus actually destroy vitamins and micronutrients
contained in the "uncooked" seeds. There was a problem a while back with
artificial sweeteners being offered in hummingbird feeders (tidier to fix
than sugar water, but a starvation diet to dependent hummingbirds). Is
offering heated food to seed-eating birds just 'empty' calories? This
is certainly testable within a practical scientific framework.

We can't have it both ways. If we choose to feed wildlife near our
homes, there is going to be concomitant maintenance and some "scut"
work. When I was lucky enough to have a yard in which to hang feeders
years ago, I just raked up spilled, matted and molding seed on occasion
and disgarded it in the trash as needed. Perhaps, wild birds just
consider yard/window feeders a windfall and/or treat, and are not
particularly reliant on human-offered, baked-sterilized bird seed for
basic nutrition. However, with increasing human population sprawl and
documented changes in foraging behavior of many bird species (small birds
and birds of prey in recent times), maybe we need to ponder and analyze
our responsibilities about food value to the birds vs our worrying about
the effects of spillage on the lawn.

On my soapbox,
Maureen E. Ellis, me2 at u.washington.edu, U of WA and Des Moines WA