Blog
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WBFI Community, The Board of Directors voted at their Fall Meeting that the use and packaging of the term “Nyjer®” will have a policy update to better protect the WBFI-owned trademark.  The Nyjer® trademark has helped the wild bird feeding industry eliminate product confusion around the term “thistle seed”, prevent offensive mispronunciation of the common name “Niger”, as well as to promote a positive image for the use of “Guizotia abyssinica” as a wild bird…
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Hello WBFI Community, I am excited to announce that I have taken on the role of the WBFI Research Foundation President. Some of my earliest/fondest memories include feeding the backyard birds and I have been lucky enough to work in this industry for the last decade. Taking the approach of “never working a day in your life if you love what you do,” I’ve partnered with a few friends to create a small “micro-batch” bird…
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Q4 PIC REPORT The Fourth Quarter Pulse of the Industry Report is ready to view in the member info hub. We compiled the results from the member survey to help create a more accurate picture of what is going on in the wild bird feeding industry. One of the biggest challenges to our businesses is to keep tabs on what’s happening and how it will affect our business. This committee does just that. Through conference…
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The Bird Housing Crisis How many bird features are too many in your garden? Does such a limit exist? This is the problem that Michelle Slatalla at the Wall Street Journal faced recently. “When does adding one more thing cause the [garden] design to descend into chaos?” We’ve all been out shopping or browsing online and seen an original bird house design that is truly a work of art. We must have it in our…
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The 2022 WBFI Annual Meeting Chalk up yet another successful event for the Wild Bird Feeding Insitute. This time, they flocked to Clearwater Beach, FL for the 2022 Wild Bird Feeding Institute Annual Meeting. Thanks to some incredible sponsors and a lot of hard work, this was the most-attended event since 2019 and arguably one of the best WBFI events to date. Throughout the event, the WBFI staff, consisting of Emily Hrabik and Emma…
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Make Your Yard a Winter Destination with Suet Cakes In a recent interview with Tamara Browning at Radiant Life magazine, our very own Executive Director, Emma Bennett, provided some insight on how to keep your feathered friends happy this winter with suet cakes. “It is not necessarily required to feed birds suet for their survival, but winters can be brutal for birds. It can be thought of as a supplement,” Bennett said. “With few sources…
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The State of the Birds 2022 The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s State of the Birds has been released and reveals widespread losses of birds in all habitats. However, we can reverse this trend with new efforts in conservation that benefit not only birds but also wildlife and people everywhere.  “The trends for our nation’s birds reveal a vital message. Birds are declining overall in every habitat except in wetlands, where decades of investment have resulted…
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No Sign of Bird Products Cooling Down The pandemic forced people everywhere to spend tremendous amounts of time confined to their homes, and with that came a huge surge in backyard hobbies. Birding is one of the top-growing hobbies in the US, according to Pet Business. “Wild Bird feeding is a top 10 hobby and growing, especially since COVID hit in 2020. The relaxing aspect of feeding wild birds has helped in a very stressful…
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FDA Renewal Time It’s an even year, which means it’s time again for the biennial registration renewal! “Section 415 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) [21 U.S.C. § 350d] requires food facilities that are required to register with FDA to renew such registrations during the period beginning on October 1 and ending on December 31 of each even-numbered year.” If you do not renew by the end of December 31, 2022,…
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LivingBird Magazine Neonic Response On June 24, 2022 LivingBird magazine published an article that examines neonicotinoids (a type of pesticide) and their impacts on bird populations, specifically grassland birds. Read the article here: Neonic Nation: Is Widespread Pesticide Use Connected to Grassland Bird Declines? Readers of the magazine responded to the article with concerns. One reader and hobbyist wrote the following question: “Thank you for the thought-provoking article by Scott Weidensaul, which discussed seeds coated…
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