Bird Feeder Fillers

If you would like to attract birds to your yard, but either do not want to change your landscape or simply cannot add more bird friendly materials, do not fear. You can attract birds by placing bird feeders in your yard. Some birds prefer particular seeds. Here is a list of some of the most common birds you might want visiting your yard, and which seeds are best in your bird feeders to keep them coming to visit.

Bird feeders are a great option for nature lovers, but before filling them up there are some basic things to keep in mind. First off, if you do not plan on consistently filling your bird feeders, do not start. Birds will come to depend on that food in the colder months. Stopping that supply of food can cause extreme hardship for visiting birds, and can even result in some birds starving to death come winter. It might not be a large issue if others in your neighborhood continue feeding birds, but in places where there is no other easy access to food it is extremely important to keep those feeders full. Start any bird feeding program in the fall, when birds begin looking for a winter food supply.

The American goldfinch loves sunflower seeds, millet and thistle.

Blue Jays enjoy peanuts and sunflower seeds.

Cardinals also enjoy peanuts and sunflower seeds, as well as millet.

Chickadees like peanut hearts, sunflower seeds, suet, thistle and wild bird food mix.

The evening grosbeak loves sunflower seeds.

Finches like millet, suet, sunflower seeds and thistle. House finches like the same things, but also enjoy peanut hearts. Purple finches also like wild bird feed.

Grackles like sunflower seeds and cracked corn.

House sparrows like millet, sunflower seeds and cracked corn. Song sparrows like millet and sunflower seeds like their cousins, but also like suet and thistle. Other varieties of sparrows, such as the white crowned or white throated sparrows enjoy all of the treats that song and house sparrows do.

Juncos like hulled oats, cracked corn, peanuts, thistle, millet and peanuts.

Mourning doves like sunflower seeds, peanut hearts, millet and cracked corn.

Red bellied woodpeckers like suet, sunflower seeds and cracked corn.

White breasted nuthatches like suet and sunflower seeds.

By basing the food you offer on the type of birds you would like in your yard, you can encourage some of your favorite visitors to stick around. Sunflower seeds and millet seem to attract the most birds, but the size of your seeds can have an effect on the size of the birds that visit. Also remember that several other types of wildlife enjoy some of the same foods as our feathered friends, and to protect winged visitors and their food from cats, squirrels and anything else that might be harmful.