How much bird seed to put out

While it isn't possible to avoid a little waste in wild bird seeds that is put outdoors, you can keep any waste down by using a little bit of seeds at a time.

How much bird seed to put out in your yard would be as little as one cup full at a time. No harm at all providing too little wild bird seeds at first, when you can add more later when you know they will be eaten. Add one cup of seeds to all kinds of seed feeders, with two or three cups needed to add seeds elsewhere.

No one likes to waste any kind of bird feed you put outside for wild birds to help themselves too, and that is why its important to save on wild bird seed mix wastage, as its the most eaten bird feed in the yard.

I would put out bird seeds based on a cup/mug measurement every time.

What you are hoping to do is to add one cup of bird seeds to a seed bird feeder regardless of its total capacity, then waiting to see how much or little seeds are eaten.

Doesn't matter what kind of bird feeder it is mind, but use only 1 cup of seeds to put in a hanging seed feeder, or if seeds go on a platform bird feeder.

Similarly, you can extend wild bird seed quantity to 2 or 3 cups if you plan to put seeds not only inside a seed feeder, yet you want to put seeds in various locations around your yard - in an effort to attract a variety of birds who would otherwise struggle on a feeder.

How much wild bird seeds you use can be far more than 1 or 2 cups when you have a super busy yard full of birds mind, and with that you'd have to keep the yard well replenished with a mix of bird seeds.

What all this applies to, would be most of you who are just starting out in backyard birding, or if you attract too few birds, and therefore wish to avoid bird feed waste.

Seed quantity will vary

It really can depend on where you are and what time of the year it is, which will all contribute to how much or little bird seed you put out.

As a rule, I like to begin with the smallest amount of bird seeds, which is what I did when I first utilized a seed bird feeder, because I knew then I would only be adding more bird seeds, rather than using too little.

How much bird seed to put out in general, I would say 1 cup of bird seeds will do it, with two or three cups worth, if you wish to spread seeds across multiple locations around the yard - such as on elevated surfaces on throwing seeds on the grass.

Bird seeds can go in seed bird feeders, in open trays and platforms, and with an option to put additional bird seeds on the ground, be it the lawn, patio or decking.

Make it 2-3 cups of wild bird seeds spread across all these potential successful locations in the yard.

Start out with the fewest bird seeds as possible at first then begin to build up the amount used, according to how much bird seeds are eaten within a reasonable time - I would put that time limit at a maximum 2 weeks, to avoid decaying seeds.

Bear in mind all this is done to avoid wasting wild bird seeds which will be thrown out long before their expiration date, as the bird seeds lose their moisture.

Never fill seed feeders to top

Where you are likely to end up putting bird seed in is going to be any type of bird seed feeder, which will be a kind of clear tube-like seed feeder.

What I would recommend you never do however, is fill seed feeders to the very top.

In fact, I would begin by adding as little a 1/5th of wild bird seeds to your seed feeder, so you can check to see how much or little is eaten in a short period of time.

You want to get an idea of how much bird seed is eaten out of a seed feeder - to essentially avoid seeds going to waste of cause - while making it easy on you when it comes time to throwing away as little as possible bird seeds in the trash.

I do find my backyard birds will prioritize the two seed feeders I utilize on my bird feeding station, of which these wild birds tend to always leave an inch or so of seeds at the bottom.

Birds stop eating birds seeds inside seed feeders they simply cannot reach, and in my case, this applied to seeds at the bottom of the tube which is out of reach of their bills.

Regardless of how much or little bird seeds you do put out in seed feeders, you can still expect to waste a little every time.

Weeks worth seed supply

What you could aim for when replenishing bird seed feeders in particular, would be to fill the seed feeder with a weeks worth of fresh wild bird seed mix.

Seed mixes do last far beyond a week but to reduce seed use to a week only, you can maintain seed quality. And with that, you will prevent the seeds going to waste as you'll be using what you know will be eaten in just 7 days.

Don't guess how high to fill any type of seed feeder mind when you can get a better understanding of the level of seeds needed - by keeping an eye on quantity of seeds consumed, over the course of a month.

You could extend a week deadline to two weeks as wild bird seed mixes last well outdoors, but a week can at least guarantee quality is maintained.

In the meantime, you may still need to add a little less or more when your local birds behavior changes seasonally; like when more bird seeds are eaten in wintertime when compared to any other times of the year.

Do use a cup as a comparison of how much bird seed to put out on a tray, in a bird feeder or on the ground, in an effort to always be consistent.

Consider additional locations

How much bird seeds you put out in your yard would be 1 cups worth when you have no idea what your seed-eating birds will consumed early on in feeding backyard birds.

But never worry about overfeeding wild birds as its practically impossible at any time.

While I've recommended you only put 1 cup of bird seeds out in any bird seed feeder, I will add this may be extended to 2 or three cups worth of seeds.

If you need 2 or 3 cups, which I believe you will need to, is when you must not only add bird seed into a corresponding seed feeder; its normal to also add the same seed mix on to a platform; a garden surface; adding seeds on the ground, and in a dish.

Prioritize 1 cup of wild bird seeds for your seed feeder in spite of its small or large capacity, then spread 1-2 cups of wild bird seeds eventually everywhere else in the yard.

Add seeds to areas of the yards you know wild birds frequent regularly, as its guaranteed less able seed-eating birds like Cardinals and Blue Jays can eat a mix of seeds they can actually access - which isn't often accessible when seeds are put in a small feeder.

Cardinals especially like sunflower seeds the most which must be put on the ground, on top of a platform feeder or in a very accessible hopper seed feeder.

Summarize

Really how much wild bird seeds you put out in your yard really will vary from State to State, local area and time of year.

But I will say by adding as little as 1 cup of bird seeds to any bird seed feeder, would really apply to every single one of you.

When times are rough, seed-eating wild birds in your area will feed on more seeds, which will result in you filling the seed feeder higher, until the demand settles down. Naturally in busy yards, you can continue to replenish seed bird feeders to the top.

What you are looking to do is avoid bird seed waste, so you begin with only 1 cup of seeds, then proceed to use more or less which will rely on demand at the time.

Never fill seed bird feeders to the top until you know they won't end up rotting in the tube.

I would aim to add a weeks worth of seeds to a seed feeder where you can guarantee not only freshness, but to keep the waste low every week.

When using additional locations in your yard to possibly put bird seeds on - and I recommend that you do - I would then rely on 2 or 3 cups of seeds, including the cup of seeds in the feeder, of which seeds can be scattered in various areas of your property where you'd expect birds to find them.

Share this article: