Mixed Blessings Come With Millet

The most recent addition to our menu at the Cary BirdCam Café is white millet seed. I’d been hesitant to try this foodstuff for some time, but gave in to temptation in November as part of an experiment to see what I could lay in a platform feeder that might be ignored by the Squirrels. In this case the test was a failure as squirrels enthusiastically eat the millet once they decide nothing better can be had. But the test was not a complete failure: the millet is being consumed by birds as well, and BirdCam and visual evidence is that the it has been accepted by Juncos, Towhees, Wrens, and House Finches among others. The stuff is inexpensive, so I am giving thought to continuing its use into the spring and just accept the squirrel activity unless it gets out of control. I’ll also be looking for any weed problems in the event my location controls did not work.