How to Guide

Best bird seed for
backyard birds
SUNFLOWER SEEDS
Black-oil sunflower seed is preferred by many small feeder
birds, especially in northern latitudes. Striped sunflower seed
is also readily eaten, especially by large-beaked birds. Hulled
sunflower seed is eaten by the greatest variety of birds; it
attracts jays, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, goldfinches, Northern
Cardinals, Pine Grosbeaks, titmice, nuthatches, and grackles.
MILLET
White millet is the favorite food of most small-beaked
ground-feeding birds; red millet is also readily eaten. Millet
attracts quail, doves, juncos, sparrows, towhees, cowbirds,
and Red-winged Blackbirds.
CRACKED CORN
Medium cracked corn attracts many kinds of ground-feeding
birds, but it is prone to rot, since the interior of the kernel
readily soaks up moisture. Feed small amounts, mixed with
millet, on feeding tables or from watertight hopper feeders.
Avoid fine cracked corn, since it quickly turns to mush; coarse
cracked corn is too large for small-beaked birds. Cracked corn
attracts quail, doves, jays, juncos, and towhees.
SAFFLOWER SEEDS
Saower seed is readily eaten by cardinals, grosbeaks,
sparrows, and doves; starlings, House Sparrows, and squir-
rels usually find it less appealing than sunflower seed.
NYJER® (THISTLE)
A preferred food of American Goldfinches, Lesser Goldfinches,
House Finches, and Common Redpolls, Nyjer® is sometimes
called “black gold,” because it can be expensive compared
with other birdseed. Do not confuse it with prickly thistle, a
pink-flowered weed used by goldfinches to line their nests.
SUET AND BIRD PUDDINGS (BEEF FAT AND SEED)
This mixture attracts insect-eating birds such as woodpeckers,
wrens, chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice. Place the suet in
special feeders or net onion bags at least five feet above the
ground to keep it out of the reach of animals. Although suet is
particularly helpful during cold weather and migration, when
birds need extra fat reserves, “no melt” suet cakes are now
available for use in warmer weather.
SUNFLOWER SEEDS
MILLET
CRACKED CORN SAFFLOWER SEEDS
NYJER (THISTLE) SUET
PEANUTS MILO, WHEAT, OATS
PEANUTS
Whole and crushed peanuts attract woodpeckers, jays,
chickadees, titmice, bushtits, nuthatches, Brown Creepers,
wrens, kinglets, Northern Mockingbirds, Brown Thrashers,
starlings, and Yellow-rumped and Pine Warblers. Provide
these in tube-shaped, metal mesh feeders.
MILO, WHEAT, OATS
These agricultural products are frequently mixed into low-
priced birdseed blends. Most birds discard the uneaten seed
in favor of other food, which leaves it to accumulate under
feeders, where they may attract rodents. In the Southwest,
however, milo attracts pheasants, quail, and doves.
Homemade recipes to
add to your bird feeders
PEANUT BUTTER PUDDING
Peanut butter is a good substitute for suet in the summer. Mix
one part peanut butter with five parts cornmeal and stu the
mixture into holes drilled in a hanging log or into the crevices
of a large pine cone. This all-season mixture attracts wood-
peckers, chickadees, titmice, and occasionally warblers.
FRUIT FOR BERRY-EATING BIRDS
Fruit specialists such as robins, waxwings, bluebirds, and
mockingbirds rarely eat birdseed. To attract these birds,
soak raisins and currants in water overnight, then place
them on a table feeder, or purchase seed blends with a
dried fruit mixture. To attract orioles and tanagers, skewer
halved oranges onto a spike near other feeders, or provide
nectar feeders.
NECTAR FOR HUMMINGBIRDS
Make a sugar solution of one part white sugar to four parts
water. Boil briefly to sterilize the mixture and dissolve the
sugar crystals (there’s no need to add red food coloring).
Feeders must be washed every few days with very hot water
and kept scrupulously clean to prevent the growth of mold.
Quick reference seed
and food chart
PREFERRED SEED/FOOD
Black-oil Sunflower Striped Sunflower Sunflower Hearts Nyjer (Thistle) Peanuts Tree Nuts Fruit Millet Saower Milo Cracked Corn Suet Cakes
Bluebirds
• • •
Buntings
• • •
Cardinals
• • • • • • • • • •
Chickadees
• • • • • • •
Doves
• • • • • •
Goldfinches
• • • • •
Grosbeaks
• • • • •
House Finches
• • • • • •
Jays
• • • • • • • • • • •
Juncos
• • • • • •
Mockingbirds
• •
Nuthatches
• • • • • • • •
Purple Finches
• • • •
Quail
• • •
Siskins
• • • •
Sparrows
• • • • • •
Tanagers
• •
Titmice
• • • • • • • •
Towhees
• •
Woodpeckers
• • • • • •
Squirrels
• • • • • • •
SPECIES
BIRD FEEDING BASICS