How do they know?
Posted on January 12th, 2009 – 1:29 PMBy Jim Williams
There is a new variety of safflower seed on the market. It is slightly golden in color, has a thinner shell, and is more nutritious. A friend in Minneapolis has two feeders offering safflower, one for the old seed, the second for the new. Her bird visitors immediately preferred the new seed once they tried it. She told me the preference ratio is about two to one. I want to know why the birds made such an immediate and well-defined change. What did they know and how did they know it. A staffer at our local bird-supply store suggests the thinner shell, taking less effort (and energy) to open might be the reason. Perhaps.
7 Responses to "How do they know?"
Where do you find this seed? My Mom would like to try it as some safflower seed she has put out, the birds won’t even touch. We live in the Coon Rapids area.
Where can one purchase this new variety of safflower? I’ve called all the seed stores in Rochester and most have never even heard of it.
I have feeder with mix of ordinary safflour seed and the sunflower seeds that are already shelled. We have NEVER had so many birds every morning about 9:30am. They seem to be about 70% Goldfinches, (winter feathers of course,) and 30% Purple Finches. This mix draws NO SPARROWS (house finches).
Coon Rapids MN.
Where can I find the new Safflower seed? We live in Ham Lake area?
The Wild Bird Store on County Rd. E and 120 in White Bear Lake has it. They say it has a higher protein content — better for the birds — and easier for them to open the seeds.
I bought mine today from the All Seasons Wild Bird store in Wayzata. I assume their other locations also have it (Bloomington, Eagan, Mall of America, White Bear Lake, and Minnetonka). I would try any bird specialty store in your area.
Wild Bird’s Unlimited sells this too and their price is the same as the original ‘white’ safflower. The Golden has a higher protein & fat content and the shells are thinner which makes less mess and more species are finding it easier to crack open the shell.
Great experiment Jim…I’ve found better results with the Golden variety so this will stay on the menu for my feathered friends.
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