The Virtues of Sunflower Hearts
Sunflower hearts were introduced in the early 1990s and revolutionised bird feeding by providing high energy food to British birds. They truly are a readily accessible delicacy for our feathered friends. To shed some light on just what makes sunflower hearts so special, we’ve collated some interesting facts about these nutritious seeds.
Loved by various species
Sunflower hearts are a great favourite for our garden visitors. They attract a variety of species including Blackbirds, Blue tits, Chaffinches, Collared doves, Dunnocks, Goldfinches, Great spotted woodpeckers, Great tits, Greenfinches, House sparrows, Long-tailed tits, Nuthatches, Robins, Starlings and Wood pigeons.
Providing sunflower hearts to your garden visitors will ensure they will come back for more. Sunflower hearts can be fed from sunflower hearts feeders or seed feeders.
No mess
Sunflower hearts are sunflower seeds without the husk (a kind of outer shell). Birds would discard the husk from the sunflower seed leaving waste meaning a messy garden. Sunflower hearts once started life as full sunflower seeds, however they have since had their husks removed mechanically. Being husk free, sunflower hearts means no mess to clean up in your garden. They are a great seed to feed your garden birds and can be purchased from our store.
Easy to eat
Sunflower hearts are easily digestible even by the smallest of birds and give them blasts of energy. They can be eaten with minimal effort and your garden visitors will devour them!
Essential oils
Packed with oil and protein they are a real year round favourite and full of nutrition. Providing birds with the correct food will keep their feathers, skin and beaks in a healthy condition.
High energy content
Throughout the more difficult times in the year it is vital for birds to get the energy boost they need. Sunflower hearts are high in protein and have a high calorie count to weight ratio meaning birds do not need to spend as much time searching for other seeds.
The facts and history behind this seed show that sunflower hearts really are a super food that is not only highly nutritious, but also a tasty, convenient treat for birds. If you need to re-stock, or if you’ve yet to try them, you can find our high quality premium sunflower hearts.
As you say above “your garden visitors will devour them”, this is so so true. All of the birds we get in the garden love them, I use these along with flutter butter pots in different flavours and fat balls/nuggets and mealworms to give a bit of variety but the hearts always go first.
A favourite food amongst our birds especially the bullfinch and nuthatch. The feeders have to be refilled almost every day. It gives us so much pleasure to watch all the birds enjoying themselves and knowing they get all the nourishment they need.
As Ms Dyke says, don’t forget the bullfinches which are probably the most voracious feeders as well as coal tits. Squirrels love them too so a squirrel proof feeder is a good plan.
My birds devour the sunflower hearts. I’m trying to dissuade the squirrel from eating them and the nuts. Does anyone have any recommendations for a feeder that will put the squirrel off whilst still allowing my woodpeckers access?
Squirrel baffles stop our bird food being devoured by the squirrels, fitted on a bird station pole with all the feeders up above out of reach. Squirrels still come and eat what drops. If you get some of the Heavy duty Chapel wood feeders they are the best and are easy to take apart to keep clean.
I’m sure to get blasted for this, but I do not care. Stop squirrels climbing a bird feeder pole by coating it LIBERALLY with petroleum jelly (Vaseline) mixed thoroughly with a LOT of Cayenne pepper and ground black pepper. Cooking oil is a waste of time and is easily removed from the pole. Those umbrella thingies are a waste of money too. Coating liberally will shown if a squirrel has tried to climb it unknowingly to you, and is easy to smooth over again. OK it gets in its fur which it can’t get rid of, and takes the smell, which they hate, back into the dray to “share” with it’s mates. “Every cloud has a silver lining”.
I live in open countryside and the squirrels have now learnt not to try and climb or perhaps the pepper is stopping them. They do come and ground feed eating bits of nuts/suet balls that fall down. I am more than happy for that as they eat the husks from peanuts, sunflower seeds that fall, so no need to be ripped off buying very expensive hearts. I would add that birds are NOT affected by the jelly.
Finally, grey squirrels, “imported” from America, are vermin, pests, violent to others, destroy/kill trees, and have all but decimated GB’s friendly, native red squirrel. It is illegal to release a captured one from a squirrel trap back into the wild. They are NOT the lovely furry creatures that some naively perceive them to be.