How do wild birds eat sunflower seeds? (1 Viewer)

[mobile1]

How do wild birds eat sunflower seeds?

Do they eat the entire thing, or do they crack it open and eat just the seed inside?

 

[KC Foggin]

They crack it open and eat the inside (heart) of the Sunflower.

 

[mobile1]

Thank you.

 

[Zheljko]

Some of them visibly move the mandibles left and right until the seed opens. The empty shells may be discarded below the feeder or on it, depending on the type of feeder. Tits and chickadees tend to take the seed away, while finches are more prone to sit at the feeder and chew up one seed after the other.

 

[aaron1956]

I keep sunflower seeds out year round at my home in south Texas and it is fun to watch how different birds behave. As mentioned above, the titmouse will take one seed, fly up to a limb, peck it open and eat the kernel. The Northern Cardinals will sit and crack them open, drop the hull and repeat. The doves are the piggy ones. They gobble them up as fast as they can, storing them in their craw I suppose.

 

[Nutcracker]

They crack it open and eat the inside (heart) of the Sunflower.

The doves are the piggy ones. They gobble them up as fast as they can, storing them in their craw I suppose.

Yep - doves and pigeons (and also birds like turkeys and partridges) are different to KC's general rule (which applies to passerines). These swallow the seeds whole and grind them up in their gizzard.