Living with Birds Which Sunflower Seeds Are Best For Garden Birds? Tweetapedia

Sunflower seeds are a favourite snack for humans and offer a great plenty of benefits to the wild birds in your garden as well. 

Are Sunflower Seeds Good For Birds?

Yes. The nutritional benefits your avian visitors can get from bird feed with sunflower seeds are hard to beat.

They're packed full of important nutrients such as protein, healthy fats, and fibre. As well as containing vitamins and minerals that are essential for a healthy diet.

This is great for giving your local birds an energy boost to help them get through a long day of flying, nesting, and hunting. Their high caloric content will also be welcome for a bird trying to keep their body weight up during the cold months of the year.

Which Birds Eat Sunflower Seeds?

• Robins
• Blue tits
• Great tits
• Sparrows
• Blackbirds

Sunflower seeds are a versatile all-species bird feed and will help attract a wide array of guests to your garden. In Britain, the biggest fans of sunflower seeds you’ll find are sparrows and finches as well as great and blue tits.

The type of seeds you put out may affect which birds can eat them. For example, robins cannot break the hard shell of black sunflower seeds but will eat sunflower hearts.

What Are The Different Types of Sunflower Seeds

Striped sunflower seeds 

These have a large and thick shell.

They are appropriate to feed to larger, harder-beaked birds like woodpeckers, but won’t be as popular with finches.

Birds don't eat the shells of striped or black sunflower seeds and leave them over afterwards.

This creates a mess around the feeding area and can cause other problems. This is because the husks have allelopathic properties. This means that they suppress the growth of other plants, and so in high enough quantities can cause bald patches on your lawn.

Black sunflower seeds 

Smaller and have a thinner shell (compared with striped sunflower seeds).

Birds still can't eat the shells of black sunflower seeds, but they are easier for the smaller ones to crack into. A balanced option.

They are less prone to blocking a tubular feeder than sunflower hearts because of their shell being present.

Sunflower hearts 

The most versatile option. They are the hulled kernels of sunflower seeds.

This means that the birds won't have to deal with the shells at all and are highly popular all around. You also won’t have to worry about any mess from leftover husks either. 

Soft bill birds like robins like to eat sunflower hearts especially. Chipped sunflower hearts are excellent for small birds and fledglings for ease of feeding and digestion. Perfect for the nesting season!

Without their shells, sunflower seed hearts will spoil sooner and are stickier than with a shell present. You should clean your feeder regularly while using them, to prevent the feeder from blocking.

The hearts will be more attractive than other feeds because they appeal to a large variety of birds. 

Is it OK to Put Salted Sunflower Seeds In My Bird Feeder?

No. While sunflower seeds are a great option for garden birds there are pitfalls to avoid when selecting types of feed. You should avoid salted roast sunflower seeds meant for human consumption.

This is because salt in the quantities used in these snacks can be harmful to garden birds. *

A small amount of sodium is important for birds as well as humans. We both need it for the function of our nerves, muscles, and fluid balance. However, the large amounts of salt in human snacking seeds can be too much for a bird's body to handle. Always provide unsalted and unflavoured seeds for your garden feeding setup instead.

How To Feed Sunflower Seeds To Garden Birds

With a variety of bird feeders to choose from, which sunflower seed bird feeder should you use?

Hanging bird feeders

These are the best choices for sunflower seed hearts. They keep the seeds dry and prevent larger birds or squirrels from gorging themselves on them. If you have a problem with squirrels raiding your feeder, you should choose a squirrel proof bird feeder.

Best hanging bird feeders for sunflower seeds:

- Ring Pull Click – Easy to clean. Built from rugged metal. Chew proof from squirrels.

- Squirrel Buster – 100% squirrel proof. 5-year warranty.

- Bird Lovers Seed Feeder – Budget-friendly. Easy to Clean. 2-year guarantee. 

Garden bird table

Place loose sunflower hearts or black sunflower seeds on the bird table. Make sure to clean the bird table regularly to prevent the build-up of mould and bird feaces that can cause the spread of diseases.

Our bird tables>

Ground bird feeder

If you are looking to attract robins or blackbirds, then this is the best option. They both naturally prefer feeding from the ground. 

Should you find pigeons or crows visiting your ground feeder you can use a ground feeder guardian to prevent larger birds from gaining access to the bird food.

Best ground feeders:

- I Love Robins Treat dish – Easy to clean. Tough polycarbonate won’t crack or corrode. 2-year guarantee.

- Old Iron Fallen Leaf – Cast iron ages gracefully. Heavy weight; won’t get blown over or knocked easily.

- Timber table – Large capacity. Wooden construction.

*A Canadian study in 2005 showed that the salt used on the roads in winter was poisonous to House Sparrows.