Top bird feed options for 2025: Nourishing the ravenous avian stomachs
In 2025, offering a diverse range of high-quality bird food is key to attracting a variety of bird species and ensuring their health. Dr. Rebecca MacMillan, a renowned ornithologist, recommends a selection of seed mixes, suet balls, mealworms, and fruit blends.
Seed mixes, such as those containing black oil sunflower seeds, sunflower hearts, red and white millet, and safflower seeds, appeal to many birds including cardinals, grosbeaks, chickadees, goldfinches, jays, and juncos. Choosing seed blends without filler seeds, like millet, milo, or corn, provides better nutrition and attracts more species.
Suet balls, or fat balls, offer a high-energy fat content, especially appreciated by insectivorous and energy-demanding birds. Combining suet with nuts and seeds creates an attractive, nutritious option that supports diverse wild birds year-round.
Mealworms, whether live or dried, are excellent protein sources, particularly for insect-eating species. They promote health and feather condition and are ideal during breeding and molting seasons but should be given as a supplement rather than the sole diet.
Fruit blends, including dried berries, nuts, and fruit pieces, help draw fruit-eating birds like thrushes and waxwings. High-quality mixes, such as the Valley Farms Fruit Nut & Berry blend, combine nutrition with bird-attracting flavors.
Dr. MacMillan suggests offering a clean supply of water for wild birds in the garden, and a large shallow bird bath or dish is preferable for birds to drink from and bathe in.
The best seed mixes are aimed at feeding small songbirds, particularly finches, and contain sunflower kernels, pistachio, almond, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, and white proso millet. The best suet balls do not contain any artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives and provide an abundance of protein and energy, making them ideal for winter.
The best mealworms are dried and come in a resealable bag. They are a high-protein feed for bluebirds, wrens, robins, cardinals, woodpeckers, and chickadees. The best mealworms have been oven dried, maintaining their nutritional value.
This wild bird food contains a three-bug blend of black soldier fly larvae, dehydrated mealworms, and dried darkling beetles, providing an alternative protein source for birds.
To protect plants and vegetables from bird attacks, consider using mesh or netting, or hanging shiny, spinning, or noisy objects nearby.
Choosing high-quality blends like those from Valley Farms or Birds Choice products ensures fresh, nutrient-dense food without fillers or allergens to support wild bird health and diversity in your backyard in 2025.
Here are some examples of recommended products:
| Food Type | Key Ingredients & Benefits | Bird Types Attracted | |--------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------| | Seed Mixes | Black oil sunflower, safflower seed, millets, sunflower chips | Cardinals, chickadees, finches, jays | | Suet Balls | Fat with nuts and seeds | Woodpeckers, nuthatches, tits | | Mealworms | High-protein live/dried worms | Bluebirds, robins, wrens | | Fruit Blends | Dried berries, nuts, fruit pieces | Thrushes, waxwings, grosbeaks |
- In 2025, the variety of bird species in your backyard could significantly increase with a diverse range of high-quality bird food.
- Dr. Rebecca MacMillan recommends seed mixes, suet balls, mealworms, and fruit blends for optimal bird health.
- Seed mixes with black oil sunflower seeds, sunflower hearts, millets, and safflower seeds attract a wide range of birds like cardinals, grosbeaks, chickadees, and goldfinches.
- Choosing seed blends without filler seeds improves the nutrition for the birds and attracts more species.
- Suet balls offer a high-energy fat content and are appreciated by insectivorous and energy-demanding birds.
- Combining suet with nuts and seeds creates an attractive, nutritious option for diverse wild birds year-round.
- Mealworms are excellent protein sources, particularly for insect-eating species, and promote bird health during breeding and molting seasons.
- Fruit blends, such as the Valley Farms Fruit Nut & Berry blend, attract fruit-eating birds like thrushes and waxwings.
- Dr. MacMillan suggests offering a clean supply of water for wild birds in the garden, ideally in a large shallow bird bath or dish.
- The best seed mixes are aimed at feeding small songbirds and contain sunflower kernels, pistachio, almond, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, and white proso millet.
- High-quality bird food, like products from Valley Farms or Birds Choice, ensures fresh, nutrient-dense food without fillers or allergens, supporting wild bird health and diversity.
- To protect plants and vegetables from bird attacks, consider using mesh or netting, or hanging shiny, spinning, or noisy objects nearby, for instance, in your home-and-garden, pet-related social-media, career-development, entertainment, or learning platforms focused on fashion-and-beauty, food-and-drink, pets, shopping, education-and-self-development, personal-growth, skills-training, or sports.
