Both sunflower hearts and sunflower seeds appear in many bird food mixes and provide good nutrition for a wide variety of bird species. But which should you be putting in your feeders: hearts or seeds?
Let’s find out.
Sunflower Hearts vs Sunflower Seeds: What’s the difference?
Sunflower seeds have hard shells, which birds typically remove in order to eat the seed inside. Sunflower hearts are simply sunflower seeds that have had their shells removed in advance. Whether you buy seeds or hearts, the sunflower heart is the part that your garden birds will actually eat.
Sunflower seeds are packed with many key nutrients (like iron, magnesium and vitamins A, B, C and D) so they’re always a great choice for bird tables and hanging feeders. But the question remains: is it better to offer sunflower hearts or sunflower seeds?
The Case for Sunflower Hearts
Many birds are not able to de-shell sunflower seeds, but still enjoy eating what’s inside them. Sunflower hearts give these birds easy access to delicious, nutritious treats that they would not have been able to access otherwise!
Since sunflower hearts are such a popular food source and easy to access, you’ll find that they attract a wide variety of wild birds to your garden. They’re a great, versatile option if you aren’t sure what kinds of birds live in your area.
Sunflower hearts are much less messy than sunflower seeds, too. With sunflower seeds, you’ll likely end up with a small pile of shells beneath your feeder. These can build up and turn into mulch over time. Sunflower hearts don’t have shells, helping to prevent this issue! Sunflower hearts are a high energy, less mess option if you would prefer not to have shells left in your garden.
SEE ALSO: No Mess Bird Food
The Case for Sunflower Seeds
At this point, you might be thinking that sunflower hearts are the better option every time—after all, they make life easier for the birds, and they don’t leave a mess on your lawn. Why does anyone buy sunflower seeds with the shells on?
Well, the shell-on seeds do offer a few benefits of their own. Firstly, whole sunflower seeds can only be eaten by birds who are able to de-shell them; this may seem like a negative thing, but if you are specifically trying to attract these birds and you don’t want their food to be stolen by competitors, sunflower seeds may be preferable to sunflower hearts.
What other aces do sunflower seeds have up their sunflower sleeves? To answer that question, ask yourself why sunflower seeds have shells on them to begin with.
The answer is simple: to protect the contents. Sunflower seed shells with no cracks provide a barrier against damp and mould; nature's protective coating. So sunflower seeds ( of which there are black and striped varieties ) may be preferable in periods of extreme weather, particularly wet weather where sunflower hearts may go soggy or really cold weather where the hearts can freeze. There is also an argument that black sunflower seeds are nature's bounty and that small seed eating birds should be working for their food in the most natural way possible. Garden birds will naturally visit a feeder, remove a seed and take it to the safety of a nearby tree or bush to then enjoy it. Offering sunflower hearts in a hanging feeder may just be too easy! and birds will spend more time actually on the feeders, which is lovely to watch but can potentially increase the risk of disease transfer and also of sparrohawks swooping in on pre-occupied garden birds.
Which is better: sunflower hearts or sunflower seeds?
Sunflower hearts are generally more popular than sunflower seeds because more birds can eat them and they leave less mess. However, as we’ve discussed, there are still some good reasons to go with sunflower seeds instead!
Whichever you choose to use in your garden, Really Wild Bird Food can help. We offer a wide range of quality bird feeds, many of which are grown on our very own farm in Hampshire—and we offer FREE DELIVERY on all orders that include bird seed!
Sunflower Hearts Sunflower Seeds
Image source: reallywildbirdfood.co.uk/straight-seeds/sunflower-heart-chips/shc
