All Seed Is Not Created Equal...

Our apologies to Thomas Jefferson for paraphrasing his famous line, but here at Wild Birds Unlimited, it's all about Quality and Freshness. All Wild Birds Unlimited Seed blends are formulated to attract local birds. We receive our seed fresh each week, directly from the seed mill, where it is blended as it is needed. Our seed never sits on a warehouse shelf 'waiting' to go to the store. Our seed blends never contain any 'filler' seeds - seeds added to bring the cost down but that the birds don't eat.

(Bird)Food for Thought

Let’s face it; there are a lot of ways your bird feeding dollars can be wasted. For instance, squirrels, grackles and starlings may put a dent in your budget as they devour everything in sight. But feeding a poor quality "bargain" blend of bird seed from a big box store can also be a waste of money, even if the seed is cheaper. Here's why.

First, it is important to understand that, unlike humans, birds eat to survive, and typically, they eat just what they need to to get them through to the next day - they don't typically store up fat reserves. So birds are looking for food that is efficient to get to and that has what they need, namely fat and protein. You might notice that as a bird eats, it will pick up a seed and then may drop it. Scientists believe that a bird actually weighs a seed to determine if it is worth the effort it takes to crack and eat it. There can be a couple reasons a seed isn't worth their time - it may be underdeveloped within the shell, or it could be old and have lost its moisture content. 

While we might look at a bag of bird seed and think 'seed is seed,' that actually isn't true. Not all seed is created (or winds up) equal! Birdseed goes through cleaning and sorting processes at the mills before it is bagged up and sold to retailers. Lightweight seeds are blown away with most of the chaff, twigs and broken seeds during the cleaning process. Not wanting to lose this product, the mills often mix these undesirable seeds with less expensive 'filler' seeds that birds don't necessarily eat, and sold as 'bargain brand' birdfood. But don't take our word for it!  Check out this article fron The Washington Post!  Click Here To Read

Another important factor is freshness. As birdseed sits, like any grain product, it simply dries out, losing valuable nutrient oils and necessary moisture content birds need to help digest the seed - in short, it becomes stale and the birds won't eat it just like we wouldn't eat stale chips.

The bottom line is that Quality and Freshness really do count - birds recognize the difference between fresh, nutritious seed and seed that isn't worth their time. While they might pick through bargain seed blends to find the occasional valuable nugget, they will waste your hard-earned money and make a mess in the process, if they eat it at all. We hear it all the time..."I bought a bargain brand at XYZ and the birds won't eat it!" If the birds don't eat it, is it really a better deal?

Wild Birds Unlimited seeds blends are made up of the cleaner, weightier, higher quality, "premium" seeds that come from the cleaning and sorting process are purchased to provide you and your birds with the best feeding experience possible. You will not find a better value in bird seed than our quality WBU Seed Blends. With our regionally selected formulas; fresh, quality ingredients; and no filler seeds, you can rest assured that you will not be wasting any of your money on worthless, uneaten seed.  

We have already established that birds are looking for efficient and nutritiously worthwhile food sources. You want a seed blend that will attract the widest variety of birds and be the best value for your dollar. All Wild Birds Unlimited seed blends offer these benefits, but our Wild Birds Unlimited No-Mess seeds and seed blends take this one step further! A study was recently conducted using our Wild Birds Unlimited Supreme seed blend. Our Supreme seed blend contains Black Oil Sunflower Seed, Striped Sunflower Seed, Safflower Seed, and Sunflower Hearts mixed in a proprietary blend. In the study, all the shells were removed from a 20# bag of Supreme blend and the meat and shells were weighed. Bearing in mind that Supreme blend already has some sunflower hearts (sunflower seeds with the shells removed) as one of its ingredients, the shells in a bag of Supreme blend accounted of 42%, or roughly eight pounds, of the 20 pound bag! Nearly half of the bag was shells! Wild Birds Unlimited No-Mess seeds and seed blends effectively eliminate shell waste all together, making them an even better value than our in-the-shell seed blends, and our best-selling seed blend for the past 8 or more years! Read about the additional benefits our No-Mess seeds and seed blends offer below!

No-Mess Seeds Blends & Seeds

"Oh, how I love thee...let me count the ways"

When Elizabeth Barret Browning penned those words, she could have been thinking about our No-Mess seed blends! Okay, maybe not...but all of our "No-Mess" bird seeds and seed blends feature seeds that have had their shells removed so only the meat of the seed is left. No hulls on the seeds makes for tidier feeding, since there's no debris on the ground to clean up. No shells on the ground also means less chance of rodent issues under the feeder; less chance of weeds popping up; and pound for pound, our regular No-Mess Blend bird seed offers you the best in value because your not paying for uneaten seeds and shell waste. The birds eat everything!

Here at Wild Birds Unlimited - Little Rock, we carry three No-Mess Blends, and three additional no-mess seeds.  We suggest choosing the right no-mess feeding option for your needs.  Below we will outline the differences.

Our WBU No-Mess Seed Blends...

No-Mess Seed Blend (The Classic)

No-Mess Seed Blend is a combination of sunflower hearts, shelled peanuts, and hulled millet.  This blend, our "classic" No-Mess Blend is perfect for wintertime feeding in our area.  The The millet feeds hungry ground-feeding birds such as resident Mourning Doves and Field Sparrows, as well as wintertime visiting grounds feeders such as Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows.  Most feeders have drainage holes or other paths by which the millet makes it to the ground for the ground feeders to make use of it.

No-Mess No Millet (No-Mess NM)

No-Mess No-Millet is a great warm weather seed blend because it does not have the millet which typically feeds the ground feeding birds.  This blend replaces the millet in classic No-Mess with chopped tree nuts such as almonds, pecans, and pistachios.  Use this blend year-round if you do not have a lot of ground feeding birds, you are on an upper story and don't get to see the ground feeding birds, or if you are not wanting to encourage doves who typically prefer to eat on the ground.

No-Mess Plus

No-Mess Plus is our most "completer" No-Mess blend.  The sunflower hearts, peanuts, and chopped tree nuts provide nutritionally necessary fat and protein for the birds, and the chopped cranberries and cherries provide additional nutrients.  The addition of suet snacks containing calcium helps strengthen shells of eggs laid in the nests and the bones of hatchlings.  Like all of our "Plus" blends, No-Mess Plus is considered to be a 'nesting' blend due to the added fruit and calcium, but it's great year-round blend, however, it's chunky ingredients can cause some feeders to clog up.  Talk to one of our knowledgeable sales associates to see if this is the right choice for you.

Shelled Peanuts

Shelled peanuts are what we call one of the best kept secrets in birdfeeding.  These nuts are high in both fat and protein, the two things birds crave the most when feeding.  Use them as as secondary feeding source, or add them to any seed blend to boost nutritional value.  

Sunflower Hearts

Sunflower hearts are a no-mess way to feed the basic birdseed, sunflower seeds.  Without the shell, there is less chance of 'weeds' popping up and you don't have all the mess below the feeder, which could attract undesireable critters.

Hulled Millet

A favorite food for spreading out on the ground during the winter season, hulled millet provides one of the highest grain protein percentages.  Throw it our on the ground with confidence it will not sprout in your yard.  Your wintertime visitors will appreciate it, especially if there is snow or ice on the ground.

In The Shell Seed Blends & Seeds

Wild Birds unlimited carries a wide variety of in-the-shell seed blends and single seeds.  Like all of our seed products, there are no filler seeds so it is a better value than typical big box store seed.  Brief descriptions of the available seed blends and seeds are listed below.

• Choice Plus - A combination of Black Oil Sunflower, Striped Sunflower, Safflower, Sunflower Hearts, Shelled Peanuts, Cranberries and Cherries, and suet snacks with calcium - this is one of our three 'nesting blends.'
• Choice Blend - A blend of Black  Oil Sunflower, Striped Sunflower, Safflower, Sunflower Hearts, and Shelled Peanuts.
• Supreme Blend - Like Choice Blend above, but without the peanuts.
• Deluxe Blend -  Black Oil, Safflower and Millet make a basic combination
• Tree Nutty Plus - Tree Nutty is one of our three nesting blends with a mixture that focuses on Woodpeckers and other nut-eating birds and includes Whole Peanuts and Raisins as well as suet snacks with calcium in addition to Striped Sunflower seeds.
• Black Oil Sunflower - The basic seed for birdfeeding, Black Oil sunflower has a softer shell and higher fat content than striped sunflower typically used for human consumption.   
• Safflower - Safflower seed is a potential problem solver in that squirrels and black birds tend to be less attracted to Safflower than to sunflower seed.  Some birds have trouble cracking the hard shell and some birds, such as woodpeckers, may not be attracted to Safflower either.
• Nyjer ("Thistle") - This seed is used almost exclusively for feeding American Goldfinches.  Not really a thistle seed at all, it is imported into the US and Canada and is sterilized before being brought into the country.  
• Corn - Corn is used primarily for feeding game birds such as chickens, geese and ducks.  It can also be used to feed squirrels.