Attract finches, chickadees and goldfinches to your feeder with this year-round feeder mix that can be used in hopper, gazebo or tube feeders.
Avoid mixes which contain milo, red millet and other seeds that do not meet their high levels of daily activity needs, like milo or red millet. They typically lack crude fat that provides vital energy sources.
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Sunflower Seed
Sunflower seeds make an irresistibly crunchy, satisfying snack with many essential nutritional benefits. Packed full of proteins, healthy fats and fiber – especially during pregnancy when zinc and folate can prevent birth defects such as spina bifida – they provide plenty of healthful energy in just one bite!
Seeds can be eaten raw or roasted and are also used in granola bars, salads and baked goods. Some countries even make use of their hulled seeds by producing a form of halva from them. To maximize benefits from seeds choose unsalted varieties.
Dietary fiber is essential to maintaining a healthy digestive system. It can help avoid constipation, encourage regularity and promote beneficial gut bacteria. Sunflower seeds provide approximately 5.4 grams per serving as an excellent source of soluble fiber.
Considerations should be given when adding sunflower seeds to your diet: they contain high amounts of omega-6 polyunsaturated fats which may increase inflammation in the body.
Nyjer Seed
Nyjer seeds, with their needle-shaped black seeds, are popular with American Goldfinches and House Finches as well as smaller songbirds such as Purple Finches, Indigo Buntings and Pine Siskins. Rich in oil content these tiny seeds provide energy sources to small bird species while their distinctive shape makes it difficult for larger bird species to consume them.
Numerous garden centers, pet stores and specialty bird shops stock nyjer seed. Furthermore, online retailers that specialize in bird feeder supplies may carry an assortment of high-quality nyjer thistle seeds that may offer better prices than those sold locally.
Nyjer seeds can be combined with other seeds to attract particular species of birds. To keep nyjer fresh and promote the acrobatic behavior of small birds feeding from tube feeders, keep it fresh, use tube feeders that encourage this behavior, heat-treat it before import so as to prevent sprouting, unlike sunflower seeds which are grown here and can sprout when imported as it must remain heat treated before it arrives in North America.
Millet
Millet is a gluten-free grain that cooks similarly to quinoa and amaranth, and makes an ideal replacement for rice or potatoes as part of grain bread recipes. Packed full of essential vitamins and minerals as well as high levels of dietary fiber and niacin for good measure, millet boasts high levels of protein as an added nutritional bonus!
Potatoes are easy to cultivate in many climates and environments, including drought-prone areas. Not only is the crop attractive as a soil improver and requires minimal inputs to grow, it is also used as animal and bird feed and cooked into various dishes for cooking enjoyment.
Millets contain many beneficial phenolic compounds and antioxidants to shield cells against oxidative stress, along with phytic acid, tannins, and other plant nutrients to promote health. Millets also boast high magnesium concentrations that may reduce heart disease risk as well as high blood pressure; furthermore they boast plenty of niacin and folate which helps control cholesterol levels in your body.
Peanuts
Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea) are legume crops widely cultivated as food and oil crops, used in making peanut butter, candy and other treats. Although they can grow successfully in many different soil conditions – from rich loaminess of loamy clay loam soils to sandy loam loam soil – peanuts require a frost-free climate environment in order to flourish successfully.
Peanuts are packed with essential vitamins and nutrients, including fiber. Peanuts provide protein as well as heart-healthy unsaturated fats. Though cholesterol-free, small amounts of saturated fat may exist. Doctors advise limiting saturated fat consumption to prevent cardiovascular disease.
Peanuts offer 2.85 grams of energy per 100-gram serving and are an excellent source of Vitamin B9 (folic acid), Vitamin E, Thiamin, Pantothenic Acid and Phosphorus. In addition, peanuts are an outstanding source of dietary fiber (8.5 g per 100-gram serving); approximately 1/4th or 1/3rd of male recommended Daily Allowances respectively.
