Exploring Nature: Birdseed Bonanza

I have a tubular bird feeder hanging under the roof eaves of my back deck and I fill it daily with black-oil sunflower seeds. I am in good company when it comes to feeding birds. A recent study showed that nearly 57 million people in the U.S. feed wild birds. They spend a whopping four billion dollars on the hobby. That’s a billion with a “b.”

In 2022, some 15 million acres of black-oil sunflowers were planted. Typically, 20% of the harvest, equivalent to 250,000 football fields, goes to bird food.

Sunflowers are hardy plants and can be harvested from late summer well into winter. November is a prime harvest month.