Add wild birds to your yard by offering quality bird seed. While many store bought options contain filler ingredients that won’t appeal to wildlife, mixing your own can make your backyard more wildlife-friendly.
Sunflower seed is an excellent way to attract cardinals, blue jays, finches and tufted titmouses – plus you can purchase suet cakes to provide energy-packed food sources.
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Sunflower Seed
Sunflower seed draws an array of birds to your backyard feeders. Beware, though, of seeds with shells as these will quickly become an eyesore and trip hazard.
Black-oil sunflower seeds are less costly than their striped counterparts and both attract cardinals, grosbeaks, woodpeckers and nuthatches. Striped sunflowers may prove more challenging for certain birds like sparrows and blackbirds to crack open, so avoid mixtures containing red milo as these fillers may displease many bird species.
Nyjer Seed
Nyjer seed (also referred to as niger thistle seed or simply Nyjer) is an energy-rich wild bird food popular with several finch species like goldfinches and pine siskins. As its thin shell can quickly dry out and spoil over time, ensuring fresh supplies in feeders or mesh socks is vital.
Squirrels tend to ignore nyjer seeds, making it easy for you to enjoy its benefits without cleaning up their shells under your feeder. Furthermore, it can be strewn on the ground near sock feeders to attract ground foragers.
Millet
Many lower-grade bird seed blends contain milo, a reddish brown “filler” seed. Birds do eat it but tend to prefer other seeds first and piles of milo often form beneath feeders or on the ground where it gets wet and can spread diseases among backyard birds.
Nyjer seed — also known as thistle seed — attracts finches, buntings and other small songbirds. Use a thistle or finch feeder to offer it for maximum bird watching pleasure!
Oatmeal
At your local farm and garden store, there is an assortment of bird seed available for purchase. Not all mixes contain equal qualities – some contain filler ingredients like milo (sorghum), oats or wheat that won’t appeal to backyard birds.
Skipping these filler seeds will save money and attract the desired wild birds more quickly, such as black oil sunflower, nyjer millet canary seed, or safflower seeds which will attract finches, cardinals, chickadees, pine siskins, and tufted titmouses.
Peanuts
Peanuts are beloved treats for birds throughout the year and attract many species, providing essential sources of fat and protein that help them survive harsh winter weather conditions.
Avoid seed mixtures that include filler seeds like milo or oats that wild birds won’t eat and will create an unsightly mess in your feeders. Instead opt for low-salt, no waste mixes such as Lyric Fine Tunes No Waste Wild Bird Mix as they won’t generate as much waste material.
Bring peanuts out into a tray or hopper feeder, and watch as jays, crows, chickadees, dunnocks and nuthatches come to feed! Be sure to offer unsalted peanuts as salted varieties may contain natural toxin called aflatoxin.
Grapes
Wild birds of all sorts delight in eating fruit and seeds. Dried fruit such as raisins and cranberries is particularly appealing to robins and orioles; mild grated cheese may draw in wrens and dunnocks. Milk should be avoided because it may lead to digestive issues for birds.
Nothing provides more energy for wild birds than nuts and fruit, making the Kaytee Nut & Fruit Blend an excellent way to fulfill their nutritional needs. Packed full of healthy seeds, grains and delicious pieces of nuts and fruit pieces this premium mix will appeal to numerous species of wild birds.
Raisins
Wild birds require plenty of energy, and peanuts and tree nuts help meet this demand. Kaytee Nut & Fruit blend meets this need efficiently without fillers so that your money goes further.
Nyjer seeds are small and thin, making them attractive to finches like goldfinches and pine siskins. Since these seeds may blow to the ground quickly, a feeder with small ports to hold them may be necessary.
Pineapple Peels
Fruit and nuts provide energy-packed food sources to wild birds. Selecting a high-quality mix like Kaytee Nut & Fruit Blend for their feathered friends will keep them happy and fed!
Avoid cheap mixtures containing red milo as this filler seed will most likely be rejected by feeder birds and wasted money.
Black oil sunflower seeds are an easy and reliable way to attract birds, thanks to their thinner shells that birds can easily break open.
Corn
Cracked corn may be your go-to food when trying to attract ground feeding birds such as sparrows, chickadees and blue jays. It’s inexpensive and can easily be placed on an elevated ground feeder for optimal results.
Avoid low-grade bird seed mixes that contain fillers like millet, oats and wheat as these won’t attract as many birds and could end up as waste due to inedible hulls and dust. Instead look for mixes containing more popular seeds such as sunflower and safflower for optimal bird feeding success.
