Selecting the appropriate wild bird seed is key when it comes to feeding wildlife in your backyard. Avoid cheap fillers like milo that serve only as filler ingredients, and go for higher-quality seeds that attract multiple bird species.
Black oil sunflower seeds have long been a favorite at our feeders, drawing chickadees, titmice, and nuthatches to our store feeders. Their thin shells allow most birds to break them open easily.
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Sunflower Seed
Sunflower seed is a favorite among birds with thick, short beaks such as northern cardinals and rose-breasted grosbeaks, as well as those who prefer cracking open hard seeds such as evening grosbeaks and purple finches.
Striped sunflower seeds feature an easily cracked thin shell for birds to break through, making them easier for storage and clean-up than unsalted or whole kernel varieties. Hulled seeds also reduce waste left behind by birds.
Black oil sunflower seeds contain a high concentration of fats that provide energy sources to many types of wild birds, including chickadees, finches, jays, nuthatches, and sparrows. Black oil sunflower seeds are popular with chickadees, finches, jays, nuthatches, and sparrows, making them an excellent way to attract an assortment of bird species without inviting European starlings or house sparrows into a feeder – plus it’s easy to find across a range of feeders!
Millet
Millet is an excellent ground feeder option, particularly for ground feeding birds such as juncos, doves, towhees, sparrows and quail. Additionally, tray feeders work perfectly for dispensing millet to the birds or offering it as part of a mix. As it’s generally less costly than other seed options it is often used as filler in pre-mixed feed products; however if purchased from low quality vendors it could contain seeds most birds won’t consume and results in moldy seed waste that requires more cleaning time – leading to additional time spent cleaning their feeders!
Milo is an aromatic seed rich in energy, calcium, iron and other vital nutrients. Commonly found as filler in mixed feeders but can also be given directly to specific birds such as nuthatches, chickadees, wrens or woodpeckers as individual feeding.
Nyjer Seed
Nyjer seed (Guizotia abyssinica), better known by its botanical name of thistle seed (Guizotia abyssinica), makes an excellent addition to any backyard bird buffet. It attracts finches, siskins and sparrows while buntings and redpolls can also find sustenance here. Nyjer is an excellent premium option that should be included as part of finch mix or mixed with black oil sunflower seeds, millet and safflower for an all-encompassing combination that will bring finches and songbirds all year long!
Finches and other songbirds need ample energy sources during winter months, especially from ground feeders. Sunflower seed has an exceptional oil content that provides ample nourishment for these songbirds; however, its short freshness period means it’s not suitable as ground food.
Some feeder owners inquire as to whether pigeons will eat nyjer seed, but it is unlikely as it is not part of their regular diet and does not digest well for them. If you are concerned about this risk, avoid serving nyjer seed in your backyard and look for seed blends with less corn or wheat which tends to repel pigeons instead.
Safflower Seed
Safflower seed (Carthamus tinctorius) is an attractive food choice that attracts cardinals and other backyard birds, while also acting as a deterrent against squirrels or any large birds with unfavorable tastes, like those associated with large flocks of “nuisance birds”.
Nunn-Better safflower seeds work perfectly in any feeder imaginable – from tubes and hoppers to cylinders – from tubes, hoppers, and cylinders to tubes and hoppers. Use alone or combine with other bird seed blends for enhanced attraction power.
Cardinals, finches, chickadees, titmice and nuthatches all love this seed! However, it’s important to remember that safflower seeds have a hard outer shell, which may take some songbirds time to adjust to. Safflower seeds contain iron, magnesium and phosphorus as well as Vitamin E and unsaturated fatty acids; all three nutrients help improve muscle tone, promote health immune functions and increase energy metabolism while the oil extracted from safflower seeds is excellent at moisturizing skin and nails!
