You must give the "birds" food that is sufficiently energy-rich and fatty!

-No, you DON'T actually NEED to. What birds need are healthy, living ecosystems where they can be a natural piece of the puzzle. 

Let's first clarify the concept of "the birds" which you encounter all the time when browsing various companies selling bird food or reading different posts. It's important. 

When we at Slåttergubben talk about "the birds," we mean all wild birds. For us, it's obvious that all species have equal value. There are 250 breeding bird species in Sweden and over 9,000 species worldwide. About twenty of these are common visitors at our bird feeders. These 20 are common and adaptable, they are generalists - meaning they are experts at taking what's offered, they are inventive and mobile. Locally, we can increase the number of individuals in these populations by offering them purchased bird food – but their role as part of the ecosystem becomes more disconnected the more and the longer we feed them. These birds have been common in the winter long, long before we started feeding birds (Robin and blackbird excluded - more on this in another myth). Several of them were even more common - such as the house sparrow, crow, and yellowhammer because 100 years ago there was a lively countryside that provided more natural overwintering opportunities for these.

When you read elsewhere, you are easily led to believe that you are truly doing nature a favor by buying a company's products – unfortunately, it's often the case that you are almost threatened by the texts to buy bird food as a kind of indulgence, overwhelmed by how IMPORTANT it is to feed birds, yes even in summer, for example, because "they molt and have difficulty finding food," "insects in nature are decreasing," "birds need our help," "Sweden is the country where small birds are decreasing the most in number." We will write much more about this in other myths. But the point is that you are misled into thinking it's important to feed the already common birds when it's actually other birds that have difficulty.
You will also read that "it's important to give birds fatty food so they can handle the cold," "Avoid food with grains and oats." The market overflows with "special high energy mix super power seeds" – only the fattiest is good enough for the birds in your garden. 

This is where we get into the myth! 

And yes – your birds (except the yellowhammer) will be very happy with "Super high energy mix" or "Villa plus" that Slåttergubben sells. But it's a bit like asking a child if they want cake or sourdough bread. Then it becomes cake… and if we continue with cake day in and day out and then suddenly say enough is enough - now it's sourdough bread - you'll get protests. And if the neighbor has cake, maybe there will be more visits there? 

But what exactly does Slåttergubben's Villa plusconsist of, and what chain reactions do we set off when we purchase it? First, it's important to note that this product is organically grown, which is always better for birds and the ecosystem at the cultivation site. However, all the seeds in Villa plus (or equivalent sprayed blends) are imported. In our case, the hulled sunflower seeds come from Bulgaria, the millet and peanuts from China, and the hemp from China/Latvia. The fatty seeds are always the most expensive, which means that those of us who sell bird food make more money per kilo. Pricing usually involves a certain percentage markup, which results in more profit on a more expensive product. Very good if you only think in terms of money.

We know that long-distance transports are not particularly climate-burdening per kilo (calculations are available on the labels and on our website), but it is still often better for nature if it's grown in Sweden!

But is there Swedish-grown and organic fatty food? Well, not really. Our country is a bit too northern for profitable sunflower cultivation. Sunflower seeds are the most popular food for almost all birds when they have a choice. It is actually more energy-efficient to grow sunflowers in southern Europe, hull them there, and then transport them to Sweden than to grow them here. Peanuts cannot be grown at all in Sweden. Most peanuts sold are from China. Slåttergubben wants to be transparent and lists the country of origin on the labels. This is something virtually no other companies selling products grown in China do. Conventional peanuts are among the most sprayed crops available. Hemp can actually be grown in Sweden, but availability is currently low and the price is high. Slåttergubben now sources its hemp from Latvia (and partly Sweden), but previously we purchased it from China. 

What about rapeseed? A crop that is very fatty and well-suited to be cultivated in Sweden. Yes – rapeseed is tricky. Unfortunately, most birds avoid rapeseed if there are other fatty seeds available at the feeding station. Why we don't know – they simply aren't as tasty…. The fun thing about rapeseed is that it can attract many birds in other contexts. In stubbly fields where rapeseed has grown, large flocks of bramblings, chaffinches, greenfinches, and linnets often gather to feast on leftover rapeseeds. Sweden's largest flock of goldfinches was seen in an unharvested rapeseed field in the middle of winter – over 1000 individuals!
We believe that rapeseed is like sourdough bread – of course, many of our birds would eat rapeseed if there wasn't a free supply of sunflower, hemp, and sunflower next door, or at the neighbor's. We know for certain that the lesser redpoll and the twite love rapeseed when it's served on the ground, as do chaffinches, bramblings, greenfinches, and bullfinches. But it depends on there not being other tempting food next to it (especially for the greenfinch).

Something that has proven to be very popular with many birds is oatmeal mixed with rapeseed oil – ta-da! A Swedish fat product. Pure oats also work well as bird food for many birds – they are then free from the bothersome shell, and smaller birds like the robin can easily help themselves.

This leads to the next area, how about oats and grains – classic Swedish-grown and cheap products?

We've all both read and heard that we should avoid bird food with oats and grains. Many of us have witnessed how grains have been rejected by bird table guests in favor of the fatty seeds. We easily conclude that the birds do not eat this type of seed.

Yes, to begin with, oats are our fattiest cereal crop, even slightly fatter and better is the naked oat (up to 10% fat) which has no shell, making it easier for many birds. Many of our winter birds are actually satisfied with oats and what we call “field seeds,” namely grain screenings consisting of different cereals and some weed seeds. A cheap Swedish organic by-product that is not particularly fatty. Tree sparrow, house sparrow, pigeons, crows, chickens, and ducks enjoy eating field seeds. These are "agricultural birds" which have long had a partial grain diet. However, both the tree sparrow and the house sparrow would prefer an imported hemp seed, millet seed, or sunflower seed, which is twice as expensive, over grains any day of the week – if they can. Even tits, blackbirds, and robins – classic birds that like fatty seeds, happily eat field seeds when nothing else is available. Here at Slåttergubben’s feeding, we had 5 blackbirds that survived the whole winter just on field seeds. And – they chose that feeding – they could have easily flown to someone else who had fatty seeds.

The yellowhammer, which at Slåttergubben we particularly care for, used to live on spillage from tens of thousands of small farms in the winter (which are now gone) – yes, it is the only one that actually prefers field seeds over other fattier seeds. Thus, the most important bird to feed is disadvantaged if we follow the advice to reject oats and grains. Many customers we talk to also testify about how they used to have yellowhammers at their feeding stations but not anymore – which is often a direct consequence of the feeding now only being done with fatty expensive seeds.

The Most Natural Fatty Food we can offer is also the best for nature. Swedish organic raw suet from cows that graze in natural pastures. Choosing food for yourself or for birds that supports Swedish natural pastures is the best thing we can do for birds in a broader sense; we need more natural pastures in Sweden. (We will soon start selling tallow in the webshop, as soon as the permits are finalized, the freezer is already full of prime suet). Fresh untreated suet is what most closely resembles birds' natural diet in the form of insects.

One might think suet is gross, but we believe suet balls are gross (we explain that in another myth). Serve suet on protruding nails, chop it finely and provide it on the ground for blackbirds, etc. Or hang it in a grill rack. The drawback of suet is that it turns rancid if it is several degrees above zero. If you chop the suet and melt it gently in a pot, you can pour it into a mold and make your own cakes/balls that keep for a long time at up to 15 degrees. Suet is loved by all tits and woodpeckers. Served on a table or on the ground, many more birds, such as blackbirds and tree sparrows, will indulge.

So how should we summarize this?

In the end, it comes down to what YOU consider most important to prioritize. For example, do you want to focus on creating good conditions for as many birds as possible around the world when arranging your bird feeding? Or is it perhaps most important to attract as many birds as possible to your own garden and offer the tastiest food? You decide! But what we at Slåttergubben see as a real problem is the lack of independent and objective information regarding bird feeding. This, combined with inadequate legal requirements on those of us who sell bird food, often makes it really difficult for consumers to make informed and conscious choices.

We think it's important to reflect – to put things into context – everything becomes so much more interesting then. You might think we overanalyze the significance of bird feeding – and to some extent, we can agree. There are many other factors that affect the environment more significantly. Bird feeding is still a cute and relatively harmless hobby. Nevertheless, everything we purchase has an impact somewhere. And we are specialists in bird food. We want to explain how everything is interconnected. We Swedes buy bird food for about 500 million SEK each year. At little Slåttergubben alone, we sell almost 200 tons every year. And it keeps increasing – which we see as positive. That more and more people are choosing organic!

So...

Do you want to maximize the number of species and individuals in your area? Go all out! Use field seeds, suet, and fatty seeds in feeders, on the ground, in multiple locations.

If you value feeding in the most environmentally friendly and resource-efficient way possible, consider the relationship with other bird species in the agricultural landscape where the food is grown, as well as with birds in Brazil. You might find joy in feeding with Swedish field seeds, rapeseed, and Swedish eco-friendly suet. The birds that come, simply come. And perhaps treat them with a bit of organic sunflower seeds. You'll save money and can work less (which is essentially the most environmentally friendly thing to do). Maybe you can invest in pure conservation instead? It's really needed now with the new blue budget where lots of money for conservation is disappearing.

Don’t throw pearls to pigs. The house sparrow is our second most common bird feeding guest – they work perfectly well with field seeds. Preferably directly on the ground. However, it can become heavily dependent on hemp and white millet if offered!

The more you live in an agricultural landscape, the less important it is to feed with fatty imported seeds for your bird supply. If the birds you usually have mostly consist of house sparrows, tree sparrows, yellowhammers, pigeons, crows, blackbirds, and a few tits and maybe a robin, then these are birds that actually do quite well on field seeds and a bit of suet.

Do you live in a nice intermediary area like this and have been feeding birds for many years with lots of sunflower seeds and fatty seeds, attracting birds like siskins, goldfinches, greenfinches, and bullfinches in large numbers? Then there's a big risk that you may actually lose quite a few of them to someone else who feeds with fatty seeds if you drastically switch to field seeds and rapeseed. Even some of your other birds accustomed to fatty seeds may decide to go elsewhere. However, if you start with oats soaked in rapeseed oil and gradually switch to a larger proportion of those, you'll likely keep more. But, are you being mean to the birds if you remove the fatty imported seeds? No, we at Slåttergubben would say – you've thought about more birds and the whole ecosystem – not just those you have a close relationship with.

If you live in the forest and essentially only have tits, bullfinches, and woodpeckers. Well, then field seeds aren't much of a hit. The jays will eat them and the tits a little bit, but the tits prefer sunflower seeds and hemp. So, you'll lose some – but fewer if you introduce oats soaked in rapeseed oil. And lots of real eco-suet!

Janne's "Slåttergubben" story about his childhood with his grandparents at the small forest farm Könsvik outside Söderköping wraps up here.

Then: Grandpa worked on the farm and in the forest, there were about 15 dairy cows, valuable natural pastures full of birdlife such as shrikes, wheatears, and lots of swallows in the barn. They harvested hay – once a year instead of three. Birds nesting in the meadows had time to rear their young, flowers had time to bloom. Grandma didn't even have a driver's license, a classic housewife – managing the household, chickens, and much more. They had traveled to Stockholm a few times to collect an award for flawlessly delivered milk. They didn't consume much, more out of habit than concern for nature or future generations. And because they weren't wealthy. Their ecological footprint was low compared to that of an average Swede today.

It was so cozy to sit at their kitchen table in the winter and watch the bird feeding. There was always a piece of suet from a home-slaughtered cow hanging on the post to the little bird table. Full traffic with great tits, blue tits, coal tits, and marsh tits. And of course, the great spotted woodpecker. The birdhouse was filled with oats (homegrown, of course), and when it was especially cold, they scattered oats over a larger area on the ground. There, the yellowhammers and house sparrows sat – there were more of them at that time when the land around the farm was teeming with life year-round.

Today: The farm is top-renovated, new kitchen, large pool, two cars. A few horses keep the immediate grazing land open – otherwise, it is replanted with spruce or overgrown. No chickens, no cows. No house sparrows. Fewer nesting yellowhammers. And perhaps... fatter, more expensive, and imported seeds in the bird feeders?