Birds feed on various foods found in nature, such as seeds, berries, nuts, insects and even snakes and rodents. What food you offer in your yard or garden will have an enormous effect on what species of birds visit your property.
Bread or other table scraps that quickly spoil and collect bacteria could potentially harm or kill birds, while ground meat or fried eggs contain too much fat and salt for birds to properly process.
Contents
Huled Sunflower Seed
Sunflower seeds are highly sought-after by various wild birds. Additionally, sunflower seeds provide valuable nutritional support such as iron and magnesium.
Do not feed bread or other table scraps as these quickly spoil and can harbor bacteria which harm or kill birds. Instead, offer ground hard-boiled egg shells which provide calcium and grit essential for songbirds.
Black Oil Sunflower Seed is one of the most beloved species of seed available, beloved by chickadees, house finches, nuthatches, goldfinches, cardinals and sparrows alike. A great addition to any feeder!
Many people rely on mixing various kinds of bird food to attract various species, yet this often results in wet or mold-contaminated seeds being wasted, accumulating beneath feeders as wasteful piles. A better option would be offering single seeds such as black oil sunflower through tube or hopper feeders.
Nyjer Seed
Nyjer seed is small and black in color and boasts an exceptionally high level of fat and oil compared to other birdseed varieties, making it the ideal food choice for winter bird feeders when finches need extra energy to stay warm and survive. Nyjer seeds also play an integral part in many finch mix and canary birdseed blends.
Nyjer seeds are frequently combined with sunflower and other popular birdfeed varieties to attract a diverse selection of wild feathered friends to backyard gardens. However, it’s essential that nyjer seeds be stored properly so as to maintain freshness and an appetizing appeal for backyard birds.
Purple Finches (Carduelis flammea), easily identified by their signature mix of red, white and gray colors can often be seen at backyard feeders offering this popular seed. This species can be found all across North America; during breeding season this migratory bird forages for food such as Nyjer seeds, berries or insects within evergreen woodlands.
Safflower
Safflower seeds are beloved treats of many birds, such as Northern Cardinals, Evening Grosbeaks, White-crowned Sparrows, House and Purple Finches and Tufted Titmice. Safflower is also an excellent food choice for woodpeckers with strong beaks who can crack open hard hulls – an especially great choice in early spring when birds may not yet be ready for heavier black oil sunflower seeds.
Hulled safflower seeds are more easily digested than whole ones, due to their soft, lightweight shell which tends to disintegrate more rapidly than that found on black oil sunflower seed husks.
Safflower seeds can often be found in specialty bird seed sections at grocery stores, pet stores and online wild bird retailers. They’re often included in higher-end “cardinal blend” mixes; woodpeckers especially enjoy this seed because their beaks can hammer through its hard outer shell and reach inside content more quickly than most seeds can.
Striped Sunflower Seed
Birds seem to favor striped sunflower seeds due to their tough shells that make opening them difficult for larger seed-cracking birds like cardinals and woodpeckers, as well as smaller seed eaters like goldfinches, juncos, chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice.
Quality striped sunflower seed mixes will contain fewer filler seeds such as milo (sorghum), which tend to collect moisture and draw in mold and bacteria, as well as more black oil sunflower seeds which are preferred by larger songbirds.
Your yard should offer a variety of seeds for birds to feed on. Also be sure to provide fruit for them, since birds in nature rely heavily on it as a source of sugar, carbohydrates, protein and essential vitamins and minerals. A great way to present fruit to birds is impaling pieces on sticks or in trays so it resembles nature more accurately – fruit is full of dietary fiber which provides energy and nutrients needed to stay active!
