What is Bird Food Made Of? A Guide to the Best Bird Seed Ingredients

For backyard birders, keeping feeders filled with nutritious food is key to attracting feathered friends. But when scanning the aisles of bird food at the store, all those bags of seed can seem confusing What kinds of ingredients should you look for in quality bird food? And what’s the difference between good mixes and cheap filler? This article breaks down the most common bird seed varieties so you can make informed choices about what to feed your backyard birds.

The Best Bird Seed Ingredients

The highest quality bird foods will contain a mix of the following nutritious seeds that provide protein fat, and calories to fuel your avian visitors

• Sunflower The most popular bird seed, sunflower comes in two main types Black oil sunflower has thinner shells and higher fat content, making it preferred by most birds Striped sunflower has thicker shells that deter squirrels and larger birds. Offer hulled sunflower kernels in moderation as they can spoil quickly.

• Safflower: With its thick shell, safflower is high in fat and a favorite of cardinals, chickadees, finches, and other small birds. It deters squirrels. Offer in feeders rather than scattered on the ground.

• Nyjer: Also called thistle seed, tiny nyjer seeds with high oil content appeal to finches like goldfinches, pine siskins, and redpolls. Use specialized mesh feeders to serve nyjer.

• Peanuts: Whole or chopped peanuts attract jays, woodpeckers, chickadees, titmice and more. They’re also loved by squirrels so distribute sparingly. Shelled peanuts spoil rapidly.

In addition, the following seeds can round out quality bird food mixes:

• Millet: The small white seeds of millet are taken by ground feeding birds like sparrows, juncos, and bobwhites. Scatter on the ground or offer in platform feeders.

• Cracked corn: Cheer pheasants, doves, ducks, and other large birds with corn. Serve in small amounts as it can spoil quickly and harbor toxins. Offer on platform feeders only, scattered on the ground, or in hanging cob feeders.

• Nyjer or thistle: Small finches including American Goldfinches, Lesser Goldfinches, Indigo Buntings, Pine Siskins, and Common Redpolls often devour these tiny, black, needle-like seeds. As invasive thistle plants became a recognized problem in North America, suppliers shifted to a daisy-like plant, known as Guizotia abyssinica, that produces a similar type of small, oily, rich seed. The plant is now known as niger or nyjer, and is imported from overseas. The seeds are heat-sterilized during importation to limit their chance of spreading while retaining their food value.

When buying premixed bird food, look for mixes that have these quality seeds as the main ingredients and limit cheap filler.

Avoid Cheap Filler Seeds

While the bird seeds above pack nutrition, many inexpensive bird food mixes bulk up on cheap filler seeds that most birds won’t eat. Avoid mixes with lots of:

• Milo: Also called sorghum, milo is popular with birds in the Southwest but largely ignored by East coast backyard birds.

• Wheat: The small seeds of wheat grasses are of little interest to birds.

• Red millet: Though birds like the white millet, most reject the red variety.

• Oats: Whole or crushed oats have limited appeal for most birds, especially in the East.

• Flax: The hard, tasteless seeds of flax don’t entice birds.

• Rapeseed: Also called canola, rapeseed gets passed over by birds who prefer other oily seeds.

• Rice: Whole rice grains get left behind by backyard birds.

• Buckwheat: Kasha and other forms of buckwheat get ignored by birds.

When mixes contain large percentages of these filler seeds, birds will toss them aside in search of their favorites. Scattered on the ground under feeders, piles of wasted cheap filler can become moldy, messy, and attract vermin.

Some bird food brands will augment their filler-heavy mixes with things like dried fruit, nut pieces, and brightly colored cereal pieces. While birds don’t dislike these, they provide little nutritional value. And damp fruit bits can accelerate spoilage of the overall mix.

For the best quality bird food, select mixes with the highest amounts of sunflower, safflower, peanuts, nyjer, and millet. Avoid products bulked up with fillers like milo, wheat, flax, and oats. Check the ingredient lists and nutrition facts closely and choose foods with 20% or higher fat and protein contents. With quality ingredients, you’ll attract the happiest, healthiest birds to your backyard!

Making Your Own Bird Food Mixes

Want to blend your own custom bird seed mix? It’s easy to do. Buy sunflower, safflower, millet, nyjer, cracked corn, and peanuts in bulk. Then combine in a large container or bucket based on your birds’ favorites. Here’s an example recipe:

• 3 parts black oil sunflower
• 2 parts safflower
• 2 parts nyjer
• 1 part millet
• 1 part peanuts
• 1 part cracked corn

Mix well and store in an airtight container out of sunlight and heat. For even more tailored bird cuisine, you can supplement with diced fruit, mealworms, oats, wheat berries, and more. Get creative with ingredients and remember—the birds will let you know what they like best!

Understanding the ideal ingredients for quality bird food helps you make smart choices when buying or mixing foods to feed your backyard birds. Offer a variety of their favorite seeds and you’ll create a bird buffet sure to keep them coming back.