Flying Colors: Donut Do It!

Flying Colors is a sponsored column on the hobby of backyard bird feeding written by Michael Zuiker, owner of the Wild Birds Unlimited store at the Lee Harrison Shopping Center. Visit the store at 2437 N. Harrison Street or call 703-241-3988.

Ok, I have a confession to make. I like donuts. I like them a lot. In fact, I never met a donut I did not like.

Ok, there was that one donut in Nova Scotia, but just one. My doctor is not to happy with my love of donuts. It is not good for me and I know it. So, every day I eat a grapefruit to balance my diet.

Wild birds do not have my problem. Sure, we all used to think that birds love bagels and stale bread and donuts. But they really don’t! They eat and need to eat natural foods to survive and thrive.

This is an on-going annual requirement for the birds. So, for 27 years we have been educating our customers about the seed’s birds need and the best variety to give them.

Sure, you see birds eating that off brand of bird seed full of millet, cracked corn and milo. But they are not the birds you want; english sparrows, starlings and grackles. That is also not the seed you want to feed them. milo, flax, rape seed and wheat are all filler seeds that most birds will not eat.

Good quality seed blends are full of black oil, safflower, peanuts and sun chips. Those types of blends have tons and tons of high fat foods for the birds. They use that fat for energy during the day and for creating warmth at night. Not only that, but you will get the birds you want; cardinals, chickadees, wrens and woodpeckers to name just a few.

Do you go in the grocery store to buy food and check the ingredients on the back? You know that the first ingredient is the number one thing in that the package. So, if you buy a bag of bird seed and the first ingredient is millet, that’s what makes up most of the bag.

Would you want to eat a whole bag of high fructose corn syrup? I don’t. Neither do the birds.

This is what makes our seed blends different. We can guarantee you that you will get beautiful backyard birds with our seed blends. Stop in and check out the first ingredient on our seed blend bags. You will see that most of them are sun chips, black oil and peanut pieces.

Now you might be the person sitting there saying well, yeah, but I can get seed blends in another store too. Sure, you absolutely can; but we can promise you that ours is fresher.

We receive our seed once a week, and we guarantee it is fresh. Our WBU seed blends have a higher fat content than other store brands. This gives the birds that extra fat they need for the upcoming winter. It is also 99% clean from sticks and stems.

So, don’t buy the donut, I mean that yucky millet brand bird seed blend. Buy the grapefruit and the Good WBU Bird Blends. Your birds will thank you!

Come take the Bird Seed Challenge with us. Stop in and grab a 2 lb. bag of Choice Blend at no cost to you. It’s free! Take the challenge and try us out, you won’t be disappointed!