Sunflower Seeds (1 Viewer)

Hi there

What do people think of prices of Sunflower seeds

I buy the regular black ones that are not as easy to get a hold of as other mixed seeds and Peanuts. Sunflower Hearts are easy to get a hold of.

At one stage I was buying stripy sunflower seeds at a fraction of the price of black ones. I have not seen them prepackaged yet as most Bird Food is these days

Striped Sunflowers are always loose in clear plastic bags, and usually positioned amongst the caged bird food in Pet Stores.

The only thing I understand that is different about striped Sunflower seeds is the shell is much harder than the Black ones. The finches make short work of them as much as the black ones. Nothing is left to waste.

Anyone else buy them for their regular feeders. What do they think of them?

N.B. I do not know if catalogues/websites sell them as I always buy mine from the shops.

Kathy
x

I collected loads of sunflower seeds this year from plants in my garden and friends gardens so they were free at least!

You can buy them online and they might be cheaper as you can often get them in bulk from garden centres or bird food suppliers.

Do the discarded shells not make an absolute mess under the feeders ?.

bluebird00 said:

I collected loads of sunflower seeds this year from plants in my garden and friends gardens so they were free at least!

You can buy them online and they might be cheaper as you can often get them in bulk from garden centres or bird food suppliers.

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Good idea collecting the seeds form the sunflower plants themselves!

barnstormer said:

Do the discarded shells not make an absolute mess under the feeders ?.

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Not really, so it is a problem. The shells are dug into the earth beneath the feeders, so that means all the mess that has collected under the feeders is out of sight.

Kathy
x

Do you prefer the seeds with shells to the ones without? I used to use in-shell black oil sunflower seeds, but hardly anyone in my yard wanted them. Then I switched to the already-shelled sunflower seed chips and I have hundreds of birds in my yard every day.

I can get a 50-pound bag of sunflower chips for $50 at my local feed store... A bit under £1.50 per kilo I think.

Personally I use the black oil sunflower seeds and they are gone in a heartbeat. I grew my own this year also but they were the Russian Giant variety (I think) and they didn't go as fast for some reason. But I like the black ones better.

-Matt

Yeah, the larger varieties of sunflower seeds are harder for small birds like finches and sparrows to open, which is probably why the birds didn't like them as much. They are good for corvids and woodpeckers, though. The black oil sunflower seeds are the perfect size for most backyard birds, and they have a comparatively larger kernel inside as well.

Black sunflower seeds are preferred by most small birds over the white striped ones, not just because the black suns have thinner husks (and are thus easier to open) but also because the seed itself is invariably better developed, offering the bird with greater rewards. If you want to avoid the mess of husks that appears below a feeder then go with sunflower hearts. Both black suns and sunflower are hearts are available mail order in the UK from companies like Vine House Farm and Cj WildBird Foods, or you can get them at many garden centres, BTO-branded and sold by Gardman.