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Hi! I’m a passionate backyard birder and all-around animal lover. I gladly take time out of my busy schedule to share the latest and greatest information about birds, bird related products, and the best sunflower seeds.
Because I love these birds so much, I will continue to fervently share this valuable information with you for as long as I draw breath.
I recently reviewed 10 products that I determined to be the best birdseed. And out of these 10 products, I’d like to zero in on one in particular called Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seed.
Ultimately, I tested this brand of sunflower seed against other popular and less popular choices. In the end, I determined that Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seed is currently the Best Sunflower Seed available to share with your favorite wild birds.
How did I make my final decision? I spent time evaluating each birdseed brand based on a number of categories that include:
- Nutrient Quality
- Ease of Consumption
- Messiness
- Freshness
- Taste & Enjoyment
- Energy
Keep reading to discover the specific reasons why I feel Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seed is the Best Sunflower Seed and why it’s worthy of this prestigious honor.
Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Wild Bird Food
- Weight: 25 pounds
- Feeder Type: Tray, Hopper, Tube
- Dimensions: 3.5” x 15.5” x 28”
- Attracts: Finches, Cardinals, Chickadees
- Brand: Wagner’s
Overall Score:
92
The Bottom Line:
Overall, I feel strongly about this recommendation because this is such a high-quality bird food. It contains healthy oil content which gives the birds the perfect amount of healthy fat for their diet, which leads to tremendous vigor and longevity. It isn’t very messy, they deliver it in fresh quantities with few exceptions, and you can offer it in tube, hopper, and tray feeders.What’s Good
- Packed with healthy fat and nutrients
- Songbirds love it
- Thin shelled gourmet seeds
- High energy formula
- Dispensed with 3 feeder types
What’s Bad
- Contained sticks and stems
- Dry seeds
- Funny smell
Our Verdict: Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seed
Are you desperate to attract a wide range of backyard birds to your property?
Don’t worry, because it’s more than possible…
You see, before you know it, you’ll have a slew of finches, juncos, nuthatches, grosbeaks, and other gorgeous birds swarming your backyard.
Why?
They’ll suddenly realize that you’re now feeding them Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seed in one or more of your outdoor bird feeders.
Birds seem to go nuts for this tasty birdseed and rightfully so.
For starters, they truly adore the taste and seem to dig the texture. How do I know? I know because it doesn’t take long for my wild-winged friends to empty my feeder!
As a matter of fact, it only takes a couple of hours before I have to refill it again. For whatever reason, the birds never responded the same way to Pennington Select Black Oil Sunflower Seed or Lyric Sunflower Kernels for that matter.
Next, after ordering this product on numerous occasions, I can tell you that they always delivered fresh birdseed every time. That’s important when spending your hard-earned money to feed your fine feathered friends.
Also, I know that these seeds could be messy but they really aren’t that bad. Do you want to know why? They aren’t messy because the birds love them so much that they “clean their plate” for lack of a better phrase.
This formula is packed with vitamins and nutrients and healthy oils. These powerful supplements will provide my favorite pack of wild birds with lots of energy to remain alive and thriving in a difficult world.
And lastly, I also wanted to mention that these seeds are easy to consume. Even though they’re still shelled when you buy them, the shell is very thin and so simple for the birds to consume without any difficulty whatsoever.
Are you looking for more birdseed options for your bird feeder? Click the button below to check out our comprehensive review of our top 10 favorites.
Our Analysis, Comparisons & Test Results
Get ready…
I briefly touched upon these topics, but I’d like to share more detailed comparisons between other similar products. While testing Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seed, I also tested 3 other products at the same time to see which one the birds liked the best.
We’ll discover how Wagner’s product stacked up against:
- Pennington Select Black Oil Sunflower Seed
- Lyric Sunflower Kernels Wild Bird Food
- Kaytee Black Oil Sunflower Wild Bird Food
Why did I test each of these bird seeds against each other?
I wanted to know, more than anything else, which ones the birds liked, which ones had excellent reviews from previous users, and other fascinating things that I’ll go into greater detail about below.
At the end of the day, you’ll know why I feel so strongly about Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seed after you’ve finished reading this review.
Let’s not keep you in suspense any longer.
Energy
Oddly enough, this first category was a tough one to judge.
I couldn’t actually watch the birds after they ate each one of the seeds to see if they had a massive abundance of energy. It’s nearly impossible to tell when you have birds flying around back and forth all throughout your backyard.
But here’s what I could do…
I could look at the bird seed itself to make sure it was fresh, natural, and of the highest quality possible. This more than made up for my inability to determine if the birds actually experienced greater levels of energy or not after eating a particular seed.
Overall, I believe Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seed is a superior product when compared to the other three options that I reviewed. But that’s not to say that those products are complete failures by any stretch of the imagination.
Without naming names, let’s just say that on some occasions I would open a new bag of black oil sunflower seeds and the seeds would be less than fresh. In one instance, the seeds even had a funky smell and a moldy look to them.
The great thing about the seeds from Wagner’s was they were always fresh, always looked and smelled the way they were supposed to, and they always seemed to be a big hit amongst my backyard birds.
I can’t make the same claim for any of the other products, although the Pennington Select seeds definitely win the prize for runner-up.
How the Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Birdseed stacks up in the energy ratings:
Freshness
And speaking of freshness…
I already hinted that some of the other sunflower seeds that I tested weren’t 100% fresh all the time. This may have been caused by a shipping delay or maybe the manufacturer didn’t realize they were sending out old and outdated products.
Regardless, I want to point out that Pennington, Lyric, and Kaytee are all well respected bird seed brands in their own right. So, I really have nothing negative to say about them on the whole, although their sunflower seeds didn’t measure up in this particular instance.
The black oil sunflower seeds from Wagner’s were always fresh, they always looked brand-new, and they never had a funky smell, or mold, or an overly sticky wetness that would’ve told me they were about to start going bad.
At the end of the day, the Wagner’s seeds were delivered to me fresh and they remained fresh for the entire time that I had them in my possession.
Thankfully, the birds really seem to love the taste, so they never sat around collecting dust for weeks or months because the winged wonders loved to gobble them up as quickly as I could put them out in my bird feeders.
From a freshness perspective, I rated this product with a 90 out of 100. It didn’t receive a perfect score because I read a few online reviews from people that didn’t receive perfectly fresh seeds although it never happened to me personally.
How the Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seed stacks up in the freshness ratings:
Messiness
Ah! Messiness is something every backyard birder has to deal with. But it’s something we certainly wouldn’t mind avoiding whenever possible.
I actually rated these black oil sunflower seeds an 80 out of 100, which probably doesn’t seem like the best rating on the surface.
Why did I lower their score?
Overall, I had to drop their score by a few points because the seeds are still in thin shells when they deliver them to you and they remain that way when you feed them to the birds.
As the birds eat these seeds, they are crunching on these thin shells and they have a tendency to make a minor mess around your bird feeder. It’s not like you’re seeing huge chunks of black oil bird seed all over the floor, but you do see little particles of shells from time to time that need to get cleaned up.
This was pretty much the case for every one of the sunflower seeds that I tested. So, this minor messiness doesn’t really detract from the product whatsoever because it’s par for the course.
I can say this… Lyric Sunflower Kernels are 100% edible and the least messy food of the bunch. But my birds prefer Wagner’s so the lack of messiness isn’t enough to get me to change brands at the moment.
How the Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seed For Wild Birds stacks up in the messiness ratings:
Nutrient Quality
As far as nutrient quality is concerned, I definitely feel that Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seed excels in this area. These seeds are incredibly dense and packed with rich and healthy oils that provide my wild winged friends with all of the best nutrients that they’ll ever need.
With that said, I give this product a 100 out of 100 in the nutrient quality category and this rating is well-deserved.
These sunflower seeds contain ample levels of moisture, fiber, healthy fat, and protein. The overall breakdown consists of the following:
- 15% moisture
- 35% fiber
- 24% fat 14% protein
If you aren’t aware, this is a very satisfactory nutrient profile for backyard birds like songbirds, perching birds, and others. It’s a healthy balance for jays, cardinals, goldfinches, and other amazing birds. I’ll provide a full list of birds that devour this food in the FAQ section.
How the Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Bird Food stacks up in the nutrient quality ratings:
Taste & Enjoyment
Now:
I’d like to spend a moment reiterating how much the wild birds in my backyard seem to love the taste of Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seed.
But here’s the kicker…
They also enjoyed some of the other brands, and some more than others.
The first batch of Kaytee Black Oil Sunflower Wild Bird Food was a big hit. But for some reason, the second batch wasn’t as much of a success. This is likely because they delivered a product that was less than fresh by the time it reached my door.
The same is true for Pennington Select Black Oil Sunflower Seed. The birds devoured it right away, but I noticed that they didn’t empty the feeder as quickly as they emptied it when I gave them Wagner’s sunflower seeds.
It was these telling little signs that showed me that the Wagner’s product was tastier and more enjoyable for the wild birds around my home. So at least for now – and I’ll let you know if anything changes – I consider the black oil seeds from Wagner’s as the tastiest option based on the overwhelming response of the birds eating them.
How the Black Oil Sunflower Wild Bird Food By Wagner’s stacks up in the taste & enjoyment ratings:
Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seed FAQs:
Do Squirrels Like The Taste Of Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seed?
So, you’re thinking about feeding the squirrels in your neighborhood too, right?
Or…
Maybe you’re trying to figure out the best way to feed these sunflower seeds to the birds without the squirrels gobbling them up before your fine feathered friends can get to them.
Whatever the case, just know that squirrels seem to really like these sunflower seeds. So, they could be a problem if you do not prepare for them.
How do you prepare?
Think about setting up a small feeding station for the squirrels. Place it far away from your bird feeders to keep them occupied in a different area of your backyard. This pretty much guarantees the birds and squirrels get a tasty meal that they’ll both enjoy.
Will These Seeds Sprout If They’re Left Scattered On The Ground?
The short answer… Yes!
If you scatter these bird seeds around your backyard, and the squirrels and birds somehow manage to leave them alone, you will eventually notice little sprouts popping up from out of the ground.
At this stage, the birds will not eat them because they don’t like eating sprouts. I don’t know why this is the case but it’s definitely true.
But here’s the good thing…
The birds, squirrels, raccoons, and other ground dwelling animals seem to love black oil sunflower seeds. So, the odds of you ever seeing little sprouts popping up in your backyard are slim to none, so I wouldn’t worry about it all.
Which Birds Prefer And Enjoy The Taste Of Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seeds?
So many birds enjoy the taste of Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seeds. A quick list for your perusal includes:
Our Final Verdict: Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seed
I really appreciate that you stopped by this blog and took the time to read my review from start to finish. It means a lot to me and I really hope you found value in the information that I shared with you today.
When all is said and done, you can clearly see that I truly appreciate the high-quality birdseed known as Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seed. That’s why it shouldn’t come as a major surprise to learn that I designated it the Best Sunflower Seed based on the results of my testing and comparisons.
Why do I love this bird seed so much?
- The birds absolutely love the taste, which I can tell by their actions
- It’s filled with healthy vitamins and oils which makes it really nutritious
- It’s dense and provides the birds with ample amounts of energy
- Although a few reviewers may disagree, it was always delivered fresh and remained that way up until the birds finished eating it
- Nearly every songbird and perching bird devours it with abandon
Are you on the hunt for more information about the best bird seeds? I’ve performed detailed testing and comparisons on nine other products as well. Take some time to read my full review by visiting: Guide To The Best Bird Seed
Or to switch things up…
Use the abundance of information available online to make an informed decision. Read reviews from previous customers and get up-to-the-minute pricing information for Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Bird Food.
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