# Birdseed - Nutritional info... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 5, 2010, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdseed-nutritional-info/523733 "2010-01-05T09:02:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdseed-nutritional-info/523733/1 "2010-01-05T09:02:17Z")
How many calories are in a cup of birdseed? ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdseed-nutritional-info/523733/2 "2010-01-05T10:37:21Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > How many calories are in a cup of birdseed? Depends what type of birdseed. If there are a lot of sunflower or sesame seeds there will be a lot more calories than if it’s mostly millet and sorghum. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdseed-nutritional-info/523733/3 "2010-01-05T11:21:48Z")
Also, are you cooking or processing the seed, or eating it as-is? May not affect the measured values, but will impact how much of that is available to the human digestive system. Are we even talking about human consumption, BTW? ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdseed-nutritional-info/523733/4 "2010-01-06T00:35:40Z")
Mostly millet and lots of other ground up or tiny seeds. Eaten right out of the package by a human…don’t ask! : ) ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdseed-nutritional-info/523733/5 "2010-01-06T05:20:52Z")
[http://www.kaytee.com/products/fortidiet-parakeet-2-lb.php](http://www.kaytee.com/products/fortidiet-parakeet-2-lb.php) This is the product in question. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdseed-nutritional-info/523733/6 "2010-01-06T07:46:41Z")
Is this a “Need-To-Know-Quick” question? ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Buttons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Mr\_Buttons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Buttons)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdseed-nutritional-info/523733/7 "2010-01-06T15:24:13Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Depends what type of birdseed. If there are a lot of sunflower or sesame seeds there will be a lot more calories than if it’s mostly millet and sorghum. Quick google search of “one cup sunflower seed calories” turns up [this](http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-sunflower-seeds-i12036), showing 269 calories/cup. Assuming what Blake said is true, that would make 300’ish calories the max you’re looking at. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdseed-nutritional-info/523733/8 "2010-01-06T15:53:35Z")
> [@Hazle](#): > > Eaten right out of the package by a human…don’t ask! : ) “Don’t ask”? You surely don’t think you’re going to get away with that, do you? C’mon, spill the beans, um, birdseed. **How** did this human end up eating a cup of birdseed straight out of the package? By the way, [one cup of raw millet contains about 756 calories](http://www.calorieking.com/foods/calories-in-grains-millet-raw_f-Y2lkPTEzNjQwJmJpZD0xJmZpZD02NDY3Mw.html) (eek!), but on the bright side it’s rich in magnesium and potassium. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birdseed-nutritional-info/523733/9 "2010-01-06T15:54:47Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Are we even talking about human consumption, BTW? For the majority of my life (like, right up until last week), it never occurred to me that humans would even think of eating birdseed, packaged as such. Then I finally saw _On The Waterfront_ for the first time last weekend (yes, I know…I’m late) and Marlon Brando as Terry pops in a mouthful while he’s feeding his pigeons on the roof. I had a cognitive dissonance moment…