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NO-MESS bird seed offers many benefits when feeding birds.
But, as the name suggests, the BEST part of these dishes is that they don’t leave any shells, husks, or hulls! Your feeding station area remains clean. π
But what are the best no-fuss food mixes to consider?
Today, I’m giving away SIX different blends, with links showing where you can buy them online. I have also included my thoughts on each one. Make sure you get to the end of the list because #6 is BY FAR my favorite option for zero waste bird food.
*Read these two posts to learn more about No-Mess bird seed:*
And just remember, if you’re looking for a no-fuss birdseed blend at a local store, make sure it doesn’t include any FILLER seeds. Unfortunately, many manufacturers include FILLER foods, which are very cheap, to help reduce the cost of the bag. These filler foods (like milo) are rarely eaten by most bird species.
Ingredients:
- Sunflower seeds
- nuts pieces
- Choose pieces
- Pistachio pieces
- Hulled white millet
- Pecans pieces
- Shelled pumpkin seeds pieces
All the foods in this mixture can be small or choppedwhich means this messy mix is ββgreat to use in situations where food needs to flow through a feeder.
A good example is a tube feeder and most hopper-style feeders. Larger foods that have not been chopped, such as peanuts and almonds, tend to get stuck in these types of feeders.
Aspects tube feeder / Absolute II hopper feeder
This blend has an incredibly healthy blend of seeds and tree nuts. Your birds will be very happy to eat this food. Seriously, I’m hungry and want to find a trail mix for myself (I LOVE almonds and pistachios)!
Ingredients:
- Sunflower seeds
- Shelled peanuts
- Pistachios
- Pecans
- Shelled pumpkin seeds
This mess-free mixture is similar to the first mixture on the list, except you’ll notice that the seeds are NOT split. Instead of pieces of peanuts, you get whole peanuts with their skins on. Instead of pistachio pieces, you get whole pistachios.
The main difference between pieces of food and whole food is the type of feeder you can put in it. The Lyric Delite High Protein No Waste Mix probably won’t work well with most tube feeders, as larger food can get stuck. Instead, you should use it most have platforms or tray feeders.
Woodlink 3 in 1 Platform / Domed Tray Feeder
In my opinion, most birds seem to prefer the WHOLE food, rather than the seed or nut chopped up. But that’s just from my personal experience, and your results may vary.
Additionally, this mix does NOT contain white proso millet, which is usually a food included for GROUND feeding birds.
Ingredients:
- Sunflower seeds, Peanuts, Cracked corn, Raisins, Pistachios, Almonds, Canary grass seeds, Dried cranberries, Walnuts, Pecans
This no-fuss blend is the winner for MOST ingredients!
But just because there are many different types of food doesn’t mean that the Kaytee Ultra Waste Free Nut & Fruit Blend is better. Let’s dive in a little more.
Honestly, most of the foods in this blend are great. I like that sunflower seeds and peanuts are the first two ingredients, which means they are the most popular. Cracked corn is next, which is a very cheap food that will attract many ground feeding birds.
It’s also nice to see some dried fruit (raisins and cranberries). Some birds eat dried fruit to help supplement their diet, and you may also see some birds that are not normally attracted to feeders, such as American Robins.
Canary Grass Seed
The only seed in the bag that didn’t seem necessary was canary grass seed. This food is unattractive to many types of birds, except ground feeders. And canary grass seed is more expensive by weight than cracked corn, or even white proso millet, so it seems like an expensive alternative that can be eliminated.
Ingredients:
- Sunflower Kernels
- nuts
- Pistachios
- Hulled Pumpkin Seed
Isn’t this a waste bird food blend made for the birds or for me? Seriously, that’s a great list of ingredients!
I like that this mix has no “filler” seeds. All seeds and nuts should be eaten quickly by your backyard birds.
Honestly, it’s so good that Wild Delight didn’t try to impress by combining a lot of different ingredients. They keep it simple with foods that birds LOVE!
Ingredients:
- Sunflower seeds
- Pieces of peanuts
- Cracked corn
- Shelled pumpkin seeds
The Wagner’s Gourmet Waste Free Bird Food blend keeps it simple with just FOUR ingredients. But these four ingredients will appeal to a wide variety of birds.
The ingredients in this mixture are very similar to Wild Delight No Waste Bird Food (#5) above, except for one food. Instead of having pistachios, Wagner’s Gourmet Waste Free Bird Food includes cracked corn.
One food is not technically better than the other, but the two are just different and attract different birds. Cracked corn is cheaper than pistachios, and also attracts ground-feeding birds. But because cracked corn is a grain, it is also favored by some invasive species that tend to take over feeding stations, such as House Sparrows and European Starlings.
#6. Make your own mess-free birdseed blend!
All of the no-waste bird seed mixes I’ve listed so far are great. They include ingredients that birds love and won’t leave any mess for you either.
Unfortunately, there is one problem:
Did you click on the affiliate links above? If so, you’ve probably realized that mess-free blends are expensive! You may be asking yourself if it’s worth paying more money just to avoid cleaning up the mess that waste shells leave behind.
Fortunately, there are some solutions.
First, almost without fail, it is cheaper to buy bags of bird food at a local store than to buy online. One reason for this is the high cost of shipping bird seed because it is heavy. But even buying a local, no-fuss bird seed blend can be expensive.
Have you ever tried making your own mess-free food?
Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I bought a pre-made bird food mix. I ALWAYS make my own! Here’s what I do:
At a hardware store near my house, I buy individual bags of seed, such as sunflower kernels, shelled peanuts, and corn. By weight, buying bags individually is usually cheaper.
Then when I feed my birds, I just mix in all the different seeds and nuts! I have separate metal bins for each food, which allows me to change the ratio of each mix I offer daily. But you can also mix all the different seeds together in one big bin if that’s easier for you.
Buying bird food can be very expensive. I found the cheapest option for me was the strategy of buying separate bags of food and making my own mix each day!
What is your favorite NO-MESS bird seed?
Please leave a COMMENT below! π
*Read these two posts to learn more about No-Mess bird seed:*
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