Connect with Nature!
Connect with Nature!
In the last 16 years Backyard Bird Shop has always make it a top priority to offer only regionally appropriate seed that has been cleaned to the highest standards possible. And we’ve found that by working with regional seed processors, we can provide that seed to our customers at very reasonable prices. Sometimes you really can get what you pay for!
Oregon’s Department of Agriculture only recently gained the authority to test and set content standards for wild birdseed mixes, while Washington already has a similar law. What prompted the change? Commercial birdseed with weed seeds! “Wild birdseed” mixes can contain seeds of noxious or invasive weeds that harm crops and natural habitats.
In 2006 Idaho’s Dept. of Agriculture sampled 92 birdseed mixes from 34 manufacturers to find that 50% contained weed seeds like buffalobur, jointed goatgrass, field bindweed, johnsongrass, Canada thistle and hoary cress. Simply cleaning up under the feeder can’t solve this problem: bad seed spreads when birds digest the seeds.
Buying “wild bird seed” mixes from local big-box stores can result in plenty of waste and not much of a bargain. Cheap birdseed blends tend to have regionally inappropriate content, so they aren’t eaten readily by the birds of our area.