Changing to Sunflower Hearts

[Brian Stone]

At some small extra expense I have recently switched my usual mixed seed to a similar mix using sunflower hearts rather than the black sunflower seeds. This was supposed to reduce mess but has resulted in far less seed being consumed. I feed from a largish tube feeder and directly on a tarmac drive both of which were very popular until the change in food.

Has anyone else noticed anything similar? My guess is that birds take a while to get used to a change in the environment and maybe feel more vulnerable against the now predominantly whitish background of the food, which used to be largely black.

Brian

[Chris Monk]

Brian,
If you're feeling in a culinary mood try the RSPB's page at:

http://www.rspb.org.uk/feedthebirds/celebrity_recipes.asp

It contains recipes by celebrity chefs such as Ainsley Harriot, Rick Stein and Jane Asher no less.

[Andy Bright]

I use a huskfree mix in my feeders but never use it where it's exposed to the elements...any uneaten bits go soggy and unpleasant very quickly, even in the feeders it can clog up with a bit of damp in the air (like today). I often have to give the feeder a sharp tap to free it up.

It can be deceptive in the amount being eaten from the tube feeders as there is far more edible feed in the feeders compared to sunflowers with the husks on.....though I suppose hearts are quicker to eat!

[Brian Stone]

Thanks Andy. That has convinced me to return to black sunflower mix for the food scattered on the ground.

[Paul Rule]

Hi Brian

Hope you did not buy a sack full. If you did you could always mix it with oats, dried fruit ect and have a years supply of muesli

Paul

[Brian Stone]

No Paul. I bought 2 sacks! :(

[Stonechat2]

HI EVERYONE
I tried to download the recipies but a message keeps coming up saying that there is a problem with my assesibility wizard. HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD THIS PROBLEM, IF SO HOW DO I GO ABOUT SORTING THIS PROBLEM OUT!!!

[Andy Bright]

Originally posted by Stonechat2
HI EVERYONE
I tried to download the recipies but a message keeps coming up saying that there is a problem with my assesibility wizard. HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD THIS PROBLEM, IF SO HOW DO I GO ABOUT SORTING THIS PROBLEM OUT!!!

The rspb site seems to have gone over to a new system... so you'll need internet explorer 6 to see it (maybe ie5.5 will do).

[Brian Stone]

Works fine on Opera 7.11

[Brian Stone]

I wondered if I was being a little impatient. Birds now seem to be getting used to the new supply and are getting through it at a much faster rate. In particular Collared Doves have moved in and are up to 20 birds now.

[alan_rymer]

Sunflower hearts are the most favoured food from my feeders. Everything eats them, but I think that its when the Woodpigeons find them they go down very quickly. I think thats why the Woodies are so fat!. The Robins and Dunnocks clean up the spillages

[Bill@dwp]

Hi
I moved to hearts last autumn, mainly to avoid the mess from the black husks but also because I had read it was easier and better for the birds.
I found that it took them a little while to find and get used to it and then whoosh I was filling it quicker than I could keep up with the supplies. Any spillage was hoovered up and I havent got sunflowers growing everywhere, although I have allowed one to remain in a wall planter just to see what happened (it flowered!).
At the end of spring the place I was buying them folded and I couldn't get regular supplies elsewhere. Mail order is a bit awkward for me.
Anyway I have just found another place nearer to home and started to put the hearts out again a few weeks back. Hardly any activity at first and now it seems they are getting stuck in again.
My main problem is pigeons (up to 10 at times)who have taken to following the sparrows around the local gardens and feed off the spillage. For this reason the dunnocks and robins aren't getting a look in, although we have a healthy population of collared doves who I do like. The pigeons also wrecked the bird table!

[jayhunter]

I am glad somebody else has had the same problems as me this summer. Almost all my planters, hanging baskets tubs and even pot clogs have had at least one poor sunflower struggling out, my record was out of a tub containing three Fuchias I had a four foot sunflower with a four inch head.

[IanF]

I know I have joined this late, (still catching up after the holiday) but we feed Sunflowerhearts without a seed mix and we have never had so many birds in the garden! At present we have Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Greenfinch and Goldfinch using our 3 feeders with the sunflower hearts in them, the leftovers on the floor are eaten by the Starlings, Blackbirds,Sparrows, Dunnocks, Wren, Robin,Chaffinch, Pigeons and Collared Doves! We have only had 1 Sunflower sprouted up and this was left. Just going off subject slightly we planted a Teasel plant in the garden last year, it is now about 5' tall with numerous heads on it and it has been going down a treat with the Goldies today!!!

Persevere with the mix.

[joser]

I have found the same as Ian. I feed sunflower hearts straight in three feeders and we get no end of birds. The best being a Nuthatch coming in the last few weeks - a first for my garden. I also feed black sunflower seeds and the birds would take them down to eat on a small patch of soil that has no plants in and this year we had about 15 sunflowers come up. My dad decided to leave them and about 3 of them got to be about 8 foot tall before the heads got too heavy and they bowed to the floor and snapped. But I digress!! The sunflower hearts are having a real big impact and the birds really seem to love them. Im topping my feeder up every day.

[Geoff Brown]

Like some of you sunflower hearts also seems to be the gourmet food in my feeders as they are taken almost as fast as I pour them in. However no waste as any spillage is soon mopped up by ground feeding birds, the odd young rat, and also a stray squirrel. I some times mix a bag of wheat with the sunflower hearts to make the food last a little longer.