Urban Nature Store's Kingston location is a specialty bird seed store in Eastern Ontario. It sells single seeds and no-mess mixes bagged in store daily, in sizes from small bags to 50 lb bulk bags, and its staff can match a seed to the birds visiting your feeder. Birders elsewhere in Eastern Ontario, including Ottawa, can order the same seed online for delivery or pick up bulk bags in Kingston.
What Makes a Bird Seed Store a Specialty Store?
A specialty bird seed store sells seed by type, so you can buy exactly what your birds eat instead of a generic mix padded with filler. It also bags seed on site so it stays fresh, and its staff know which seed draws which birds.
The Kingston store page describes an "extensive selection catering to all your songbirds", with seed "freshly bagged in-store daily." Urban Nature Store's wider bird food collection lists more than 150 seeds, mixes, suets and treats.
What Bird Seed Can You Buy at the Kingston Store?
Urban Nature Store's fresh wild bird seed collection, sold at the Kingston store and online, covers the main single seeds and mixes. The store's own pages describe what each seed does:
- Black oil sunflower: a basic seed most birds will eat, popular with sparrows, doves and finches, though birds drop shells and unopened seed under the feeder
- Sunflower hearts: sunflower seed with the shell removed, so nothing is wasted and no hulls land on the lawn
- Nyjer: a tiny seed, often called thistle, for goldfinches and other finches, served in a finch tube feeder with small ports or a mesh sock
- White proso millet: a small round seed favoured by ground-feeding birds such as dark-eyed juncos
- Mixes: blends such as Happy Garden No-Mess Mix, Finch & Friends Mix, Red Carpet Mix and Fiesta Mix, plus safflower and peanuts in and out of the shell
On October 29, 2026, the Kingston store showed more than 100 bags in stock of both Black Oil Sunflower and Nyjer.
Which Seeds Suit Winter Birds in Eastern Ontario?
Dark-eyed juncos and goldfinches are two winter visitors that Urban Nature Store's seed advice covers directly. Urban Nature Store founder Paul Oliver's junco guide says juncos arrive in Ontario in October and stay through winter, often into March or early April. They feed on the ground, so they eat best from a platform feeder, a tray under a hanging feeder or a patch of cleared ground.
For juncos, the guide recommends white proso millet, sunflower hearts, and cracked or whole black oil sunflower. Goldfinches and other finches go for Nyjer in a small-port finch feeder. Sunflower hearts also leave no shells on the snow.
Which Bag Sizes Ship, and Which Are Pickup Only?
Each of the three most popular seeds ships in one smaller bag size, while the larger and bulk bags are for store pickup only:
|
Seed |
Ships to your home |
Store pickup only |
|---|---|---|
|
6 lb |
9 lb, 50 lb |
|
|
4 lb |
6 lb, 25 lb, 50 lb |
|
|
4 lb |
6 lb, 18 lb, 50 lb |
Bag sizes from Urban Nature Store's product pages, November 2026.
Regular buyers can join the free Frequent Feeder Club through Urban Nature Rewards, which gives a free bag of seed for every 10 bought, according to the Kingston store page.
How Can Ottawa and Other Eastern Ontario Birders Get Seed From Kingston?
Kingston is Urban Nature Store's only location in Eastern Ontario, so birders farther away have two options. The first is home delivery: smaller bags ship anywhere in Canada, and orders over $125 ship free. The second is store pickup for bulk bags: order online, choose the Kingston store at checkout, and the store phones or emails when the order is ready. Curbside pickup orders can also be placed by calling the Kingston store at 613-887-2735.
Address and hours are on the Kingston store page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is nyjer seed the same as thistle seed?
Yes, as it's sold for birds. Nyjer is often called thistle seed, and Urban Nature Store's Nyjer page notes that the name normally refers to non-germinating thistle seed, which isn't meant to sprout under the feeder.
Do squirrels eat nyjer seed?
Rarely. Squirrels will occasionally eat nyjer, but the Nyjer product page notes that it is low on their list of favourite foods.
Why is there so much mess under a black oil sunflower feeder?
Birds crack the shells at the feeder and drop the hulls along with some unopened seed. Ground feeders such as doves eat the fallen seed, but the shells stay behind, which is why some birders switch to sunflower hearts.
Where can you go birding near Kingston?
The Kingston store page links a downloadable list of local birding sites near Kingston, and the store suggests walks at Little Cataraqui Creek and Lemoine Point.
