One Way to Get Rid of Bugs in Your Yard Without Using Pesticides
Did you know that the average barn swallow or purple martin eats thousands of bugs per day? Did you realize that all birds feed their young bugs during the hatching season?
Some folks like to feed the wild birds in the winter, especially when there’s snow and ice on the ground which keeps them from their favorite wild foods. But, did you know that keeping your bird feeders full all year long, helps to keep them around, and in your yard?
Why is this important? Because every bird in your yard, every bird flittering through the trees, every bird scattering beneath the feeders, every nest full of baby bird eggs, every bird is also eating bugs too!
Birds like the barn swallow eat flying bugs, including mosquitoes. Other birds that catch flying insects are the chickadees, the wrens, catbirds, bluebirds, and even some sparrows. Even seed eating birds catch bugs for the baby birds in the nests!
I’ve tried all kinds of bird seed for the wild birds that frequent my feeders. I used to buy the cheap stuff off the bottom shelf at the big box store. Then I upgraded to the almost as cheap stuff on a higher shelf at the big box store. The problem with the lower end bags of seed is that there’s lots of milo or millet in there. The birds in my backyard eat a little of that but mostly they knock it out onto the ground, where it invariably sprouts.
I upgraded once and bought a big old fifty pound bag of corn chops (that’s chopped up corn). The cardinals and the blue jays liked it, but so did the squirrels!
I’ve even bought a fifty pound bag of chicken scratch for the wild birds. Granted they aren’t chickens, but chickens are birds, so they should like it, right? Boy was I wrong. Again, the scratch was full of milo and millet which was generally wasted.
Last year, I splurged. While visiting a local farm supply store I spotted a huge fifty pound bag of sunflower seed, and bargain priced at that! It was cheaper than any seed mix I’d been buying, so my wild feathered friends were in for a treat! Sunflower seed!
The cardinals flocked to the feeders, the blue jays too. The wrens and finches even partake of the black oily seeds. They loose a few, and the ground eating birds come in and finish those off. I’ve seen morning doves alongside quail eating the sunflower seeds on the ground under the feeders.
I finally used up that big old bag of sunflower seed and had to go searching for another. Of course, prices on many agricultural items have skyrocketed and sunflower seeds were no exception. My birds are worth it though. So, I pulled into the local farm supply store and hubby threw that big old bag over his shoulder and carried it up to the checkout stand for me. The price was about double from last year, but that’s ok. My fine feathered friends bring joy to my life and are therefore worth the price of a big old bag of birdseed.
