Bird food without wheat

Tuesday, 2nd July 2019

There’s no doubt about it, some birds just love wheat; pigeons, pheasants, jays, crows, and magpies are the kind of wild bird (the bigger birds) that will visit your garden if wheat is on offer and can empty a feeder faster than you can BBQ a sausage on a sunny day.

We understand fully that everything needs to be fed, which is why we offer a full range of bird foods - we even have softfoods for the tiny Wren; however, one of the questions we often get asked at Haith’s is, what items do we sell that don’t contain wheat? More often than not that's because pigeons are consuming more than their fair share of bird food at feeding stations.

However, when we dig a little deeper - it's not that our customers begrudge feeding pigeons, it's normally that our customers worry that their smaller garden birds aren't getting fed when larger birds are scoffing the lot! But don’t worry we have you covered…

Premium Wild Bird Food includes oil-rich, high-energy Black Sunflower and millet making it especially popular when fed from seed feeders where it can also attract finches, tits and hopefully lots of House Sparrows as their numbers have declined by nearly 71% since 1977, according to BTO statistics. What it does NOT include, is wheat. Consider this mix a staple diet and supplement it, if possible, with one or two other seeds and foods to provide extra energy and protein.

For example, one of our most popular products is Sunflower Hearts. Ours are typically grown as close to home as possible, and herald from European seeds, unlike many other sunflower hearts on the market, which could come from as far away as South America, China and North America.

Pinhead Oatmeal is great for smaller birds and packed with protein. Popular with many garden birds, it can be fed on its own or mixed with other seeds.

Another favourite is peanuts as these are unwelcome by the pigeon! Ours are always premium quality; peanuts remain one of the simplest and most beneficial ways to feed birds in your garden. High in calories and oils, and highly attractive to wild birds they are chosen - as far as Haith's is concerned - for their quality, colour, and variety.

Choosing the right bird food for your garden birds can be hit and miss but you can easily add suet or dried mealworms to give that energy boost too, so please don’t despair – we always have options for you and your birds to try.