National Bird-Feeding Society
Encyclopedia
The National Bird-Feeding Society (NBFS) is an American
nonprofit organization
based in Decatur, Illinois
. Its mission is to make the hobby of bird feeding better, both for people who feed wild birds and for the birds themselves. To fulfill its mission, the NBFS conducts research and promotes education on wild bird feeding.
Since its establishment in 1989, the NBFS has served as a resource for individuals to learn more about best bird feeding practices, and to provide individuals with information on how to move the bird feeding hobby beyond the backyard. The NBFS provides information on bird seed and bird feeder
preferences, and provides bird feeding tips and a guide to better bird feeding.
Currently, the daily operations of the NBFS are performed by students, staff, and faculty of Millikin University
in Decatur, Illinois
, and the NBFS is sponsored by Wild Bird Centers of America, Inc.
preferences in the United States and Canada was completed. The study known as PROJECT WILDBIRD® was coordinated by Dr. David Horn and Stacey Shonkwiler at Millikin University
in Decatur, Illinois
, and funded by the Wild Bird Feeding Industry Research Foundation.
Based on results of PROJECT WILDBIRD, of ten seed types most commonly found in seed blends, five are most preferred: black-oil sunflower, Nyjer®, fine and medium sunflower chips, and white proso millet
. Three major patterns of bird seed preferences were observed. First, smaller finches, such as American Goldfinch
and Pine Siskin
, prefer Nyjer® (also referred to as thistle) and sunflower hearts (also referred to as hulled sunflower and sunflower chips). Second, species that a grab a seed from a bird feeder and eat it elsewhere such as Black-capped Chickadee
, Carolina Chickadee
, Tufted Titmouse
, and White-breasted Nuthatch
; larger finches such as House Finch
and Purple Finch
; and Northern Cardinal
, prefer black-oil sunflower seed
. Finally, white proso millet is the preferred seed of ground-feeding birds such as Chipping Sparrow
, Dark-eyed Junco
, and Mourning Dove
.
There are also bird seeds that are unattractive to birds. In particular, red milo is a seed few birds readily consume. Thus, bird seed blends with large amounts of red milo may go unused by wild birds and lead to a poor bird feeding experience for people feeding birds.
All three feeder types can dispense a variety of bird seed types, however, there are specialty feeders for distributing Nyjer® and sunflower hearts or whole peanuts (peanuts that are out of the shell and split in half). As a generalization, tube feeders attract small-bodied birds and larger birds are unable to perch on tubular feeders. Hopper and platform feeders attract birds of all sizes.
Choosing a bird feeder is just as important as choosing the bird seed to offer. For those wanting to attract large amounts of small songbirds, a tube feeder is best. Hopper feeders attract a wide variety of species, and allow for large quantities of bird seed to be stored. Platform feeders attract the greatest number of bird species, but the bird seed is more prone to getting wet or blown off the feeder from the wind.
For individuals who want to attract more species of birds to their feeders, specialty feeders are available. Specialty feeders are made for suet to attract woodpeckers, nectar to attract hummingbirds and orioles, fruits to attract robins, insects to attract bluebirds, whole peanuts, and sunflower hearts and Nyjer®.
1) Place bird feeders in locations where they can readily be seen through a viewing window.
2) Start with a basic bird feeding set-up: tubular feeder filled with black-oil sunflower seed.
3) Add other types of bird seeds and feeders such as Nyjer® in a Nyjer® feeder, and hopper or platform feeders filled with black-oil sunflower, sunflower hearts, and whole peanuts.
4) Alternative foods such as suet, fruit, insects, and nectar, as well as water, may also attract additional species of birds.
5) Each season of the year, there may be a different suite of species visiting your yard. These bird species may have different bird food and feeder preferences.
6) In addition to bird seed and feeders, provide birds with habitat, water, and bird houses.
7) Keep your birds safe by protecting them from cats and bird-window collisions, and regularly clean your feeders.
8) To learn more about birds visiting your yard, use the tools of a birdwatcher: binoculars
and a field guide.
9) There are birds you can’t see in your yard. To see these birds, take a trip to your local, state, and national parks and explore your natural areas.
For nearly 15 years, the NBFS mailed a bi-monthly newsletter, “The Bird’s-Eye reView,” to its members. The newsletter featured tips, tales, and tactics used for attracting wild birds. The society also developed a “Kit for Kids,” a collection of materials for teachers, and two booklets on bird feeding: “The Story of Bird Feeding,” and “The Dynamics of Bird Feeding.” In its early years, the Society also held photo contests with individuals submitting photos in categories such as birds at feeders and most unusual feeder visitor.
Currently, the NBFS promotes education and conservation initiatives that raise awareness about bird feeding and the protection of wild birds both at one’s home and beyond the backyard. The NBFS also sponsors “National Bird-Feeding Month.” National Bird-Feeding Month
is in February and is designed to promote the bird feeding hobby. The society also provides a series of brochures on bird seed preferences, bird feeder
preferences, tips on bird feeding, and a guide to better bird feeding.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
based in Decatur, Illinois
Decatur, Illinois
Decatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city, sometimes called "the Soybean Capital of the World", was founded in 1823 and is located along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. In 2000 the city population was 81,500,...
. Its mission is to make the hobby of bird feeding better, both for people who feed wild birds and for the birds themselves. To fulfill its mission, the NBFS conducts research and promotes education on wild bird feeding.
Since its establishment in 1989, the NBFS has served as a resource for individuals to learn more about best bird feeding practices, and to provide individuals with information on how to move the bird feeding hobby beyond the backyard. The NBFS provides information on bird seed and bird feeder
Bird feeder
A birdfeeder, bird feeder, bird table, or tray feeder are devices placed outdoors to supply bird food to birds...
preferences, and provides bird feeding tips and a guide to better bird feeding.
Currently, the daily operations of the NBFS are performed by students, staff, and faculty of Millikin University
Millikin University
Millikin University is an American co-educational, comprehensive, private, four-year university with traditional undergraduate programs in arts and sciences, business, fine arts, and professional studies, as well as non-traditional, adult degree-completion programs and graduate programs in...
in Decatur, Illinois
Decatur, Illinois
Decatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city, sometimes called "the Soybean Capital of the World", was founded in 1823 and is located along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. In 2000 the city population was 81,500,...
, and the NBFS is sponsored by Wild Bird Centers of America, Inc.
Wild Bird Centers of America, Inc.
The Wild Bird Centers of America, Inc., is a national franchisor of wild bird specialty retail stores which sell bird seed, bird feeders, baffles and poles, bird baths, nest boxes, binoculars and other bird feeding products and gifts...
Bird seed preferences
In 2008, a three-year, one million dollar study of bird seed and bird feederBird feeder
A birdfeeder, bird feeder, bird table, or tray feeder are devices placed outdoors to supply bird food to birds...
preferences in the United States and Canada was completed. The study known as PROJECT WILDBIRD® was coordinated by Dr. David Horn and Stacey Shonkwiler at Millikin University
Millikin University
Millikin University is an American co-educational, comprehensive, private, four-year university with traditional undergraduate programs in arts and sciences, business, fine arts, and professional studies, as well as non-traditional, adult degree-completion programs and graduate programs in...
in Decatur, Illinois
Decatur, Illinois
Decatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city, sometimes called "the Soybean Capital of the World", was founded in 1823 and is located along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. In 2000 the city population was 81,500,...
, and funded by the Wild Bird Feeding Industry Research Foundation.
Based on results of PROJECT WILDBIRD, of ten seed types most commonly found in seed blends, five are most preferred: black-oil sunflower, Nyjer®, fine and medium sunflower chips, and white proso millet
Proso millet
Proso millet is also known as common millet, hog millet or white millet. Both the wild ancestor and the location of domestication of proso millet are unknown, but it first appears as a crop in both Transcaucasia and China about 7,000 years ago, suggesting that it may have been domesticated...
. Three major patterns of bird seed preferences were observed. First, smaller finches, such as American Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
The American Goldfinch , also known as the Eastern Goldfinch and Wild Canary, is a small North American bird in the finch family...
and Pine Siskin
Pine Siskin
The Pine Siskin is a North American bird in the finch family. It is a migratory bird with an extremely sporadic winter range.-Description:...
, prefer Nyjer® (also referred to as thistle) and sunflower hearts (also referred to as hulled sunflower and sunflower chips). Second, species that a grab a seed from a bird feeder and eat it elsewhere such as Black-capped Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadee
The Black-capped Chickadee is a small, North American songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is the state bird of both Maine and Massachusetts in the United States, and the provincial bird of New Brunswick in Canada...
, Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Chickadee
The Carolina Chickadee, Poecile carolinensis, is a small passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. Often, it is still placed in the genus Parus with most other tits, but mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data and morphology suggest that separating Poecile more adequately expresses these birds'...
, Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse
The Tufted Titmouse, Baeolophus bicolor, is a small songbird from North America, a species in the tit and chickadee family . The Black-crested Titmouse, found from central and southern Texas southwards, was included as a subspecies but is now considered a separate species B...
, and White-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
The White-breasted Nuthatch is a small songbird of the nuthatch family which breeds in old-growth woodland across much of temperate North America. It is a stocky bird, with a large head, short tail, powerful bill and strong feet. The upperparts are pale blue-gray, and the face and underparts are...
; larger finches such as House Finch
House Finch
The House Finch is a bird in the finch family Fringillidae, which is found in North America. This species and the other "American rosefinches" are usually placed in the rosefinch genus Carpodacus...
and Purple Finch
Purple Finch
The Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureus, is a bird in the finch family Fringillidae.-Taxonomy:The Purple Finch is one of 24 birds in the genus Carpodacus and is included in the finch...
; and Northern Cardinal
Northern Cardinal
The Northern Cardinal or Redbird or Common Cardinal is a North American bird in the genus Cardinalis. It can be found in southern Canada, through the eastern United States from Maine to Texas and south through Mexico...
, prefer black-oil sunflower seed
Sunflower seed
The sunflower seed is the fruit of the sunflower . The term "sunflower seed" is actually a misnomer when applied to the seed in its pericarp . Botanically speaking, it is more properly referred to as an achene. When dehulled, the edible remainder is called the sunflower kernel.There are three types...
. Finally, white proso millet is the preferred seed of ground-feeding birds such as Chipping Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
The Chipping Sparrow is a species of American sparrow in the family Emberizidae. It is widespread, fairly tame, and common across most of its North American range.-Description:...
, Dark-eyed Junco
Dark-eyed Junco
The Dark-eyed Junco is the best-known species of the juncos, a genus of small grayish American sparrows. This bird is common across much of temperate North America and in summer ranges far into the Arctic...
, and Mourning Dove
Mourning Dove
The Mourning Dove is a member of the dove family . The bird is also called the Turtle Dove or the American Mourning Dove or Rain Dove, and formerly was known as the Carolina Pigeon or Carolina Turtledove. It is one of the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds...
.
There are also bird seeds that are unattractive to birds. In particular, red milo is a seed few birds readily consume. Thus, bird seed blends with large amounts of red milo may go unused by wild birds and lead to a poor bird feeding experience for people feeding birds.
Bird feeder preferences
While there is a vast array of bird feeders, feeders are typically placed into three categories: tube, hopper, and platform. Tube feeders are long and slender and are typically constructed of plastic. Hopper feeders resemble small houses, and are made of a combination of metal, wood, and plastic. Platform feeders are large trays that are often covered and are typically made of wood or plastic.All three feeder types can dispense a variety of bird seed types, however, there are specialty feeders for distributing Nyjer® and sunflower hearts or whole peanuts (peanuts that are out of the shell and split in half). As a generalization, tube feeders attract small-bodied birds and larger birds are unable to perch on tubular feeders. Hopper and platform feeders attract birds of all sizes.
Choosing a bird feeder is just as important as choosing the bird seed to offer. For those wanting to attract large amounts of small songbirds, a tube feeder is best. Hopper feeders attract a wide variety of species, and allow for large quantities of bird seed to be stored. Platform feeders attract the greatest number of bird species, but the bird seed is more prone to getting wet or blown off the feeder from the wind.
For individuals who want to attract more species of birds to their feeders, specialty feeders are available. Specialty feeders are made for suet to attract woodpeckers, nectar to attract hummingbirds and orioles, fruits to attract robins, insects to attract bluebirds, whole peanuts, and sunflower hearts and Nyjer®.
Bird feeding tips
The NBFS developed tips to enhance the bird feeding experience. The tips include:1) Place bird feeders in locations where they can readily be seen through a viewing window.
2) Start with a basic bird feeding set-up: tubular feeder filled with black-oil sunflower seed.
3) Add other types of bird seeds and feeders such as Nyjer® in a Nyjer® feeder, and hopper or platform feeders filled with black-oil sunflower, sunflower hearts, and whole peanuts.
4) Alternative foods such as suet, fruit, insects, and nectar, as well as water, may also attract additional species of birds.
5) Each season of the year, there may be a different suite of species visiting your yard. These bird species may have different bird food and feeder preferences.
6) In addition to bird seed and feeders, provide birds with habitat, water, and bird houses.
7) Keep your birds safe by protecting them from cats and bird-window collisions, and regularly clean your feeders.
8) To learn more about birds visiting your yard, use the tools of a birdwatcher: binoculars
Binoculars
Binoculars, field glasses or binocular telescopes are a pair of identical or mirror-symmetrical telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point accurately in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes when viewing distant objects...
and a field guide.
9) There are birds you can’t see in your yard. To see these birds, take a trip to your local, state, and national parks and explore your natural areas.
History
The NBFS was formed in 1989 with the assistance of the Wild Bird Feeding Industry, the trade association for the bird feeding industry. In the early years of the society, the organization published newsletters, provided educational resources for instructors, and ran photo contests.For nearly 15 years, the NBFS mailed a bi-monthly newsletter, “The Bird’s-Eye reView,” to its members. The newsletter featured tips, tales, and tactics used for attracting wild birds. The society also developed a “Kit for Kids,” a collection of materials for teachers, and two booklets on bird feeding: “The Story of Bird Feeding,” and “The Dynamics of Bird Feeding.” In its early years, the Society also held photo contests with individuals submitting photos in categories such as birds at feeders and most unusual feeder visitor.
Currently, the NBFS promotes education and conservation initiatives that raise awareness about bird feeding and the protection of wild birds both at one’s home and beyond the backyard. The NBFS also sponsors “National Bird-Feeding Month.” National Bird-Feeding Month
National Bird-Feeding Month
February is National Bird-Feeding Month. This celebratory month was created to educate the public on the wild bird feeding and watching hobby. Because of National Bird-Feeding Month, February has become the month most recognized with wild bird feeding promotions and activities...
is in February and is designed to promote the bird feeding hobby. The society also provides a series of brochures on bird seed preferences, bird feeder
Bird feeder
A birdfeeder, bird feeder, bird table, or tray feeder are devices placed outdoors to supply bird food to birds...
preferences, tips on bird feeding, and a guide to better bird feeding.