Favourites blend extra bird food

4.0 out of 5

20

I have been using this mix all year round for a few years now - and wow! what a variety of birds come to the feeder - goldfinches & nuthatch the most unusual plus a variety of tits & sparrows. And then collar doves, blackbirds, pigeons and the infuriating grey squirrel stand under eating the 'leftovers' / 'discards' on the grass. Adults have been bringing their fledglings over the past weeks - so sweet!! Thank you RSPB! This is a fab blend. I am guessing out of a city the blend would attract even more species. I feel lucky to have so many visiting where we live.

All my garden birds love this food. I use it in my feeders and on the ground. All of it goes quickly. I have blackbirds calling me evry morning for their breakfast. This is my 'go to' bird food.

Wasn’t expecting about 69% peanuts (whole and halves). Not sure this is suitable for table feeding, as recommended, due to the risk of birds choking on the peanuts.

Always order from RSPB shop as the quality is good,the birds love it & eat it up. however the difference in the Photo illustration online & the reality when the Favourites Blend Extra has been deteriorating for some time. Its very dusty, the mealworms seem crushed down & the suet nibbles are paler& about half as plentiful as in your illustration (Not Extra at all) And why would I want to pay Extra for this. I feel a bit of a Mug to be honest.

This is to update and replace my previous review.I previously submitted a review to say that disappointingly, after it had been a regular purchase for some time, I had been disappointed with batches of this product. However, my last three orders have all been completely back on form and the birds can't get enough of it.

Our birds go mad for this seed mixture. We have never had so many varied birds as we do now, ranging from goldfinches and dunnocks through to great spotted woodpeckers and starlings and the pigeons and squirrels who tidy up the bits that fall onto the ground.

This is an update to my previous review, as there has been a change in the quality of this product - original review is below. The issue with the product being VERY dusty appears to have been resolved, and isolated to a specific batch. RSPB have clearly actioned the feedback they've received. Last two batches have been dust free, and perfect! No more clogged feeders or paying for useless dust!
This product (along with nest boxes and fat balls) have helped turn our garden into a tiny sanctuary. Blackbirds, robins, sparrows and blue tits are all nesting and raising young this year, within a 8m x 8m area. Starlings and Wrens have become semi-regular visitors, dropping in to use the services.


Original Review
Our birds love this. Paired blackbirds wait every morning for their breakfast. The Sparrows arrive in hoards. Paired Robins are often picking the leftovers. We won't talk about the pigeons... However, this product is really dusty!! Fine for throwing on the lawn for the blackbirds, but in feeders it gets gunked up pretty quick - so be prepared to clean the feeder every time you fill it.
Nearly didn't buy again because of the dust problem (how much of the weight is actually useless dust?). Seriously needs looking at - this will be the last purchase if it arrives as dusty as the last sack.

I purchase 'Favourites blend extra bird food' like the previous reviewer find it very dusty. We have the Squirrel Buster Mini seed feeders which need unclogging after any rain as the dust becomes a semi-solid congealed mess. I believe the dust is a recent development as last summer the large sacks were fine.

I have been buying Favourites Blend Extra for some years. All our garden birds are attracted to it and there is never any waste. What falls to the ground when the aerial feeders are eating, and whatever I throw out together with suet sprinkles,, is invariably found and enjoyed by robins, sparrows, chaffinches, blackbirds, starlings, jackdaws, magpies, doves and pigeons, and pheasants. even our visiting pied wagtails manage to find soft bits for themselves. This is the only seed I ever buy, summer and winter, because it ensures our garden is always alive with well-fed birds.

I have been buying the favourites blend for years and think it fantastic but thought I would try this and get a better quality. I was extremely disappointed to find that it is very dusty and messy and the birds who ate the previous blend won't touch this. I'm going vack to the original mix

The birds absolutely love this mix. It's fed on a ground feeder and it's gone within minutes. Even the birds that normally feed from the hanging feeders come down for it.

very disappointing, I would not recommend or buy again. As soon as it rains, the mix goes soggy and clogs up the feeder. The feeders are RSPB feeders!

I wish I’d read the reviews before I ordered 25k of this bird food. The quality is terrible, bags full of dust with a few bits and pieces mixed in. It falls through the portals in my bird feeders and makes a soggy mess on the grass. It’s going to take a long time to use up the 25k and I won’t be buying this again.

We've had several bags with the food dust problem too. When sprinkled on the ground there's nothing left once the birds have had their meal. However, the bird feeders get clogged up as the dust sticks to the sides. Easy for us to empty out but not so easy for the hungry birds.
Similar issue with table feeding. We're cleaning the residue dust off the surface much more often. Hope you can get this problem sorted out soon otherwise we may have to move to another blend.

The last 12.75kg sack was very very dusty. This happened before some months ago then it improved again. It has clogged up my feeders and stops the food falling. I hope this doesn't continue or will stop buying

The bag I received contained a lot of dust and my birds reject the sunflower seeds (masses left on the table and on the ground)

Having read the two previous negative reviews, I wanted to leave a review. I have been buying the Favourites Blend and Favourites Blend Extra for a few years now and have always found the quality very good. Yes, the birds do leave the sunflower seeds until last, but they do come back and finish them. I have a reasonable variety of birds - loads of Starlings and also a lot of Black Birds, but also Sparrows, Chaffinches, Robins, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Collared Doves, Wood Pigeons, Magpies and Jackdaws, plus the odd other variety for a quick visit every now and then. I mostly feed it from the ground and very rarely is anything left at the end of the day and I do put quite a lot down. In fact during breeding season it can be gone in 30 minutes and I could leave several more lots during the day and it would still be eaten. My garden does have a few large trees overlooking it and the birds are waiting every morning for me to leave the food out, The black birds don't even wait for me to leave and come down whilst I'm still there. One of them is so brave he comes into our kitchen if the back door is open and there is no food out! I have proof on my phone as I have filmed him! I know it is the same one as he is slightly larger in size and has a larger beak. Anyway, I have not had a bad batch yet and will definitely continue to use this food as well as your suet pellets and no grow ground mix - all are very good quality. I have tried other, cheaper priced food and that is often left uneaten.

I have tried all of the feeds from the RSPB and this is by far the most popular with our birds. It is used in a vertical squirrel proof feeder. Different birds like different seeds and interestingly the seeds that some of the birds throw out attracts the ground feeding birds as well. Enjoying this feed we have: Goldfinches, Greater Spotted Woodpeckers, Siskins, Blue Great Coal and Willow Tits, Bullfinches, Greenfinches, Chaffinch, Starlings and Nuthatches.

I would highly recommend this feed if you have a variety of birds and want to keep them happy with one feed. We have one other feeder with just peanuts in.

My garden attracts starlings sparrows, blue tits, blackbirds, robins, wagtails, collar doves, wood pigeons, magpies, jackdaws. I use the feed on a bird table and in feeders. The feeders are emptied by the birds every day, but all of the sunflower seeds end up on the ground as the birds pick them out and dump them, so most of the bulk of this feed is of no value. The table attracts the larger birds and most of the feed goes but the sunflower seeds are last to go. Disappointing.

I spent £39.99 on a large sack of Favourites Blend- what a waste of money!
The birds eat the mealworms and suet pieces but will not touch the sunflower seeds. It’s as if they are poisonous.
There is obviously a serious quality control issue here. I have always been happy with RSPB bird food before but feel a refund or voucher would be a welcome gesture for this product and I would expect to see it removed from sale so that others do not waste money.