National Bird-Feeding Society

The National Bird-Feeding Society (NBFS) is an organization in the United States whose 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.

Daily operations of the NBFS are performed by the staff of Wild Bird Centers of America in Glen Echo, Maryland, and supported by Wild Bird Centers of America, Inc.

In 2008, a three-year, one million dollar study of bird seed and bird feeder preferences in the United States and Canada was completed. The study known as PROJECT WILDBIRD was coordinated by Dr. David Horn and Stacey Johansen 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 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.

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