Ingredients in Bird Food

The morning song of a bird can be delightful to our ears—we may associate the call with warm spring mornings where the sun is just peaking over the hills. If you want to attract more birds to your home to enjoy their songs, one way to do this is by putting out bird food for them. Bird food is composed of several key ingredients to provide the proper nutrition for our singing friends.

Sunflower seeds are found in a wide variety of bird foods because they attract lots of species and have a high ratio of meat to shell. They are also high in fat, making them a good energy source for birds in the wintertime. 

Safflower seeds look similar to sunflower seeds except that they are white. Because they have very thick shells, only select birds such as cardinals, chickadees, doves and sparrows can eat them.

Cracked corn is also a popular ingredient in bird food as it is high in carbohydrates. It attracts doves, quail, turkeys, woodpeckers and crows. However, it can be dusty and is prone to spoiling quickly when wet so is best used sparingly in bird food mixes. 

Millet comes in several different types such as white, red, golden and Japanese and appeals to ground feeding sparrows and waterfowl. It has a hard outer seed coating but is still able to be cracked by the beaks of birds.

Nyjer, also known as thistle seed, is popular among finches. Contrary to popular belief, nyjer is not a thistle and has actually been sterilized so that it will not germinate in people’s yards. 

Milo is a popular seed among Western ground-feeding birds. It is also less pricey than other birdseeds as it is large and bulky.    

*Note that different bird foods will contain different ingredients based on the types of birds that they are made to attract. Bird food mixes may also change with the season, providing higher energy ingredients in the wintertime.