can all birds eat sunflower seeds

Sunflower seeds have a lot of benefits to offer for birds, so lets take a closer look at the different types of sunflower seeds that are available, and why they are excellent food sources for your garden birds.

Shopping for Sunflower Seeds for Birds

Many different types of wild birds in the UK eat sunflower seeds, which are both delicious and highly nutritious. We have a large selection of sunflower seeds and products made with sunflower seeds at Really Wild Bird Food.

We double clean our black sunflower seeds to ensure that they are free from dust, stalks, and other debris for the highest cleanliness. Our black sunflower seeds are grown locally right here on Street End Farm and on local farms in neighboring counties!

Because the seed coat of black sunflower seeds is comparatively thin, birds can more easily access the kernel inside. Because of their high oil content and other nutritional value, black sunflower seeds are a year-round favorite among wild birds, especially during the winter.

Because regular sunflower seeds have a hard outer shell that can be difficult for smaller or younger birds to crack, we also carry sunflower hearts and sunflower heart chips.

Since we at Really Wild Bird Food are committed to creating the best goods we can, every one of our premium sunflower hearts for birds is manufactured to bakery-quality standards.

Tits, Robins, and Dunnocks especially enjoy sunflower heart chips and broken-up small fragments of sunflower hearts. Because of their small size and delicate texture, sunflower heart chips are appropriate for young birds.

Which Birds Eat Sunflower Seeds?

All garden birds love sunflower seeds as a food source, and because they come in a range of sizes and varieties, both small and large birds can benefit from them.

These birds are especially fans:

Black Oil Sunflower Seeds

There are several varieties of sunflower seeds, such as striped and black oil seeds. Nearly all birds can easily open the thin shells of black oil seeds.

Benefits: Because whole sunflower seeds are high in fat, most birds can benefit from eating them during the chilly winter months.

Which Birds Eat Whole Sunflower Seeds? A variety of birds, such as woodpeckers, finches, nuthatches, and cardinals, love sunflower seeds as a food source. They are simple to scatter throughout your garden, and you can give different kinds of seeds to attract different kinds of birds.

Sunflower hearts are de-husked or shelled sunflower seeds. Because they provide the full nutritional value of a whole sunflower seed without the mess of husks, they are well-liked by bird watchers.

Advantages: Because there is no husk to break, birds can eat the seeds more quickly and with less energy. The absence of husks makes the seeds a useful “no-mess” option.

Which Birds Eat Sunflower Hearts? You can draw many different kinds of birds to your garden with sunflower hearts, but goldfinches and tits are especially fond of them. During the nesting season, they are safe to eat and small enough that the chicks won’t choke on them.

All seed-eating birds adore sunflower chips, which are simply chipped sunflower seeds.

Benefits: Since they don’t have shells, they don’t leave any mess behind. Sunflower chips are a great year-round addition to your garden, especially during hatching season, and are packed with energy.

Which Birds Eat Sunflower Chips? Due to their small size, sunflower chips are perfect for fledglings and smaller birds. They are much more easily digested than regular seeds. As a result, birds of all sizes can readily eat them. But blackbirds, blue tits, goldfinches, greenfinches, and woodpeckers especially like them.

These are the same seeds you would normally grow in your garden, but striped sunflower seeds have a thicker shell that can be difficult for birds to break through.

Benefits: Rich in protein and oils, striped sunflower seeds are an extremely nutrient-dense food.

Which Birds Eat Striped Sunflower Seeds? A variety of bird species, such as cardinals and grosbeaks, adore these seeds[iv]. But for smaller birds like soft bills, their husks can be fairly tough, and the seed itself can be large. The other problem is that the birds’ disposal of the husks could leave your garden in disarray.

FAQ

Can squirrels eat sunflower seeds?

Squirrels’ favorite natural foods are hickory nuts, pecans, black walnuts, and acorns. Their favorite feeder food is black oil sunflower seeds, their least favorite feeder food is Nyjer® (thistle) seed.

Are all seeds OK for birds?

Suitable seeds and grains – like nyjer, millet, oats, and sunflower seeds. Peanuts – must be unsalted, fresh and that they don’t contain aflatoxin (a poison caused by fungus mould). Young chicks might choke on whole peanuts, so always put them in feeders with a smaller mesh.

What birds like black oil sunflower seeds?

Black-Oil sunflower seed attracts Northern Cardinals, Tufted titmice, Mourning doves, Gray catbirds, Evening grosbeaks, Boat-tailed and Common grackles, Bushtits, House finches, Pine siskins, Black-billed magpies and all species of chickadees, nuthatches, and jays – just to name a few.

What is the difference between white and black sunflower seeds?

The sunflower seeds you eat are encased in inedible black-and-white striped shells, also called hulls. Those used for extracting sunflower oil have solid black shells.