$500M+ a Year Spent to Feed Birds in the US

With bone chilling temperatures forecast for the beginning of next week, birds will be looking for lots of food to keep their internal furnaces stoked. If you didn’t know, one of the ways that birds keep warm is by eating more food when the thermometer drops. If you are one of those people that are helping the birds make it through the winter with a bird feeder, then you are taking part in an increasingly popular winter activity.

If you take part in bird feeding, then you are among more than 1.5 million people in Missouri who enjoy this activity. Although birds benefit from easy access to birdseed, humans are the primary beneficiaries of the recreational activity. The opportunity to view birds at close range provides hours of entertainment just outside your home. Believe it or not, people in the United States spend more than $500 million each year to feed birds. However, to get the most for your money, you need to know what types of food birds like. If you buy the pre-packaged seed, many times you are wasting your money on many types of cereal grains such as milo, wheat and oats, all of which rate fairly low to a hungry bird. Generally, packages of birdseed mix are put together to attract people more than birds. Rather than buying mixes, you may want to spend your money more efficiently by buying bulk amounts of certain seeds.

By Jeff Berti, Trenton Republican-Times

Read more: Warmer Birds - More Food