Which Foods Attract Which Birds?
During winter and early spring, when natural seed sources are scarcer, give some TLC to the birds. Tom Warren, our Almanac birder, lists some favorite foods of winter birds across North America.
Best Winter Bird Foods
Favorite winter bird foods include:
- Sunflower
- Niger (Thistle)
- Cracked Corn
- Nuts & Fruit
See our chart on more wild bird food preferences.
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“The little grain of wheat, tritucum, is the noblest food of man. The lesser grains of grasses are the food of passerine birds at present. Their diet is like man’s”.
–Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Suet
Suet can be purchased inexpensively in the meat department at your local grocery store. Suet can be placed in containers purpose-built for bird feeding (they most often resemble a little cage). Almost all birds will eat suet, especially in cold weather. Most often you will see the Downy, Hairy, Red-bellied, and Pileated Woodpeckers as well as chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice. See how to make suet.
Cracked Corn
A number of birds are ground feeders and will eat corn scattered on the ground; cardinals, sparrows, juncos, turkeys, and other birds will appear daily.
Nuts
An expensive but special treat, nuts provide much-needed protein, fats, and vitamins. Unshelled peanuts will be attractive to blue jays and woodpeckers, and will also provide entertainment as you watch smaller birds like chickadees and titmice attempt to reach the nutmeats inside the shell. Peanuts are a favorite of blackbirds, chickadees, jays, and sparrows. Peanut hearts are especially attractive.
Niger (Thistle seed)
Niger, commonly called thistle seed, is a very popular seed for finches including redpolls, Pine Siskins, Goldfinches and Purple Finches.
Fruit
Apples, crabapples, pears, and oranges are popular foods for jays, waxwings, woodpeckers, Ruffed Grouse and pheasants.
Sunflower
Small black oil seeds are best. Hulled sunflower seeds are attractive to birds, though costly. Popular with many birds, but especially finches.
At garden stores, pet shops, and numerous other stores, you can purchase seed mixes in bags from 10 to 50 pounds. Seeds will typically include sunflower, corn, millet, buckwheat, and other grains.
You can also make your own birdfood. See homemade bird food recipes.
Red-bellied woodpecker at a suet feeder.
Caution: Spoiled Bird Seed
Spoiled seed can be contaminated with mold, feces, fungus, and other chemicals. Mold and fungus can lead to bird diseases.
Old bird seed loses its nutritional value and should be discarded. Seed that is wet and lumpy should be removed from feeders. Maintain a seed inventory for only a few weeks and use large metal trash cans with tight covers to store seed.
Bird Feeding Locations
During periods of severe winter storms, snow and freezing rain, clearing an area on the ground near cover of bushes or forest can be life-saving for many species.
Feeders can be placed on poles, hung by wires from tree limbs, or placed on gutters so that they are just feet from windows, preferably in south-facing locations.
See more about choosing the right birdfeeder.
Fill your feeders before impending storms and then watch the feeding party that follows! What food do you put out for birds in the winter?
Heidi Stonehill
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Most of the time I enjoy watching the many birds that come to my feeders, However, starting last fall, the goldfinches have turned into "bully" birds, descending like a cloud of locusts to gobble up all the food. They crowd out other birds, fight amongst themselves and leave so many droppings that I worry about disease. I have a feeder for finches in addition to two other feeders - one with black sunflower seeds and the other with a mixture. Does anyone have any advice? Also, the birds here don't seem interested in suet for some reason. It just gets wasted. I know it spoils quickly in warm weather, but they don't even eat it in winter. I live in southeast Alabama.
We had raised a turtle dove that fell out of a tree last year. She stuck around several months like a pet with freedom to go as she pleased. She left us in mating season so I started to put out her favorite feed (a millet mix) in case she was hungry in the wild. Now we have at least 20 doves that hang around our back yard enjoying the feed. :)
I have a few different types of feeders. I have 2 suet feeders that the woodpeckers really enjoy; a ball feeder that I fill with sunflower seeds that the squirrels and cardinals like; 4 regular hanging feeders with perches that have a mixture of sunflowers, mixed songbird feed, safflower seeds, and millet, that attracts the different wrens and nuthatches, house and purple finches, cardinals, eastern bluebirds, and Carolina chickadees; a tray feeder that I put shelled corn in for the squirrels and cardinals; and I have a rock wall along the back of my yard that I spread shelled corn along for all of the animals that come along. I have had norther flickers, different types of doves, bluejays, crows, sparrows and grosbeaks at my house last year. He/she is not in my yard but at the pond behind my house ,a very pretty blue heron. Canadian Geese come along often too, and they have one white goose leading one flock of them.
I enjoy sitting out on the deck with my camera and a cup of coffee and watching all of them fly around a try to decide which feeder has just what they want.
Yes I feed the birds all year. Even in winter they need water also. But especially in summer as it is very hot in Texas.
My bird feeder is like Grand Central Station some days...I get 3 types of woodpeckers (downy, hairy, and pileated) who love the suet. (The nuthatches love it too!) There are many ground feeders, including Junckos, brown sparrows, a whole flock of mourning doves, blue jays, cardinals, crows - all who go for the cracked corn, sunflower seeds, broken bits of bread, and a bit of dried cat food....sometimes peanuts when I can afford it. The hanging feeder has sunflower seeds, which gets visited by tufted titmice, chickadees, cardinals (surprised me a lot when they started perching there!) sparrows, and goldfinches, also a lone purple finch from time to time. About 2 years ago I added a 'tractor' attached to the tree - which has 2 long screw for pushing on ears of corn, for the squirrels. I regularly have grey squirrels, and this year I also have a pair of small red squirrels. In addition, I have started including 1/2 orange or tangerine, pushed on open side up, and found that I have a pair of flying squirrels (nocturnal) who LOVE citrus! All these wild ones also enjoy having available water - I have an electric heater positioned under the stone in the middle of my bird bath. It keeps the water from freezing even when it's below zero outside! I have seen one or 2 of my mourning doves sit on the rock to keep their feet warm! (LOL)
That's what we get. They love shell peanuts and black sunflower seed. There are juncos and sparrows, some mourning doves. But they don't like the yellow hard round seed in the mix, the millet, and not much of the cracked corn, oddly enough. The squirrels come running some days and there is a lot of commotion over who exactly is entitled to those peanuts and sunflower seeds.
