Bird Feeder and spilling seeds

[Disneyland1084]

Several days ago I bought a bird feeder for the front of my house. It didn't take long for the swarm of birds to notice it. I refill the feeder once a day, sometimes twice. There are seeds that have fallen on my grass. Birds eat from that too. My SIL advised me that before I refill the feeder I should have the birds eat up all the food on the grass. I got to thinking "why bother when food keeps falling every time birds are on the feeder anyway?" Then she said the seeds might sprout. Has this happened to any Disers? Is it really a big deal?

 

[si-am]

Ours is hanging on our deck and there are seeds everywhere. Every few days we sweep them off. If they've sprouted down below, we haven't noticed. There's not a really nice patch of lawn down there where we'd really care if they did, however.

 

[ImDMous]

Yeah, we have random little sprouts all over a patch of grass below our feeder. Doesn't really bother us, but we're not very particular about our lawn, as long as it's green, it's good.

 

[okeydokey]

There are some birds who are ground feeders and some that are not. I wouldn't worry about seeds on the ground remaining uneaten, especially if you have any squirrels in the neighborhood.

 

[LJSquishy]

Yes, the uneaten seeds will sprout. There isn't anything you can do to prevent it really.

We got tired of sprouting seed in our nice, clean flower beds (we have decorative rock and not mulch) so we now buy shelled seed only which doesn't sprout. It's way more expensive but I couldn't handle looking at all of the sprouted seed not to mention layers of decomposing shells on the ground.

We only use shelled sunflower seeds for the regular feeders (or a deck & patio mix that has different shelled seeds and nuts) and use Nyjer seed in the finch feeders. The finch feeders aren't as messy since they can't kick the seed around. We never ever use any millet (the little tan round seed) because birds don't like that which is why they kick around the seed so much looking for the good stuff.

 

[JillyBean1899]

My granddad tosses out birdseed willy-nilly in the yard. If anything has sprouted, we have no clue. The spot where he feeds the birds is actually mostly dirt, I think it gets enough traffic that stuff won't grow there anyway.

 

[bittybabygrower]

We had a huge patch of thistle under ours...no more thistle seeds!

 

[kathie859]

My granddad tosses out birdseed willy-nilly in the yard. If anything has sprouted, we have no clue. The spot where he feeds the birds is actually mostly dirt, I think it gets enough traffic that stuff won't grow there anyway.

I think I'd like your granddad. We feed the birds a few different types of seed and suet, too. Different birds like different things and some, like another poster mentioned, are ground feeders. We've had an occasional oddball sprout but nothing to cause undue problems with the lawn.

 

[barkley]

Yes, the uneaten seeds will sprout. There isn't anything you can do to prevent it really.

We got tired of sprouting seed in our nice, clean flower beds (we have decorative rock and not mulch) so we now buy shelled seed only which doesn't sprout. It's way more expensive but I couldn't handle looking at all of the sprouted seed not to mention layers of decomposing shells on the ground.

We only use shelled sunflower seeds for the regular feeders (or a deck & patio mix that has different shelled seeds and nuts) and use Nyjer seed in the finch feeders. The finch feeders aren't as messy since they can't kick the seed around. We never ever use any millet (the little tan round seed) because birds don't like that which is why they kick around the seed so much looking for the good stuff.

I didn't notice until I started to post that you're in the Spokane region too

we use the nyjer for the finches as well, but I can't say that under ours doesn't get messy-the quail around our house will either fly up and try to bump the finch feeders or run up and into the stakes that hold them to get the food to spill out (if they're really lucky a chipmunk starts playing on it and knocks some out). we end up with nyjer underneath the feeders constantly-but have never had any problems with anything sprouting.

op if your worried about stuff sprouting there are products that can be sprayed on landscaped areas that work insanely well against unwelcome items sprouting. it's a testament to the stuff that we live with hundreds of acres of weed laden properties around us, and our lawn remains strictly lawn.

 

[lizabu]

My neighbour has a bird feeder and the seeds attract skunks

 

[Disneyland1084]

My neighbour has a bird feeder and the seeds attract skunks

Yikes! Well, so far I haven't smelled any.

 

[HM]

My neighbour has a bird feeder and the seeds attract skunks

That's one I've never heard before.
We have four bird feeders and our next door neighbors have five (all different kinds). We've only had squirrels and birds eating at and around ours.

OP, just move your feeder somewhere you don't mind having a mess of seeds and some possible sprouting occurring. And do keep it full, even if there are seeds on the ground. As a PP said, different birds eat at different levels.

 

[lucas]

We were recently having fun feeding cardinals. Then the squirrels came. Then came the mice. Then a big rat. No more feeding birds for us.

 

[tina.tina]

Yep! Rats. I have a horrible phobia and won't feed the birds because of the vermin the loose seeds attract.

My dad loves to feed birds and he had a pile of seeds under the feeder which killed some of the grass under the feeder.

 

[LuLuO]

The seeds from our bird feeders sprout. It doesn't bother us because we have a yard that is about half weeds anyway. We do get a lot of Doves because they eat the stuff off the ground. The cat enjoys watching them from the window because they're slow and hang around until someone walks near them. The squirrels also enjoy the fallen seeds as well as the seeds in the feeder. It's pretty funny to watch them hang upside down

 

[si-am]

We were recently having fun feeding cardinals. Then the squirrels came. Then came the mice. Then a big rat. No more feeding birds for us.

Yes, a few years ago I looked outside at night and saw a rat under our bird feeder. I now don't keep it up for long for this reason: just a month or two in the late winter/ early spring and that's it! I figure they can fend for themselves after that.

I haven't seen a rat since but one's enough for me!

 

[NewRVLady]

We have lots of doves at our feeders
And yeah they eat the seeds that fall on the ground

 

[Pea-n-Me]

A rat would freak me out, but I've never seen one under our feeders (front and back). We have some cats in the neighborhood that come in our yard sometimes, that's probably why. Out front we may see wild turkeys, sea gulls, and once in a while a skunk, possum or deer.

 

[chabs]

We were recently having fun feeding cardinals. Then the squirrels came. Then came the mice. Then a big rat. No more feeding birds for us.

Same thing happened here. I put 3 nice bird feeders up in front of our large living room window. Attracted all kinds of birds, but then the mice came and got in under our siding. No more bird food after that. I like the birds, but not at the expense of having mice.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Several days ago I bought a bird feeder for the front of my house. It didn't take long for the swarm of birds to notice it. I refill the feeder once a day, sometimes twice. There are seeds that have fallen on my grass. Birds eat from that too. My SIL advised me that before I refill the feeder I should have the birds eat up all the food on the grass. I got to thinking "why bother when food keeps falling every time birds are on the feeder anyway?" Then she said the seeds might sprout. Has this happened to any Disers? Is it really a big deal?

We've been feeding birds for years (as I look out, we've got 6 big bird feeders in the yard). Yet, the only bird seed that's ever sprouted is the sunflower seeds. And since the sunflowers attract lesser goldfinches, which are really pretty, we don't mind. And the ducks generally waddle up from the creek in back of our house and eat whatever else we spill. We've never had rats or skunks, at least not that I know of. We do get possums and raccoons in our yard, but I don't think the bird seed is much to blame for their visits.