Sunflower Hearts Bird Food – Full Review

One of the great pleasures about owning a conservatory is the bridge it provides between the interior and exterior of your property. You can use your comfortable conservatory chairs to enjoy your garden and any wildlife that visits it, all year round, including winter time, without actually subjecting yourself to the inclement weather conditions. Some people even opt for a floral theme, or paint conservatory walls a distinctive colour, to maximise the connection between the inside and outside of the home. If this is of further interest then it’s also worth reviewing our guide to the best bird tables if you’re an avid birdwatcher. Alternatively, you can keep birds out of your pond with a wire mesh bird netting.

First things first, what exactly are they?

What are Sunflower Hearts and How Are they Different? 

If you are new to the world of bird feed and seeds in general, you may need a little education on what sunflower hearts are. Like most people, you probably know what sunflower seeds are. What is the difference? Essentially, sunflower hearts, as found in this offer, are sunflower seeds that have already been shucked from their husk. 

Why is that important? By removing them from their husk before packaging them, you not only get more bird food in the same sized pack that you would if they still had their shell on, but a less messy product.

As you’ll know if you’ve been an avid garden bird watcher in the past, birds do not have the best table manners. Why should they, after all, as they are birds? However, their messy eating habits does not leave your pristine garden looking so…pristine. The birds aren’t going to eat the husks, so once they’ve messily shucked them, they just leave the husks everywhere and anywhere.

As if the mess wasn’t enough in its own right, this can also mean that you may get some uninvited guests to your garden, like rats and mice. They will eat the husks and even the tiniest of sunflower seed crumbs left behind by the birds. While you may enjoy watching the birds, we’re going to hazard a guess that watching wild rats and mice does not have quite the same appeal!

Rich in Essential Proteins and Oil

As well as being much easier to eat than a lot of the alternatives, another huge advantage of using sunflower hearts over other feeds is their nutritional content. Sunflower hearts have high levels of essential proteins and fatty oils that wild birds need. When fall and winter comes along, and food is scarcer, a sack of these sunflower hearts could be a real lifesaver for the various bird species that frequent your garden. 

The protein and fatty oils are converted into pure energy for the birds which helps them to have the strength to fly as well as helping them stay warm when the temperature drops. As they are a natural product you can have real peace of mind placing them out on a bird table or dropping them into the bird feeder knowing they are not going to harm the little flying beauties. 

Cost-Effective Quantity

20kg may seem like a lot and the price may be more than you were looking to pay. However, as we’ve highlighted earlier, the weight is taken up by just the hearts themselves. That means for 20 quid you are getting pure and unadulterated food for the birds in your garden. You are not paying for a heavy package of sunflower seeds, shells and all, knowing the birds aren’t going to eat them.

Well-Packaged Product

Another reason we have picked out this product over others is that it has been well packaged in a watertight sack. Often, when you buy seeds and other forms of bird food, if the packaging is not of the highest quality, water may be allowed to seep into the container. The last thing you want is water ruining your expensive stock of bird food, which is why the watertight sealed sack that these sunflower hearts come in makes them such a good investment. 

Which Birds Eat Sunflower Hearts?

The last, but by no means least, thing we want to discuss about these sunflower seeds is probably the thing most of you birdwatchers reading this will be interested in – the types of birds they attract. Although that will largely depend on where you are based geographically in the country, there are a number of common birds that seem especially fond of sunflower hearts.

They include:

• House Sparrows
• Blackbirds
• Goldfinches
• Greenfinches
• Tits of all varieties

Other customers have had experiences with Dunnocks, Robins, Starlings and Doves coming along for a nibble of these tasty seeds. 

Sunflower Hearts 20kg Pros and Cons

To round off our review and help you make the decision of whether these sunflower hearts for wild birds are right for you, we are going to highlight the positives and negatives about the bird food. 

Pros

• High in essential fatty acids and protein
• Virtually mess-free
• Attracts a wide range of birds

Cons

• Very heavy – could benefit from being divided into two more manageable bags
• Some birds will still leave mess

Should I buy them?

If you are looking for a cost-effective and healthy option for feeding the birds that visit your garden, these Amazon sunflower hearts are a great choice. They come in a watertight-sealed bag, are virtually mess-free and represent great value for money. 20kg may seem like a lot, but considering some products do not come pre-shucked, you are paying a higher price for a messier product. 

With these, you will be able to sit back all year round, even when you need to switch those conservatory heaters on and enjoy watching the birds fill their bellies.