Looking to attract more birds to your garden this summer? It may be tempting to just pop to your local garden centre and grab the first seed mix you can find, but that’s not always the best option. Smart birdwatchers will be filling trays and feeders with sunflower seeds this season – and they’ll be seeing plenty of feathery visitors as a result!
But why sunflower seeds? Sunflowers are good for more than just looking pretty – they also provide birds with essential calories. Adding a few to your feeder can really make a difference to the diets of local birds.
To learn why sunflower seeds are so healthy and discover what sets them apart from other bird food options, read on!
The Benefits of Sunflower Seeds
- Nutritious and Healthy
Sunflower seeds are incredibly nutritious and healthy for birds, providing plenty of essential nutrients. They are packed with all the good stuff that birds need, like iron, magnesium, and vitamins A, B, C, and D! That’s a lot of nutrition for one small seed.
These seeds are also great from a calorie point of view. The fat and protein you can find in sunflower seeds can be essential for helping wild birds survive during times of food scarcity. Offering high-fat foods like sunflower seeds might just be the helping hand that your local birds need to survive and thrive!
- Popular
Sunflower seeds are not only good for birds – they taste great, with a rich flavour that makes them a surefire hit with hungry birds.
If you’ve ever wondered why your neighbour’s bird feeder is always busy, there’s a good chance that sunflower seeds are the cause. These popular seeds are a good way to attract a wide variety of birds to your garden.
- Mess-free
Many seeds are offered to birds with their shells on, but these shells can sometimes pile up around bird feeders, leaving your garden looking a bit untidy. The best part of sunflower seeds is that they can also be given to birds without their shell for a mess-free alternative! Sunflower seeds without the shells are known as sunflower hearts. These are very popular amongst bird watchers who like to keep their gardens pristine.
The benefits only grow from here: sunflower hearts are even more popular than sunflower seeds, as they are accessible for birds who don’t have the beak strength to break open tough outer shells. So, with the small addition of sunflower seeds to your feeders, you can enjoy both a tidier garden and a wider selection of feathered friends.
Which Birds Like Sunflower Seeds?
Plenty of birds enjoy sunflower seeds. Some examples include blackbirds, goldfinches, greenfinches, and robins. Of course, this is dependent on the time of year and the feeding method you are using.
When feeding the birds, it’s often helpful to consider what kinds of birds live in your local area. Do some research on your nearby wildlife, find out which birds live near you, and take a look at which foods they enjoy best. It’s very likely that at least one kind of bird near you will be thrilled to discover a new source of sunflower seeds in the area.
Sunflower Seed Feeding Tips
Although sunflower seeds are nutritious and popular, they do not provide birds with a complete diet. Like us, birds need variety to be as healthy as possible.
You should still offer sunflower seeds to your garden birds, but to have the best impact on your local wildlife, include other options too. Look for a high-quality bird seed mix that includes sunflower seeds or add premium sunflower seeds to one of your existing seed mixes. A combination of tasty seeds like this should be irresistible for your local birds!
You should also always put out clean water when feeding the birds, and consider adding a place for birds to rest, like a bird house or nest pocket.
Fill Your Feeders
Ready to invite a whole host of beautiful local birds to your garden? Then it’s time to fill your bird feeders. There are many different sunflower seed options available, like black sunflower seeds, striped sunflower seeds, and sunflower hearts. Whichever you choose, all you need to do is fill your feeders, sit back, relax and watch the birds flock to your garden!