The 6 Best NO-MESS Bird Seed Blends! (I use #6)
NO-MESS bird seed offers many benefits when feeding birds.
But, as the name suggests, the BEST part about these foods is that they don’t leave behind any shells, husks, or hulls! Your feeding station area remains clean. 🙂
But what are the BEST no-mess food mixes to consider?
Today, I am providing SIX different blends, with links showing where you can buy them online. I’m also including my thoughts on each one. Make sure you make it to the end of the list because #6 is BY FAR my favorite option for no waste bird foods.
*Read these two posts to learn more about No-Mess bird seed:*
- What is No-Mess Bird Seed? (+10 SHELL-FREE foods to try)
- 10 Awesome Benefits of Using NO-MESS Bird Seed!
And just remember, if you go looking for a no-mess bird seed blend at a local store, make sure it doesn’t include any FILLER seeds. Unfortunately, many manufacturers include FILLER foods, which are super cheap, to help bring the cost of the bag down. These filler foods (such as milo) are rarely eaten by most types of birds.
- READ MORE HERE: AVOID These 5 “Filler” Foods Found in Birdseed Mixes!
#1. Lyric Fine Tunes No Waste Bird Seed Mix
COMPARE PRICES!
Ingredients:
- Sunflower kernels
- Peanut pieces
- Almond pieces
- Pistachio pieces
- Hulled white millet
- Pecan pieces
- Shelled pumpkin seed pieces
All the foods in this blend are either small or have been chopped up into pieces, which means this no-mess mix is great to use in situations where the food needs to flow through a feeder.
A great example would be a tube feeder and most hopper-style feeders. Larger food that has not been broken up, such as peanuts and almonds, tends to get stuck inside these types of feeders.
Aspects tube feeder / Absolute II hopper feeder
This blend has an incredibly healthy mixture of seeds and tree nuts. Your birds will be very pleased eating this food. Seriously, it’s making me hungry and I want to go find a trail mix for myself (I LOVE almonds and pistachios)!
#2. Lyric Delite High Protein No Waste Mix
COMPARE PRICES!
Ingredients:
- Sunflower kernels
- Shelled peanuts
- Pistachios
- Pecans
- Shelled pumpkin seeds
This no-mess mix is similar to the first blend on the list, except you will notice that the seeds have NOT been broken up into pieces. Instead of peanut pieces, you are getting the entire shelled peanut. Instead of pistachio pieces, you get the whole pistachio.
The main difference between food pieces and the whole food is the type of feeder you can put it in. The Lyric Delite High Protein No Waste Mix probably wouldn’t work great in most tube feeders, since the larger food might get stuck. Instead, you should use it mostly with platform or tray feeders.
Woodlink 3 in 1 Platform / Domed Tray Feeder
In my opinion, most birds seem to prefer the WHOLE food, instead of the seed or nut being chopped up into pieces. But that is just from my personal experience, and your results may vary.
In addition, this mixture does NOT have white proso millet, which is normally a food that is included for GROUND feeding birds.
#3. Kaytee Ultra Waste Free Nut & Fruit Blend
COMPARE PRICES:
Ingredients:
- Sunflower kernels, Peanuts, Cracked corn, Raisins, Pistachio, Almonds, Canary grass seed, Dried cranberries, Walnuts, Pecans
This no-mess blend is the winner for the MOST amount of ingredients!
But just because there are a lot of different types of food doesn’t mean that the Kaytee Ultra Waste Free Nut & Fruit Blend is better. Let’s dive in a bit further.
Honestly, most of the foods in this blend are great. I like that sunflower kernels and peanuts are the first two ingredients, which means they are the most prominent. Cracked corn is next, which is a very inexpensive food that will appeal to many birds that feed on the ground.
It’s also nice to see a little bit of dried fruit (raisins and cranberries). Some birds eat dried fruit to help supplement their diet, and you may even see some birds that are not normally attracted to feeders, like American Robins.
Canary Grass Seed
The only seed in the bag that doesn’t seem necessary is canary grass seed. This food doesn’t appeal to many types of birds, with the exception of ones that feed on the ground. And canary grass seed is more expensive by weight than cracked corn, or even white proso millet, so it just seems like an expensive alternative that could have been eliminated.
#4. Wild Delight No Waste Bird Food
Ingredients:
- Sunflower Kernels
- Peanuts
- Pistachios
- Hulled Pumpkin Seed
Was this no waste bird food blend made for birds or for me? Seriously, that is a great-looking list of ingredients!
I like that this mixture has no “filler” seeds. All the seeds and nuts should be eaten quickly by your backyard birds.
Honestly, it’s great that Wild Delight didn’t try to get too fancy by including lots of different ingredients. They kept it simple with foods that birds LOVE!
#5. Wagner’s Gourmet Waste Free Bird Food
COMPARE PRICES:
Ingredients:
- Sunflower kernels
- Peanut pieces
- Cracked corn
- Shelled pumpkin seeds
The Wagner’s Gourmet Waste Free Bird Food blend keeps it simple with only FOUR ingredients. But these four ingredients will appeal to a WIDE variety of bird species.
The ingredients in this mixture are very similar to the Wild Delight No Waste Bird Food (#5) above, with the exception of one food. Instead of having pistachios, Wagner’s Gourmet Waste Free Bird Food includes cracked corn.
One food isn’t technically better than the other, but the two are just different and attract different birds. Cracked corn is less expensive than pistachios, and also appeals to birds that feed on the ground. But since cracked corn is a grain, it is also favored by some invasive species that tend to take over feeding stations, like House Sparrows and European Starlings.
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RELATED:Â 4 Proven Ways To Get Rid of Starlings TODAY!
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RELATED:Â 6 PROVEN Ways to STOP House Sparrows at Your Feeders!
#6. Make your own no-mess bird seed blend!
All of the no-waste bird seed mixes that I’ve listed so far are great. They include ingredients that birds love and also won’t leave behind any mess for you.
Unfortunately, there is one problem…
Did you click on the included links above? If so, you probably realized that no-mess blends are expensive! You might be asking yourself if it’s worth paying a lot more money just to avoid cleaning the mess that shell waste leaves behind.
Luckily, there are a few solutions.
First, almost without fail, it’s significantly cheaper to buy bags of bird food at a local store than buying online. One reason for this is the high cost of shipping bird seed since it is heavy. But even buying a no-mess bird seed blend locally can be costly.
Have you ever tried making your own no-mess food?
Honestly, I can’t remember the last time that 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 seeds, like sunflower kernels, shelled peanuts, safflower seeds, and corn. By weight, buying the bags individually is typically much less expensive.
Then when I feed my birds, I just combine all the different seeds and nuts together! I have separate metal garbage cans for each food, which allows me to change the ratio of each mix I offer every day. But you could also just mix all the different seeds together in one large bin if you find that easier.
Buying bird food can get VERY expensive. I have found the least expensive option for me is 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! 🙂
*Read these two posts to learn more about No-Mess bird seed:*
I make my own mix, consisting of shelled peanuts, hulled sunflower seeds, and a dash of cracked corn (juncos love the stuff.) The local chestnut-backed chickadees enjoy it all! On the ground feeder, I get dark-eyed juncos, carolina wrens, california towhees, and house finches.
I know this comes late as I just found this page. But you can get #1 at Chewy.
Can someone tell me why millet is to be avoided? The painted bunting love it!
I buy my shelled peanuts from Menards. Cheapest I can find them.
I use Royal Wing no mess bird seed from tractor supply. They have 2 varieties. One with fruit and nuts, and one with just nuts. I buy them both. The price is much better than other no waste bird seed, and the seed mix is excellent. It is packed full with all sorts of nuts and fruit. My birds are crazy over it!
I have been feeding for over 40 years… I just buy seed from reputable feed stores adjust ingredients per season and rake up the left over hulls. Also moving feeders around helps areas recover, I feed year round keep everything sanitized and always enjoy an abundance of new visitors. I’ve often thought if we got reimbursed by the government..they would owe me at least a million!
What are the kernals you use
I use this too Mary Lou! It’s great and I get the one with no millet. 🇨🇦
I’ve had the Fine Tunes on monthly auto ship for a year. The problem I’ve encountered is it has a tendency for availability to become an issue. Not sure if it’s a supply chain thing or not. It is expensive, and the sparrows ( right now they are outnumbered by goldfinches and warblers) have a tendency to throw it out, but I have plenty of squirrels and doves to clean that up. I use Lyric Cardinal in my tray feeder and the Fine Tunes in my wire feeder and hopper feeder. I can’t use the fruit and nut blends cause they have raisins and I have dogs. Raisins are toxic for dogs-worse than chocolate (I used to work as a vet tech).
All in all, I’m glad I went to no mess even with the expense. My birds and squirrels are happy!
Good morning! Scott- I love your tips and ideas (and birds and critters!). Just an FYI- I clicked on #1 above to give it a try. On Amazon it says there’s a 1-2 month wait for shipping. By the way, we also like the blend/s and shelled peanuts from Wild Birds Unlimited.
Yep, I’ve experienced availability issues with it periodically. My auto ship is delayed again.
I use Wild Birds unlimited No Mess blend without millet. They do have single unshelled seed too. I never considered blending my own. Just might have to see if it’s cheaper.
I’m a big fan of no mess seed. I’ve found that my local TSC is the best place to buy. I am however, having trouble finding a good cheap source of shelled peanuts. I’ve resorted to buying the ones that Aldi has for human consumption. Cheapest I can find. Do you have any suggestions of where to find them cheaper?