Check your feed supplies indoors, too! – Don’t forget to check your stockpiled food, too. Check all your stored seed, nuts and suets. It should smell fresh and nutty. If you detect any unpleasant musty smell or clumping, it’s gone bad. Throw it out and replace with fresh! We can’t over-emphasize how crucial it is to keep your wild bird food fresh and your feeders clean, dry and uncontaminated,
- After all, we make sure our human restaurants maintain sanitary requirements with frequent inspections to safeguard us from rotten food.
- As good stewards, it’s incumbent to us to undertake the same research for our backyard feeder clients.
- Wild birds may be less discriminating than humans, yet they are just as susceptible to food spoilage! And now the good news: it’s not hard to rectify this situation–even if you discover your feeders as horribly moldy as ours were! It simply needs some hot, soapy water, a vigorous scrub, and a rinse with clean water! We’ll need to stay alert, even into Winter.
Our present Autumn temps may delay growth of the yucky stuff, but get this Even at 0 degrees Fahrenheit, it just goes dormant and waits for the temperature to rise again. However, we should not delay. Our wild birds will continue to visit our backyard feeders in excellent health as a gesture of gratitude.
What does terrible bird seed look like?
What are a Few Indications Your Birdseed Is Rotten? If birds refuse to eat your “bad seed,” or seed that has gone bad, this is one of the most telling signs. Have the birds ceased to frequent your bird feeders? Does your seed smell musty or damp? When filling your feeder, does the seed mixture seem moist or clumpy? All of them indicate that your seed has sprouted. 
According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology – “In fact, it is sometimes wasteful to use a typical mixture of sunflower, milo, millet, oats, wheat, flax, and buckwheat seeds since birds may only consume the coveted sunflower seeds. Unconsumed seeds may support the growth of mold and germs.”
What types of seeds do bird seed contain?
The majority of the seeds in these mounds of discarded seed are spherical and reddish brown in hue. These are seeds of sorghum. Although feeder birds will consume sorghum, they will prioritize other seeds.
