Bird seed without fillers is sold at specialty wild bird stores that list every ingredient and stock single seeds, such as sunflower hearts, alongside mixes made only from seeds feeder birds eat. In Ontario, Urban Nature Store bags filler-free seed at its ten local stores and ships smaller bags anywhere in Canada.
What Counts as Filler in Bird Seed?
Filler is inexpensive seed added to a mix that most feeder birds don't want, so they flick it out of the feeder to reach the seed they prefer. Urban Nature Store's sunflower hearts page names corn as the usual culprit, pointing to seed mixes that include "a lot of corn and other fillers."
Filler costs twice: you pay for seed the birds won't eat, and the tossed seed piles up under the feeder. A filler-free mix avoids both by using only seeds that the birds at your feeder will finish.
How Do You Read a Bird Seed Ingredient List?
Read the ingredient list, not the name on the bag. A name like "wild bird mix" or "all-purpose blend" says nothing about what's inside, while the ingredient list shows every seed in the bag.
A filler-free list names only seeds that feeder birds eat readily, such as black oil sunflower, sunflower hearts, safflower and peanuts. The product page for Urban Nature Store's Red Carpet Mix, for example, lists exactly five seeds: black oil sunflower, sunflower hearts, safflower, peanut halves and gray-striped sunflower.
Which Urban Nature Store Seeds Have No Filler?
Urban Nature Store's filler-free options fall into two groups: single seeds, which contain one ingredient and nothing else, and mixes such as Red Carpet Mix that combine only sunflower, safflower and peanuts. Single seeds in the bird food collection include sunflower hearts, black oil sunflower, safflower, Nyjer and no-shell peanuts.
|
Seed |
Ingredients |
Bag size for home delivery |
Bag sizes for store pickup |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Sunflower hearts only |
4 lb |
6, 25 and 50 lb |
|
|
Black oil sunflower only |
6 lb |
9 and 50 lb |
|
|
Black oil sunflower, sunflower hearts, safflower, peanut halves, gray-striped sunflower |
6 lb |
8, 25 and 50 lb |
Specs from Urban Nature Store's product pages, November 2026.
Another filler-free option is Happy Garden No-Mess Mix. Its product page lists four ingredients, sunflower hearts, peanut halves, dried cranberries and raisins, and because none of them has a shell, everything in the bag gets eaten.
Is Filler-Free Seed the Same as No-Mess Seed?
No. Filler-free means the bag holds only seeds birds eat, while no-mess means nothing is left behind, including shells. Black oil sunflower has no filler, but its product page notes that birds drop unopened seed and shells as they eat it.
Sunflower hearts are both filler-free and no-mess, because the shell is already removed before the seed is bagged. For a patio or deck where shells are a problem, hearts are the cleaner choice. For a comparison of seed types and the birds each attracts, see the guide to the best bird seed to buy in Canada.
Should You Buy Filler-Free Seed in Store or Online?
Buy in store for the larger bags and online for smaller refills. Urban Nature Store bags its seed in store, and the larger sizes of each seed in the table above are sold for store pickup only, while one smaller size of each of those three seeds ships anywhere in Canada.
Online orders over $125 ship free, and online orders can also be collected at the nearest of the ten stores listed on the store locations page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which single seed do most feeder birds eat?
Black oil sunflower. Urban Nature Store's product page calls it a basic seed that most birds will eat, even if it isn't every species' top choice, and describes its small shell as fairly easy for birds to open.
Does seed that falls from the feeder go to waste?
Not always. Urban Nature Store's black oil sunflower page notes that ground-feeding birds such as doves and pigeons often eat seed that falls below the feeder.
Which feeder suits Red Carpet Mix?
A hopper or tub feeder. Urban Nature Store's product page recommends Red Carpet Mix for hopper and tub feeders.
Is Urban Nature Store's seed packaged in Canada?
Mostly. Its seed pages say the seed is packaged in Canada using domestic and imported ingredients, with the exception of the 50 lb bags.
