To the birds, all seed is free, whether it's from a flower stalk or a feeder. We humans know better, especially with the price of birdseed climbing the past few years.

The food industry is using sunflower oil for more healthful frying, leaving less seed for birds. Croplands once devoted to seed crops are increasingly being planted in corn for ethanol production. Add the higher costs of shipping heavy birdseed, and you'll understand why bird feeding is taking a bigger bite out of your budget. But you still want to feed the birds in your neighborhood, so here are some ways to stretch your bird-feeding dollar:

• Choose a single variety of seed over a mix.

• If you have a single feeder, fill it with black oil sunflower seed, which is attractive to the widest variety of birds.

• Cut down on seed waste by attaching a saucer beneath the feeder to catch what birds toss around, or use a platform feeder.

• Keep squirrels out of your feeders. They consume huge quantities of seed. Invest in squirrel-proof feeders, place your feeders at least 15 feet from trees, shrubs and structures that squirrels can use as jumping platforms or try feeding the squirrels. Give them whole corn kernels in a bucket at least 30 feet from bird feeders.

• Don't let seed spoil. Keep it cool and dry. (A metal garbage can stored outdoors or in an unheated garage works great. You don't want to see what squirrels can do to a plastic storage container. Trust me.)

• Put out only as much food as the birds will consume in a day or two and refill your feeders regularly. That will prevent seed from being spoiled by rain or heavy snow.

• Collect your own seed. Save the seeds from pumpkins and squash. Wash off pulp and dry them, then place them on an open feeder. Cardinals seem especially fond of this treat.

• Make inexpensive suet cakes by mixing peanut butter, bacon drippings and cornmeal, then freezing the mixture in chunks. Put out chunks of your homemade suet in suet cages or on platform feeders.

• Pick up a few jars of inexpensive peanut butter and smear some on tree trunks and pine cones for nuthatches and chickadees.

• If you want to offer a pricey seed, such as nyger to attract finches, cut the cost by mixing it with small chips of hulled sunflower seeds.

• Don't offer birds bread, doughnuts or popped corn. These low-calorie, low-nutrition foods quickly grow molds that can sicken birds and lure undesirable birds such as starlings and pigeons as well as mice and rats to your back yard.

• Opt for peanuts on occasion. Peanuts are pricey, but birds really go for them. And there's very little waste when you feed with peanuts. Offer shelled nuts in wire mesh feeders and birds will peck out pieces of this high-energy treat.

• Take the long view and plant a natural larder. Next spring, consider putting in fruit trees and shrubs (crabapple, mountain ash, viburnum, juniper, dogwood, etc.) and grasses such as little bluestem that produce seeds.

• Remember that water is almost more important to birds in winter than feeders. A small investment in a birdbath heater will pay off all winter long, bringing in birds for a drink and sometimes a bath.

Val Cunningham, a St. Paul nature writer, can be reached at valwrites@comcast.net.