I have been filling my feeders with Safflower seeds for the last month. The Grackles and squirrels don't like them but Sparrows, Cardinals, Finches, Wrens and other welcome birds really do. A bag of Safflower seeds is smaller and probably costs more than a large bag of wild bird seed but it lasts longer because there are fewer birds eating it so in the long run Safflower seeds are really cheaper than the other seeds. And the birds that are eating are not the ones who gorge themselves in one sitting, leaving the feeder empty in an hour. I have been trying it out in two feeders on the side of the house so I can easily see which ones are there and so far the Cardinals and Finches have been the most frequent visitors. The one drawback is the attitude of the squirrels that have been used to eating from the feeders. There is one in particular in my yard that has been acting really testy lately, but I can't tell for sure if it's because mating season is upon us or if she is ticked-off at me for not providing her free meals anymore.
I'm lucky I guess because I don't have to worry about squirrels here...the lack of large trees keeps them away. I've never seen Safflower seed for sale around here. I stopped buying mixed seed because the feed ends up on the ground with the best picked out and the rest rots or grows. I've been buying big bags of mixed sunflower seeds and that gets eaten. In a few months the feeders come down for the summer.
The birds are choosy here too. We always end up with lots of funny-looking plants where seeds have been dropped. We haven't got squirrels around here, but I guess they would be angry with us too, if their food source suddenly disappeared.
I like feeding them the black-oil sunflower seeds, I enjoy the surprise sunflowers that pop-up all over the yard each spring and summer. But the squirrels and Grackles can empty a feeder hanging in a tree in a couple of hours, the larger one takes them till the next afternoon.
I wish it were only sunflower seeds they dropped, but the wildbird mix here contains hemp seeds, and we're not allowed to grow hemp. Could be nasty.
hahahaha,,, I had to chuckle at that "testy" squirrel. They do get spoiled, don't they? It sounds like you have solved the problem of the gorging visitors. Congrats fon that.
