Errrr, this is not gardening but wild bird related.

why should it be removed ,birds are part of your garden ,and we advise eachother on rabbits dear foxes badgers pidgins, they are all part of gardening, I myself do not have to bother about sunflower seeds as I grow sun flowera and put the flowers on top of the hedge to dry out ,from were they disapear,

That's about what I pay, Louise - if you've got enough space, the cheapest method is to grow sunflowers and feed the birds the seeds from those!

i agree louise .bamboo and cliffo are right .sunflowers are serprisingly easy to grow and you can grow them quite close together . if you want to buy the seeds to grow sunflowers its worth going to a pet shop and buy your seeds there as there a lot cheaper .

I feed sunflower hearts 12 months per year continually in a seed feeder. It proves to be the most popular feed for my birds, of all the feeds I put out. I buy it from Haiths.com very often. But my local branch of Tesco also sell it, and their price is often better. Like Cliffo says, birds are part of the garden. And insects too. A garden is about all nature, and not just plants.

I have found that if you grow sunflowers, the birds will help themselves. If you do buy a packet of seeds, make sure they are the ordinary pollen producing type because some companies sell pretty, but pollen-free which produce no usable seeds.

im well into the garden being a little wildlife reserve as i love most animals and insects and you can learn so much .

Thanks everyone.
I don't have room for sunflowers to be planted and i suspect that the high winds here on the hill would knock them down anyway.

It seems like £2 a kilo is about average, so that gives me an idea. It's the sunflower hearts that are most popular too so i'll not swap to the common sunflower seeds (also, less mess and less sprouting!)
Thanks again :-)

good thinking

If you are worried about the wind, T&M has the "Choco Sun" sunflower that is 10 -12 inches tall. You are supposed to be able to grow them in a vase.

Really ?
I'll look out for them :-)

Think you re right Louise as sure you ll have seen many birds enjoy sunflower hearts even robins and tits but they dont possess the heavy bills needed to crack open sunflower seeds.

Seem to need bills like greenfinches bullfinches etc have to open them so even if you could grow them their benefit to birds esp during this cold weather is questionable.At least you ll know by buying sunflower hearts they ll always be appreciated esp by the smaller birds that have such a tough time during winter months.

Sure you probably do any way but they really need to be in a seperate feeder as mixing them with other seeds invites the bigger birds onto feeders - the feeder with a small tray is ideal as often larger birds cant negotiate it.

~get mine from Kennedy bird food £36 for 25 KILOS free delivery~got those special mesh sunflower feeders which the goldfinches and greenfinches love whilst the bullfinches sit on the little metal trays~bought those from Feedem pets I think~ 2 for about £13 plus delivery with yellow metal base and lid~ the diamond mesh works well!~ metal trays from Wild Bird Direct~ I get suet pellets and peanuts from Kennedy too!
nb The sacks come in white hessian type material and are not too big to manage~

Bb, i only have hanging seed feeders because i dont want to attract bigger birds.

Arlene, i'll have a look at Kennedys, thanks.

~ I have about half a dozen sunflower seed feeders with one with a big wide tray which does allow bigger birds onto it and I get through a substantial amount of sunflower seed daily ~Kennedy deliver promptly and their seed usually comes in strong cardboard boxes,which you can leave the sacks in if you want to~ I have Nuthatches who can do a good job of clinging to the mesh ones~ you would be surprised at the birds which seem to prefer Sunflower~ even the Goldfinches!

Yes, i've noticed that these Goldfinches prefer the sunflower hearts too.

~ wild bird direct are doing 1kg dried meal worms for £10.99~ cheapest I have seen!

It looks like Wild Bird Direct are a bit more competetive.
This is a good comparison guide, thanks Arlene :-))

~ yes I just bought a 12.50 sack of Natures feast premium ground and table seed for blackbirds robins etc with raisins etc in it from them and it was delivered the next day also strongly boxed up~most of them do that in fact~
I think I have bought from nearly every supplier and could do a secret shopper report!
I sometimes find that I will see something including accessories like plastic domes etc and will shop around until I find it at the cheapest price~
My first yellow mesh seed feeder (Bucktons)was about £13 odd from Haith's but I found the latest pair were just over £13 for two from Feedem Pets~ at least all the suppliers get some custom from me!

:-)