Why Our Food Is The Best

The quality and nutritional value of the many bird food mixes available these days varies in the extreme. It is absolutely essential to buy a good quality mix to guarantee the very best nutritional content for your birds. Cheap foods are widely available but are far from the best as our tests show.

Garden Bird Supplies are proud to be a founder member of the BSA (Birdcare Standards Association) which is an association of the UK’s leading suppliers of wild bird foods and other bird care products. All members have to operate within the stringent criteria laid down by the Association, covering safety, nutrition and hygiene.

The BSA’s strict standard for wild bird food mixes categorizes every type of seed in relation to the nutritional benefit for the birds. Category 1 foods are those which are the very best, such as sunflower hearts. Categories 4 & 5 foods are those which have little or no benefit, such as barley. They also have a list of ingredients that should not be included in any mixes as they have no nutritional benefit at all, these include lentils and split peas. Sadly, many cheaper mixes contain a majority of foods which have little or no nutritional benefit as they are used as low cost bulking agents – examples include barley, lentils and even dog biscuits!

BSA food category examples

The Garden Bird Supplies range of bird foods has been carefully formulated to provide the very best, safe, balanced and nutritious diet for all types of garden birds. All of our food mixes exceed the strict standards laid down by the BSA.

The test results are in!

We sent samples of food mixes to an independent food testing laboratory, they were purchased from a high street pet store, a major supermarket and of course our own Garden Bird Supplies Ultiva® variety. Take a look, we’re sure that these findings will give you food for thought! The test focussed on the key elements fat, energy, protein, starch and sugars as well as calcium. The independent laboratory tests returned the following results.

Results

Fat & Energy

Fat and energy are the most important elements of any garden bird mix. Birds need a huge amount of energy everyday just to survive. In cold weather, nest building and breeding periods birds will need to eat frequently to replace lost energy. Blue Tits for example can spend up to 85% of their day in winter just searching for food to keep them alive over night. Small birds have the added challenge that they cannot store enough fat to last more than one night, so need to feed daily.

The analysis reveals a startling difference between the fat and energy content of each feeder mix tested. Our Ultiva® Feeder mix contains over 2 ½ times more fat than the popular supermarket bought product, it gives over 50% more energy than the pet shop mix.

Protein

Protein is vital for muscle development and general body condition. It is especially important for fledglings as they need to gain muscle quickly. Ultiva® Feeder Mix contains over 55% more protein than any of the other mixes tested.

Calcium

This is essential for bone and feather growth and maintaining strength. Our mix has over 1 ½ times the calcium content of the closest performing feed in the tested group.

Sugars

Sugars give an instant energy boost, vital in cold conditions or in periods of busy activity. Once again our mix considerably outperformed the other products in the test.

Starch

Foods high in starch are slow and dificult to digest, so have little benefit for birds who need energy quickly. This is especially true of many small songbirds who lack the digestive features needed to properly process this food. Seeds high in starch, such as barley, are used as bulking agents and are common in cheap food mixes. The Pet Store food contained nearly 2 ½ times more starch than our mix, whilst the supermarket mix was almost double. This suggests that these mixes have a high barley content.

Conclusion

Our independent tests show that weight for weight Ultiva® feed mixes really are the best for your garden birds. They contain only the finest ingredients giving the very best nutrition and calorific values and are packed full of oil and protein. There is no doubt that with garden bird food you get what you pay for.

Remember, your garden birds rely on you to provide them with the energy they need, they will eat what you feed them. Cheaper foods may seem like an economy, allowing you to feed more, but as our tests show – to your birds they are a false economy.