Black Oil Sunflower Seed

Black Oil Sunflower Seed
Black oil sunflower seed is the most important seed in any backyard bird feeding plan. Almost any bird that visits a bird feeder will readily eat black oil sunflower seeds, and studies have shown that, given a choice of seeds, more species of birds will choose black oil sunflower seeds over any other food that is offered.

The shell of the black oil sunflower seed is thin and easily broken by birds, even those with small beaks. Once opened, black oil sunflower seeds offer more nutrients than any other type of seed, a higher ratio of nutmeat to shell, and the quality of protein is among the highest of any plant food on earth.

The high oil content in black oil sunflower seed, along with the high fat content, provide instant energy for the birds that eat them - something that is of critical importance in winter bird-feeding. In addition, black oil sunflower seeds are high in fiber and contain Vitamin E, biotin, choline, thiamin, and zinc.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who published a landmark study of bird food preferences in 1980, recommends that sunflower seeds be offered to birds all year round, and black oil sunflower seeds are by far the most preferred type by the greatest number of bird species. Cardinals, chickadees, nuthatches, house and purple finches, and grosbeaks are among the species that showed preference for black oil sunflower seeds in the study. But rather than list all the bird species that picked black oil sunflower seeds as their first choice in the study, it would be easier to list the two species that didn't - starlings and tree sparrows.

Chickadees and nuthatches are notorious for stashing away black oil sunflower seeds for later consumption, usually under tree bark, creating their own private caches of food to get them through the roughest days of the winter. Chickadees even grow additional brain cells for the winter just to keep up with their hiding places. One study showed that chickadees seemed to know exactly how many seeds were in each cache and would become extremely agitated when one or more seeds were taken away in their absence.

Quality and freshness count in selecting black oil sunflower seeds. The heaviest, fattest ones go into the production of sunflower oil for cooking, one of the healthiest cooking oils on earth. At the other end of the spectrum are the smallest, lightest black oil sunflower seeds found in the least expensive bird food mixes sold by mass marketers and grocery stores. As birds dig through the mix looking for the few black oil sunflower seeds it contains, most of the inexpensive filler seeds the birds don't eat wind up on the ground. And when the birds do find the few black oil sunflower seeds in these inferior mixes, they weigh them in their beaks and often toss them aside because the kernel within is not worth the trouble and energy it takes to open it the shell.

Attract these birds with Black Oil Sunflower Seed

* Cardinal
* Chickadees
* Black-headed grosbeak
* Evening Grosbeak
* House Finch
* Purple Finch
* White-breasted Nuthatch
* White-crowned Sparrow
* White-throated Sparrow
Acorn Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Dark-eyed Junco
Downy Woodpecker
Goldfinches

Grackle
Hairy Woodpecker
House Sparrow
Lewis's Woodpecker
Mourning Dove
Pine Siskin
Redpoll
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-winged Blackbird
Song Sparrow
Steller’s Jay
Tufted Titmouse

* Favorite Seed

Attract more wild birds with black oil sunflower seeds in our Seed Tube, Window & Domed Tray Feeders