cracked corn, not what its cracked up to be? (1 Viewer)

[SquirrelOsO]

i purchased a bag of cracked corn thinking the house sparrows and doves would love it. well this so far hasnt been the case, its been out on a platform feeder and inside a tube feeder for 4 days and no one has touched it. all the birds continue eating their regular food, black oil sunflower, nuts, millet etc.
have any of you ever had the same problem with birds not eating cracked corn? i thought it would have been gobbled up. im so surprised the house sparrows looked at it and moved on. the bag is fresh and its kaytee brand so it doesnt have any red dye added to it. should i give up? and throw it away?

 

[Katy Penland]

Cracked corn has been responsible for at least one outbreak of salmonella poisoning here in AZ, and I haven't found any of our birds will eat it, including the squirrels. It's cheap filler which is why some brands put it in their mixed seed formulas. Ditto for red milo. Personally, I've found Pennington to be a better brand than Kaytee.

EDIT: I am always typing "millet" for "milo" so apologies for the above where I said that "red millet" wasn't a good thing. It's red milo. Just FYI, here's what Cornell's Lab of Ornithology has to say about it:

[font=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Milo[/font][font=Geneva, arial, sans serif]A reddish-colored, round grain, milo is often a major component of inexpensive seed mixes. Unfortunately, it is not a favorite of most birds, and the seed often goes to waste. Western birds tend to consume milo more than eastern birds. In the east, it is best to avoid mixes with large amounts of milo.[/font]

[font=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Corn[/font][font=Geneva, arial, sans serif]Corn is an inexpensive grain that many FeederWatchers provide for birds. Whole corn is a favorite of Wild Turkeys and ducks, while cracked corn will attract doves, quail, and sparrows.[/font]


I included the thing about corn as most people in the US don't want to attract House Sparrows to their feeders (as they're an introduced species and in flocks can keep native songbirds away). Corn can also attract mice and other nuisances. For more info on seeds/grains to put in your feeders, here's the URL for the Cornell page where I copied the above info:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/SeedTypes.htm

 

[SquirrelOsO]

you mean the birds cought salmonella from the cracked corn? oh my goodness.
well i allready have house sparrows and the plan was to add cracked corn to a seperate feeder about 15 feet away from the main feeding station. i figured all the "undesirables" will go to it, grackles, hosp, starlings etc...i include the mourning doves as an undesirable because they are so numorous.
i have a total of 11 feeders, including suet, thistle and an apple feeder for the mockingbirds.
the chickadees have their own feeding globe with black oil sunflower so they can feed in peace.
i read on so many websites including books that hosp and doves will love cracked corn, but i guess its a bunch of malarkee lol since no one wants it. the grackles didnt spot it yet maybe they will eat it, and the starlings havent been around but they are due to come back within a few weeks. im not sure how long cracked corn will last in this tube feeder, its a covered cedar gazebo kind. id rather someone eat it because whoa it will be a pain picking each piece out :eek!:

 

[Katy Penland]

you mean the birds cought salmonella from the cracked corn? oh my goodness.

I know, unbelievable, isn't it? This was from a tox report that our Game & Fish Department provided after performing necropsies on Pine Siskins that were being found dead by the dozens in northern Arizona, two in my own yard where I don't provide corn in any mixes. I'm sure it's a rare occurrence but something to watch out for.

well i allready have house sparrows and the plan was to add cracked corn to a seperate feeder about 15 feet away from the main feeding station. i figured all the "undesirables" will go to it, grackles, hosp, starlings etc...i include the mourning doves as an undesirable because they are so numorous.
i have a total of 11 feeders, including suet, thistle and an apple feeder for the mockingbirds.
the chickadees have their own feeding globe with black oil sunflower so they can feed in peace.

Wow, you've got a busy yard!

i read on so many websites including books that hosp and doves will love cracked corn, but i guess its a bunch of malarkee lol since no one wants it. the grackles didnt spot it yet maybe they will eat it, and the starlings havent been around but they are due to come back within a few weeks. im not sure how long cracked corn will last in this tube feeder, its a covered cedar gazebo kind. id rather someone eat it because whoa it will be a pain picking each piece out :eek!:

I would imagine that unless it rains and gets the seed wet, or other moisture gets inside the feeder, it should last for weeks. You might also just have to be patient waiting for birds to show up. I've seen a tremendous slow-down in my own yard during the past 1-2 weeks with fall migration underway. Our summer hordes are almost gone but the winter species haven't shown up yet.

 

[SquirrelOsO]

maybe if i sprinkle some on the ground leading up to the feeder they will eat it lol
i get an average of 100 birds aday. well except when the hawk is spying on the feeders (o)<
i noticed that when i sprinkled some in the hanging platform feeder the doves were afraid of it. they didnt want to pass the cracked corn to get to their millet, one got brave and stepped on it but quickly he started hopping as if he was on hot coals lol it was pretty funny.
can they be afraid of new foods? i guess to a bird it does look different than seeds and nuts. maybe the bright yellow is frightening them?
im surprised the at the bluejays, usually they eat anything, ive given the blue jays catfood when i ran out of their peanuts one time (i needed something to shut them up) the jays went nuts for the catfood!
i wonder if its a myth that birds love cracked corn 3
well ill give it 2 weeks and maybe by then a smart crow will peak inside the gazebo and gobble it up

 

[Richard Bryce]

I found the same with corn and oats scattered on the ground.

A US multi-state experimental research study found that the two most widely taken and preferred seeds, by a long way, to attract the widest range of birds, are sunflower hearts and white proso millet, and concluded that all other seeds and pulses are less economical and in some cases just a waste of time in backyards. The recommendation is SF hearts in hanging feeders and SF hearts and white proso millet for tables/ground feeding.

http://www.wildbirdcenter.com/content/geis

Of Fine Cracked Corn the conclusions reached were:

The birds that found corn most attractive were the white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis), and the common grackle (Ouiscalus quiscula), both of which found it to be slightly more than half as attractive as the appropriate standards [Black Striped Sunflower and White Millet]. Mourning doves and blue jays also showed some interest in fine cracked corn. In addition to being relatively unattractive, cracked corn has a tendency to mold and cake up in feeders.

 

[SquirrelOsO]

thanks that was a helpful site. ive seen a few birds looking at it but none actually eating it or flying away with it. i think by now it must be like a block of cement in the feeder.
i leave out a tray of whole corn for the deer and i see more birds will eat this than the cracked. ive witnessed one dove, a mockingbird and some crows eat whole corn. i guess the cracked corn is missing something, maybe they cracked it too much lol :egghead:

 

[xraynano]

Problem with millet is that waste will sprout, and it is at least twice as expensive as cracked corn. While I would never use just cracked corn, I do use it in one feeder among a few, and have it in a feeder that protects it from weather and squirrels, although the squirrels enjoy the ground spill.

 

[Montereyman]

Doves and quail are the only birds that I have observed eating cracked corn. I view this as a filler seed and avoid it altogether. With Nyjer, sunflower kernels, black oil sunflower seeds there is zero waste and the feeders can go much longer before I need to refill them.