Choosing The Right Bird Feed

Match the food to the feeder

Every PestOff 3.0 version is set up for a specific food: the standard version takes mixed seed and sunflower hearts, the peanut version is set up for peanuts, mealworms and suet pellets, and there's a dedicated version for nyjer/thistle seed. Start with the feeder you own — or choose the version that matches the food you want to offer.

Sunflower hearts — the crowd-pleaser

If you feed one thing, make it sunflower hearts. Almost every garden bird loves them, they're highly nutritious, and because they're husk-free there's no mess and nothing to sweep up beneath the feeder.

Peanuts, mealworms and suet — high-energy options

Peanuts are a high-energy feed for peanut feeders. Suet nuggets and bird butter — made with premium beef suet, human-grade peanut butter and whole dried mealworms, made in the UK — are a high-energy feast that attracts more garden birds; feed them from a suet feeder or the PestOff XL Bird Butter Feeder.

Nyjer/thistle seed — the fine stuff

Nyjer is a very fine seed, so it needs the dedicated nyjer version of the PestOff 3.0, which has a fine port designed for it.

One tip if starlings dominate

Starlings are particularly fond of dried mealworms. If you'd rather not feed a whole flock of them, choose a mix without dried mealworms — sunflower hearts are the natural choice.