Food that Will Attract Birds to Your Yard All Winter Long

With winter comes a bare garden, blooms disappear along with many of the birds, butterflies and other insects that flock to them. But there are several birds that stay around for the winter, and just because the rest of your garden has ceased to exist doesn't mean the birds have to go away either.

There are certain types of food that some birds prefer over others, so if you include these types of food in your feeders the birds will be sure to come. Here are three types of bird feed that are sure to be crowd pleasers all winter long.

White Millet
White millet is the favorite food for sparrows, which hang around in large numbers during the winter. The best thing about using millet is that once you attract sparrows to your yard, several other types of birds will stop by to see what you are serving. You can add millet to a feeder or just toss the millet on the ground around a tree or bushes, where sparrows like to search the ground for food. If you only have a single feeder I would sprinkle millet on the ground and fill the feeder for the rest of the birds that join the feast.

Sunflower Chips
Most of the time you probably add whole sunflower seeds to your feeder, but if you try using sunflower chips instead you will attract a greater variety of birds. In general, birds prefer black oil sunflower seeds which are slightly different than the ones we buy for ourselves at the grocery store. Stick with what the birds like and buy it in chips, which can be ground for birds with smaller beaks like finches, and you will have a garden full of color, as cardinals and blue jays wait for their turn at the feeder.

Suet
Suet is basically a block of fat that is a great source of protein for birds. Suet based feeders always attract more birds, but the easiest and best way to go about providing this needed nutrient to birds is to simply buy a block of suet and hang it from or near a tree in your yard. During the winter months especially, birds will be constantly on the lookout for suet so its presence in your yard will lead to your garden being a regular stop.

By simply adding these three types of bird food to your yard, you will welcome a wide range of birds that you otherwise might not see in your garden. Enjoy the view.