Best Bird Seed for Cardinals: 9 Seeds and Mixes Compared

The best bird seed for cardinals is built on the two seeds cardinals take most readily at feeders, black oil sunflower and safflower, with little of the bag spent on corn and millet, which Project FeederWatch ties to doves, sparrows, and juncos, or on milo, which it says often goes to waste. Our Best Overall is Lyric Cardinal Premium Sunflower & Safflower Mix. Per Lyric, it is over 70% sunflower, in a mix of black oil sunflower, safflower, black striped sunflower, buckwheat, and sunflower kernels, and Lyric says it contains larger seeds that Northern Cardinals and other big-billed birds such as Blue Jays prefer. We compare nine seeds and mixes, from straight sunflower and straight safflower to regional and general blends, and show how much of each bag is cardinal food.

We compared the nine on ingredients, how much of the bag is sunflower or safflower where the maker says, the fat guarantee where the maker prints one, bag size, and the feeders each listing names. Two published sources set the criteria. The Audubon Guide to North American Birds says the Northern Cardinal readily comes to bird feeders, where it favors sunflower seeds, and that it forages mostly while hopping on the ground or in low bushes. Project FeederWatch’s guide to food types lists black oil sunflower among the favorite feeder foods of cardinals and says safflower attracts cardinals and other big-billed birds.

This guide covers choosing seed for backyard feeders. It is not advice on caring for sick or injured birds; if you find one, contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator or your state wildlife agency.

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Our Top Bird Seed Picks for Cardinals

• Best Overall: Lyric Cardinal Premium Sunflower & Safflower Mix. The only mix here whose maker puts its sunflower share above 70%, with safflower added and no corn, millet, or milo listed, per Lyric.
• Best Two-Seed Blend: Kaytee Cardinal Blend. The only product here made of just black oil sunflower and safflower, according to the Amazon listing, and Kaytee guarantees at least 36.0% crude fat, the highest of the three fat figures printed for products here.
• Best Regional Blend: Kaytee Midwest Regional Blend. The only regional formula here, for Midwestern yards, led by sunflower hearts and chips with oil sunflower and safflower among its six ingredients and at least 35.5% crude fat, per Kaytee.
• Best Straight Sunflower: Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower. The only product here that is 100% black oil sunflower, according to the Amazon listing, the seed Project FeederWatch lists among cardinals’ favorite feeder foods, in a 25 lb bag.
• Largest Bag: Lyric Wild Bird Mix. At 40 lb per the listing, the largest bag here; cracked corn comes first and Lyric says it is over 20% sunflower, so it suits yards that also feed doves and sparrows on the ground.
• Best Straight Safflower: Lyric Golden Safflower. The only single-seed safflower here, a golden variety Lyric says has 15% more oil, 25% more protein, and 30% more fat than white safflower.

Three picks carry no title. Kaytee Songbird Blend is black oil sunflower, cracked corn, millet, peanuts, and striped sunflower, per Kaytee, a general songbird mix in which cardinals are one of many target birds. Wagner’s Classic Blend contains millet, milo, cracked corn, and sunflower, according to the Amazon listing, and is the only product here with milo. Wagner’s Deluxe Treat is a sound sunflower and safflower mix, per Wagner’s, but it gives no sunflower share and leads on no column of the table.

Cardinal Seed Compared

Ingredients come from the maker’s page where we could find one, linked in the first column, or from the Amazon listing. Sunflower share and fat are the maker’s figures, except the 100% for Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower, which comes from the Amazon listing; most makers give neither. Bag size and feeder types are from the Amazon listing.

How We Chose

We searched Amazon US for cardinal bird seed, cardinal blends, and safflower seed, and considered products from the bird food brands on our reviewed list. Each product had to be sold new, average at least 4.0 out of 5 from at least 30 owner ratings, and name cardinals somewhere in its own listing. We then read each ingredient list against the two sources above and kept products that contain sunflower or safflower, the seeds those sources tie to cardinals. A regional blend for the Northeast was left out because its listing does not mention cardinals. We took no more than three products from one brand, which is why there are three each from Kaytee, Wagner’s, and Lyric.

For Best Overall we require a product from a brand we have vetted, with at least 1,000 owner ratings and an average of at least 4.2 out of 5, that fits the keyword best. Lyric Cardinal meets that bar, is sold specifically as a cardinal mix, and has the largest sunflower share any mix here puts in writing, so it takes the title. The other eight follow in our research order. The FeederBirdLab Score on each card is a separate measure and does not set the order or the Best Overall, as explained in how we calculate the score.

Where a maker page exists, we compared it with the listing. One listing clearly conflicts with its maker: the Kaytee Midwest Regional Blend listing names peanut hearts and golden safflower and leaves out niger, while Kaytee’s page for the same product, matched by UPC, lists niger and no peanuts. We lowered its FeederBirdLab Score by 0.2 and suggest you read the ingredient panel on the bag you receive. Smaller gaps, such as the Wagner’s Classic Blend listing giving both 6 lb and 5.82 lb, did not change a score. Our full method is on the How We Review page.

How to Choose the Best Bird Seed for Cardinals

Every product on this page names cardinals, but a name on the bag is not a recipe. If you want one mix for every bird in the yard rather than cardinals in particular, you are looking for a general wild bird mix. For cardinals, these are the checks that matter.

Check that you have cardinals before buying a cardinal mix

The Audubon field guide says the Northern Cardinal is abundant in the Southeast and has spread north for decades, but is mostly absent west of the Great Plains, though locally common in the desert Southwest. It also notes that feeders stocked with sunflower seeds may have helped its northward spread. If you live in Oregon or Idaho and have never seen a cardinal at your feeder, a cardinal blend will not bring one; the same sunflower and safflower still feed jays, grosbeaks, and chickadees, which Lyric and Kaytee also name on their product pages and listings. East of the Plains, the question is only what to put out.

Read how much of the bag is sunflower and safflower

Ingredient lists run from most to least, but few makers give percentages, and that matters more for cardinals than the bird names in the product title. Lyric says its Cardinal mix is over 70% sunflower; its Wild Bird Mix is over 20% sunflower and lists cracked corn first. Kaytee’s Cardinal Blend is two seeds, black oil sunflower and safflower, according to the listing. Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower is all sunflower and Lyric Golden Safflower all safflower. The general mixes, Kaytee Songbird, Wagner’s Classic, and Lyric Wild Bird Mix, add corn and millet, which Project FeederWatch ties to doves, quail, sparrows, and juncos. That is not wasted seed if you also like those birds, but it leaves less of the bag for sunflower and safflower. If you buy the Midwest Regional Blend, check the bag: its listing and Kaytee’s page disagree on whether it holds peanut hearts or niger.

Sunflower or safflower

Both sources agree that cardinals take sunflower; Audubon says they favor it at feeders. Safflower is the narrower choice. FeederWatch says it attracts cardinals and other big-billed birds, then adds that in its experience most birds prefer sunflower over safflower. That trade is the reason people buy it: fewer species compete for it. Lyric says its Golden Safflower is disliked by squirrels, and Kaytee’s Cardinal Blend listing says safflower’s bitter taste helps discourage squirrels. Owners report mixed results. Several Golden Safflower owners say squirrels leave it alone and one says grackles and crows will not eat it, while another found starlings and House Sparrows eating it, and one owner whose feeders emptied of blackbirds also lost cardinals and bluebirds for about three weeks, until they mixed roughly 75% safflower with 25% of their old seed. One Kaytee Cardinal Blend owner says squirrels loved it too. Our default: start with a sunflower-led mix such as the Lyric Cardinal, and move to more safflower only if squirrels or blackbirds are the problem, adding it a little at a time.

Golden or white safflower

Most safflower bird seed is white. Lyric says its Golden Safflower, the only straight safflower here, has more oil, protein, and fat than white safflower and an extremely thin hull. Owners disagree on whether that helps at a cardinal feeder: one says it lasts about three times as long as the white seed they used before, another says the thinner shell let starlings and House Sparrows crack it, and a third says no birds touched it in three days. If white safflower already works at your feeder, there is no reason to switch.

Avoid milo-heavy mixes in the East

FeederWatch says milo is often a major component of inexpensive mixes, is not a favorite of most birds, and is best avoided in large amounts in the East, though western birds eat more of it. Wagner’s Classic Blend is the only product here that lists milo; Wagner’s own page describes it as a value blend with extra sunflower and white proso millet as well as cracked corn and milo, without proportions. Since most cardinals live in the East, it is the weakest choice on this page for a cardinal feeder, and it is on the list because its listing names cardinals and it contains sunflower.

Match the seed to where cardinals feed

Audubon describes cardinals foraging mostly on the ground or in low bushes, so we suggest a hopper or tray they can sit on, set near shrubs, rather than a tube with small perches. The listings agree on the broad strokes: Lyric names hopper, tray, wire mesh, and window feeders for its Cardinal mix; Wagner’s names tray or hopper feeders for its sunflower; the Classic and Deluxe Treat listings add tube feeders. Whole sunflower leaves hulls under the feeder. One Wagner’s sunflower owner blows the hulls into a flower bed. If you need less cleanup under a deck or patio, no-mess seed uses hulled sunflower instead, and FeederWatch says any bird that eats sunflower will also take hulled sunflower.

Buy a bag you can keep dry

Bag sizes here run from 3.75 lb (Lyric Cardinal) to 40 lb (Lyric Wild Bird Mix), per the listings. A single cardinal feeder will not get through 40 lb quickly. Owners of Wagner’s 25 lb sunflower bag note it does not reseal, so plan on a lidded bin. Wagner’s says its Deluxe Treat comes in a resealable slider bag, and the Lyric Cardinal listing says the bag holds an oxygen scavenger packet to keep the seed fresh.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

If you live west of the Great Plains outside the desert Southwest, a cardinal blend is the wrong place to start; buy for the birds you already see. If your main problem is the feeder rather than the seed, such as squirrels reaching it or perches too small for a cardinal, a cardinal bird feeder with a wide perch or tray is the better fix.

Among the picks, skip Lyric Golden Safflower if you want to keep every species at your feeder, since one owner lost cardinals and bluebirds for weeks after switching to straight safflower. Skip Wagner’s Classic Blend if you feed in the East, given its milo. Skip the 40 lb Lyric Wild Bird Mix and the 25 lb Wagner’s bag if you run one feeder and cannot store seed dry. And read the ingredient panel on the Kaytee Midwest Regional Blend before you rely on it, since the listing and Kaytee disagree on whether it contains peanut hearts or niger.

Bird Seed for Cardinals FAQ

What kind of bird seed do cardinals like?

Sunflower first. The Audubon field guide says cardinals favor sunflower seeds at feeders, and Project FeederWatch lists black oil sunflower among their favorite feeder foods. FeederWatch adds that safflower attracts cardinals and other big-billed birds. A mix built on those two, such as the Lyric Cardinal or Kaytee Cardinal Blend, covers both.

Is safflower or sunflower better for cardinals?

Sunflower draws cardinals and many other birds; safflower draws cardinals and fewer others, since FeederWatch says most birds prefer sunflower. Choose sunflower if you want a busy feeder, and add safflower if squirrels or blackbirds take too much, mixing it in gradually.

Do blue jays eat cardinal seed too?

Usually, yes. Lyric says the larger seeds in its Cardinal mix are preferred by cardinals and other big-billed birds like Blue Jays, and the Lyric listing names jays among its target birds. One Kaytee Cardinal Blend owner reports cardinals and blue jays at the feeder.

Will a cardinal seed mix work if I live out West?

It will feed birds, but probably not cardinals. The Audubon field guide says the Northern Cardinal is mostly absent west of the Great Plains, except in the desert Southwest. Western jays, grosbeaks, and chickadees still eat sunflower and safflower; Lyric’s Cardinal mix page lists Steller’s Jay and Black-headed Grosbeak among the birds it attracts.

Final Thoughts

Buy the bag that is mostly sunflower and safflower, in a size you can keep dry. Our picks by need:

• Best Overall: Lyric Cardinal Premium Sunflower & Safflower Mix. Over 70% sunflower plus safflower, per Lyric.
• Best Two-Seed Blend: Kaytee Cardinal Blend. Black oil sunflower and safflower only, per the listing.
• Best Regional Blend: Kaytee Midwest Regional Blend. A Midwestern formula with sunflower and safflower, per Kaytee.
• Best Straight Sunflower: Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower. 100% black oil sunflower in a 25 lb bag, per the listing.
• Largest Bag: Lyric Wild Bird Mix. 40 lb for cardinals and ground-feeding birds, per the listing.
• Best Straight Safflower: Lyric Golden Safflower. Single-seed golden safflower, per Lyric.

For more seed, suet, and feeding supplies, browse our Bird Food section.

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