Sunflower seeds are a highly nutritious snack loved by all manner of wild birds! Sunflower seeds are packed with a wide variety of valuable nutrients including iron, magnesium, and vitamins A, B, C, and D.
Sunflower seeds are also a great source of healthy oils and fats which are great for helping wild birds maintain a healthy weight, especially during the difficult winter months.
As well as being very nutritious, sunflower seeds are also super yummy! Wild birds can’t get enough of their delicious taste! If you put sunflower seeds out in your garden, these are just a few of the wild birds you might expect to pay you a visit:
Wild Birds That Eat Sunflower Seeds
Blackbirds
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Black birds (Turdus merula) are a common bird found in Europe, Asiatic Russia, North Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
Male black birds live up to their name with their black colouring and orange-yellow beak and eye ring, but interestingly, female black birds are brown! Black birds are well-known for their beautiful song. If you’d like to learn more about black birds, check out our blackbird bird profile!
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Dunnocks (Prunella modularis) are small hedgerow birds found throughout Europe and Asian Russia. Dunnocks are very shy birds, but when two males get territorial you can see them display some really unique calling and wing-flicking!
If you’d like to learn more about Dunnocks, check out our blog on them here!
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Dunnocks
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Goldfinches
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Goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis) are very distinctive looking birds, with their bright and colourful markings! Goldfinches are relatively sociable birds with a charming twittering song.
Our Goldfinch bird profile offers more in-depth information about this beautiful bird!
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Greater spotted woodpeckers (Dendrocopos major) are a medium sized birds with striking black and white plumage and a distinctive red patch on their lower belly. The male great spotted woodpeckers also have a red patch on the nape of their neck or top of their head.
If you’re hoping to see more wood peckers in your garden, check out our blog titled How to Attract Woodpeckers to Your Garden.
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Great Spotted Woodpeckers
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Great Tits
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Great tits (Parus major) are a very common bird found across Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
The great tit is the largest of the UK tits, and it is easily identified by its colourful green and yellow colourings, and its distinctive song.
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Greenfinches (Chloris) are small perching birds with a soft green colouring, and strips of yellow beneath their wings which offer a striking flash of colour as they fly!
Greenfinches are fairly common across the UK, and can commonly be found in woodland areas, farms, parks, village gardens, and orchards.
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Greenfinches
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House Sparrows
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House sparrows (Passer domesticus) are a widely common bird found in most parts of the world. House sparrows are a rather stout bird with full chest and rounded bill, perfectly adapted for eating seeds (like sunflower seeds!)
Sparrows are very adaptable birds and have been known to nest almost anywhere, from coalmines to hedgerows, warehouses to trees!
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The European robin (Erithacus rubecula) - affectionately known as the nations favourite bird - is a charming and small perching bird, well-known for their red breast and sweet song.
It might surprise you to know that robins are territorial birds, particularly in the summer months when mating. Male robins are known to exhibit aggressive behaviour against other males infringing on their territory, proudly displaying their red breasts to defend their space (not for courtship like some might assume).
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Robins
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Shopping for Sunflower Seeds for Birds
Sunflower seeds are a highly nutritious (and delicious!) snack enjoyed by a wide variety of UK wild birds. Here at Really Wild Bird Food, we stock a wide variety of sunflower seeds and sunflower seed based products.
Black Sunflower Seeds
Our black sunflower seeds are locally grown right here on Street End Farm and on local farms in neighbouring counties! We double clean our black sunflower seeds to ensure that they are free from dust, stalks, and other debris for utmost cleanliness.
Black sunflower seeds have a relatively thin seed coat which makes it easier for birds to access the kernel within. Black sunflower seeds are high in oil and other nutrients, making them an excellent snack for wild birds all year round - especially in winter!
Shop Black Sunflower Seeds
Premium Sunflower Hearts
Regular sunflower seeds can be tricky for younger or smaller birds to break into due to their hard outer shell, which is why we stock a selection of sunflower hearts and sunflower heart chips.
Here at Really Wild Bird Food we’re passionate about producing the highest quality products possible, and all of our premium sunflower hearts for birds are made to bakery grade quality.
Shop Premium Sunflower Hearts
Sunflower Heart Chips
Sunflower hearts chips and broken up small fragments of sunflower hearts, and are a particular favourite of tits, robins, and dunnocks. Their small size and soft texture means that sunflower heart chips are suitable for fledglings.
Shop Sunflower Heart Chips
Read More: Bird Feeding for Beginners: A Guide to Get You Started
