E M Herr Bird Feed Sale
Can you believe how much it costs to buy...
No, not gas.
Not milk either.
I'm talking birdseed.
Right about now is the time most people lug home those big bags of birdseed to stock backyard feeders and settle in for a feathered spectacle that continues through winter.
Be forewarned: The cost of all types of birdseed, from sunflower seed to suet, from safflower to Nyjer seed - even wild bird mix - it's all up drastically from last year.
At Backyard Birding Co. in East Petersburg, owner Mark Wilkerson has seen the prices of various birdseed hiked by his suppliers no less than five times since last year.
"They're commodities and they go up and down. But I've never seen it like this before," says Wilkerson, who's owned birding specialty stores here for 20 years.
At E.M. Herr Farm and Home Center, south of Willow Street, store organizers say they may not be able to afford to hold their traditional fall birdseed sale.
And one has to wonder: Is the cost of watching birds dining outside home windows about to become so steep - 30-to 40-percent increases for some seeds - that there will be fewer handouts for the birds this winter? That would be unfortunate for both humans and avians.
There are reasons for the cost of birdseed flicking upward like a gas station marquee. Several of them.
The demand for corn and other grains for use as an alternative fuel is one reason. The push for ethanol makes corn more valuable. Also, farmers are more likely to grow crops for biofuels and less for the birdseed market.
The anti trans-fats trend is another factor. Frito Lay, for example, no longer cooks its potato chips in vegetable oils, switching instead entirely to sunflower oil. That, too, drives up the price of sunflower seeds. Black sunflower seeds (not the harder-to-crack striped variety) are the most popular birdseed of all.
Then there is the spiraling costs of petroleum. Both E.M. Herr and Wilkerson pay a fuel surcharge to suppliers, who deliver birdseed to the stores by diesel trucks from as far away as Minnesota.
"Customers say, "Why is the price so high?' I say, 'How much are you paying for gas?'" reports Tena Kreider, who heads E.M. Herr's animal feed supplies.
There, the cost of black sunflower seed has shot up from $18.99 for a 50-pound bag last fall to $26.99 for a smaller 40-pound bag. Nyjer seed has risen by $7 per 50 pounds; safflower by $8 per 50 pounds and wild bird mix by $2 per 20-pound bag. Even fat-laden suet cakes, which include corn and sunflower seeds, are up from 79 cents last year to $1.29.
Similar price hikes are reported at other area stores that carry birdseed.
Sometimes, prices fall slightly after fall harvests, so slight relief could be coming.
But the cost of feeding the birds has gone from a cheap thrill to a serious budget item.
The switchover is occurring as birdfeeding has grown to unprecedented popularity. It's now the second-most popular hobby among Americans, after gardening.
In Pennsylvania, an estimated 3.6 million residents - close to one-third the state's population - feed birds, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
So ubiquitous are birdfeeders that they have enabled that the common house finch to spread beyond its native range in the southwesten United States to almost coast to coast since 1940.
The northern cardinal, blue jay and Carolina wren are found farther north than they used to be, largely because of feeders.
However, despite what some believe, feeding the birds is more about pleasing humans than helping birds survive. Except for the harshest weather, most birds are capable of finding food on their own in the wild.
"Normally, the birds of winter in this area are here because there is an ample food supply for them," observes Frank Haas, of Narvon, author of the "Pennsylvania Birds" field guide.
Haas intends to continue to buy around 700 pounds of birdseed each year to keep birds fluttering to his eight handing feeders and one platform feeder all year round.
"More than anything else, birdfeeders attract a large number of birds to one area and give us the pleasure of looking at them," he says.
"You know who this is going to hit - older people on fixed incomes," says Bob Schutsky, of Peach Bottom, owner of the Bird Treks bird-tour company. "This is one of their sources of entertainment."
Wilkerson sees some customers cutting back on how much birdseed they buy, or buying cheaper varieties, for example, choosing a wild bird mix instead of sunflower chips.
On a bird forum on the Internet about cheaper alternatives to birdseed, someone suggested buying packages of dried fruit found in grocery stores. Other inexpensive choices are cooked rice and noodles (Ramen Noodles, made here in Lancaster County by Nissin Foods, is one of the cheapest varieties.)
Haas makes his own suet, among the cheapest forms of healthy food that attracts birds to feeders. The ingredients: lard (Haas buys it in 5-pound tubs in grocery stores), crunchy peanut butter, wheat germ, flour, rolled oats, Rice Krispies cereal and anything else that strikes his fancy.
Put everything in a big mixer bowl, mix and put the material in a plastic container and place it in the refrigerator to harden.
Haas has a hanging log with 2-inch holes drilled in, which he fills with the suet. The suet attracts titmice, chickadees, woodpeckers, nuthatches and others.
Whatever you do, don't put out large quantities of bread crumbs, local birders preach. Bread is not nutritional and will only fill the gullets of birds with material that won't help keep them warm or healthy.
Casual birdfeeders might be balking at sticker shock on birdseed. But Wilkerson predicts most of his customers will tighten their belts for the birds.
"They enjoy their birds and have waited for it for a year and are going to continue to feed them."
E-mail: acrable@LNPnews.com
Source: https://lancasteronline.com/news/why-feeding-birds-suddenly-costs-so-much/article_07d6e576-a62a-5a8d-9e20-8f55bf370493.html
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