The more diverse options you offer the birds (both in food types and feeder
types), the more birds you will attract. Try new seeds and feeders to see what works for your area. One golden rule I like
to live by is to provide only natural foods such as seeds, beef fat (suet), peanut butter, etc. with NO additives or preservatives. Studies
have shown that animals will not eat food that has additives or preservatives, or that is not good for them. An example would
be a test between beef fat suet or Crisco suet. Animals always went to the beef and refused to eat the Crisco. (Kinda makes
you rethink your diet!!!)
Black-oil Sunflower Seed- This is one of the most beneficial
seeds you can feed birds. Not only is it good due to it's high fat and high meat-to-shell ratio, it attracts a wide variety
of birds, such as Northern Cardinals, Jays, Woodpeckers, Chickadees, nuthatches, Titmice and Grosbeaks. One surprising fact
is that the European Starlings can not eat it. Starlings beak can not crack seeds. Some downsides to this seed (if you see
it as such) are it attracts squirrels and raccoons; and there are left over shells after the meat has been eaten that will
need to be cleaned up every so often.
Sunflower Hearts- These are the meat of the sunflower. It comes
in whole, pieces and chips. The birds do not have to work to get the sunflower seed hulls cracked. The great benefit to this
is there are no hulls to clean up. The drawbacks are they are more expensive and get moldy in high humidity areas or after
rains. Also, these seeds are easy for invasive species, like the starlings, to eat them.
Safflower- Safflower seed attracts Mourning Doves, Chickadees,
North Cardinals, House Finches, Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks and Nuthatches. Grackles do not like the taste of Safflower seeds
and Starlings can not crack the hulls. Many people use Safflower seeds during a black bird invasion. They start introducing
the safflower seeds and the blackbirds find them distasteful and leave. The safflower seeds are a different taste than the
sunflower seeds so they need to be introduced slowly, or offer alternative seeds.
White Millet- White millet is a small seed that is in many common
commercial bird seed mixes. Due to the small size of the seed, it attracts many of the sparrow family, including the invasive
species. Other birds that like white millet are Indigo & Painted Bunting, Dark-eyed Junco, as well as more native sparrows
such as the White-Throated, White Crowned and Fox Sparrows.
Corn-Dried corn, either cracked or whole, attract larger birds
such as Blue Jays, Brown-Headed Cowbirds, Red-Winged Blackbirds and others. It should be used in moderation since it will
also attract squirrels, deer, raccoon and foxes. If you have a lakeside home, corn could also attract Canadian Geese during
migration.
Nuts- In the shell or out of the shell...nuts attract a wide variety
of visitors, such as Woodpeckers, Northern Cardinals, Jays, Chickadees and Nuthatches. It will also bring in squirrels. Offer
the unsalted varieties of peanuts, pecans, walnuts, cashews or a mix. These are best offered in a mesh feeder to prevent the
larger birds from raiding all the nuts before the other birds get a chance to eat.
Nyjer/ Niger/ Thistle-This seed is imported from Nigeria,
thus the name Nyjer (pronounced NYE-jer). Nyjer seeds attract the finches such as the American Goldfinch and Purple Finch
as well as buntings. Because of the size of the seed, special feeders have been made to try to minimise the waste of spillage.
There are the finch style feeders and mesh bags. Nyjer seed only has a storage life of 6 months, so purchase in smaller quantities.
Because this seed is imported and can be invasive, all shipments have to be heat sterilized to prevent sprouting.
Seed Mixes- There are many commercial seed mixes in the market.
Some are very specialized and tend to be pricey. Look for mixes that have a higher content of the black-oil seed and no filler.
I purchase a 40 pound bag of seed mix and an extra black-oil seed and mix them together in my plastic trash barrel with lid.
I do not have a mouse issue, so I can use plastic and have no issues. I have a friend who had a mouse eat through one
though.
Suet-
Meal-worms-
Fresh Fruit- Oranges are a favorite of Oriole's as well as Northern Cardinals, Jays, Thrashes,
Robins and others. I offer fresh fruits in the summer months, such as oranges, apples, bananas and melons. Butterflies like
rotting bananas.
Dried Fruit-
Eggshells-Crushed eggshells can supplement female birds calcium
loss during the egg laying process. Save your eggshells. You will need to sterilize them first. To do this, you can boil
them for 10 minutes, bake them for 20 minutes at 250 degrees, or microwave them for 6 minutes. Then, crush them so they are
no larger than a sunflower seed and place them in the feeder along with the seed.
