I know that most times safflower seeds are sold as something squirrels won't
eat. Think again! I put some out in a ground feeder once, and the only thing
that ate them WAS the squirrels!

_____

From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of carenp
Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2006 7:58 AM
To: tweets
Subject: [Tweeters] seedy decisions


during a weak moment a few weeks ago at the local audubon, i purchased some
safflower seeds for the feeder... until that seedy moment, i was into
sunflower seeds.

well, apparently, so is almost every bird in my forest... each of the
feeders is cleaned out in about 10 days when filled with premium sunflower
chips, with barely a bit on the ground not gobbled by the ground feeders,
and yet in over 7 days of safflowery goodness, the only bird that seemed to
like them was one huge purple finch male.

oh, and the mess underneath the feeder from chickadees and juncoes and
nuthatches, etc, was incredible. they'd fly into the feeder, toss a few on
the ground (obviously substandard), then fly to the next perch thinking they
were going to get something different, something a little more gourmet
perhaps... and because everyone was doing it at almost every perch, the
safflower seeds weren't being used as much more than compost.

of course, the "ground" here is a concrete deck, so composting is
discouraged...

i know there are likes and dislikes out there, but this was out-and-out
hatred... after a few days, everyone stopped coming to the feeders. the
strewn hatred on the ground was piled high, sad, pathetic, bad...

well, i've learned my lesson. the seeds of sunflower have returned, and so
have my little charges... so, the question arises: what is it about
safflower they hate, and who (avian, please) likes them? presumably, they
are a food of choice someWHERE, as bags of the stuff sell...

00 caren
http://www.parkgallery.org <http://www.parkgallery.org/>
george davis creek, north fork