Garden Care: Bird Feed Basics

Bird Feed Basics

Basic Needs for Birds

Water	The single most important thing you can provide birds during the winter is a source of water. Birds can spend a tremendous amount of energy just keeping warm when they have to rely on snow as their source of water. Consider installing a heater in your birdbath or put out a shallow dish of warm water at least once a day.
Shelter	Supply shelter so birds may seek a safe place from the elements and predators. Shelter includes birdhouses and protective plants. Refer to our Attracting Birds Information Sheet to see which plants will provide shelter.
Food	Natural foods for birds are seeds, fruits, insects, nuts and nectar. If you are interested in attracting several different species, it is best to offer different seeds and provide suitable feeders.

Types of Bird Food

Corn	Corn is an inexpensive energy and heat-producing food. Whole or cracked corn is a good food for keeping the birds warm in the winter. Many birds eat cracked corn. Whole corn is especially good for feeding large birds such as jays, woodpeckers, pheasants, ducks, geese and even squirrels. Ear corn can be fed to birds or squirrels. Too much corn in a mixed seed will attract common grackles and sparrows.
Fruit	Oranges, apples, raisins, berries and bananas will also attract many species of birds.
Grit	Sand, gravel, crushed oyster shell or eggshells, is used to grind food in birds gizzards. In nature, birds pick up grit with their food. In your backyard, especially in winter, it helps to provide a source of grit.
Millet	One of the smallest seeds, millet is usually only available in mixed seed. Lots of birds that normally eat small seed prefer white proso millet.
Nectar	A good calorie source for fruit eaters such as hummingbirds and orioles.
Nuts	Nuts such as peanuts and pecans provide protein, fat and minerals for birds.
Nyjer Thistle	Nyjer Thistle seed provides the needed protein and fat; commonly called thistle. This seed attracts all sorts of finches and excludes a lot of the larger, more aggressive birds.
Safflower	Safflower is very high in oil and cardinals love it. It does not seem to attract squirrels or sparrows.
Suet	A reliable source of energy to keep birds warm for the winter, suet is made from rendered beef fat. Most suet is a mixture of fat and seed, peanuts or fruit. Almost all birds like suet, but it is a special favorite with insect eaters such as woodpeckers and robins.
Sunflower Seeds	Sunflower seeds provide more protein than any other seed. There are two types of sunflower seed: striped and black oil. The black oil seed is the smallest and has the largest proportion of seed to shells. Using sunflower seeds already shelled, often-called sunflower chips or hearts, help reduce the amount of shells left behind.

Bird Feeder Locations
Some birds like to eat at ground level, while others prefer to be 4-5 feet off the ground. Most birds prefer to feed in a protected location, with trees and shrubs around them. Spreading feeders throughout the yard will help with birds that are territorial. Remember that some birds are shy and would prefer a feeder located away from the house.

Backyard Bird Guide

Species	Preferred Food	Secondary Food	Preferred Feeder	Season
Blue Jay	Black Sunflower Peanuts	Safflower Corn	Fly Through	Summer–Fall
Bluebird	Fruit Meal Worms	Peanuts Safflower	Fly Through	Spring-Summer
Brown Creeper	Suet		Suet Feeders	Winter
Brown Thrasher	Suet Fruit	Peanuts	Suet Feeders Fly Through	Spring-Summer
Cardinal	Safflower Black Sunflower	Peanuts Corn Suit	Ground Fly Through	Spring–Fall
Catbird	Fruit	Suet	Fly Through	Spring-Summer
Chickadee	Black Sunflower	Thistle Suet	Tube Fly Through	All
Common Flicker	Suet	Corn Peanuts	Suet Ground	Spring–Fall
Downy Woodpecker	Suet	Fruit	Suet Fly Through	All
Goldfinch	Thistle	Black Sunflower	Tube	All
Grosbeak	Black Sunflower Fruit	Peanuts Safflower	Fly Through Ground	Spring-Summer
Hairy Woodpecker	Suet	Fruit Black Sunflower	Suet Fly Through	All
House Finch	Black Sunflower Thistle	Millet Suet	Tube Fly Through	All
Hummingbird	Nectar		Nectar	Spring-Summer
Indigo Bunting	Fruit	Millet Suet	Tube Fly Through	Spring-Summer
Junco	Black Sunflower	Millet Thistle	Ground	Fall-Winter
Kinglet	Fruit	Peanuts	Trees w/berries	Fall-Winter
Mocking Bird	Fruit	Black Sunflower	Plants w/berries Fly Through	All
Morning Dove	Millet Corn	Black Sunflower	Ground	Spring-Summer
Nuthatch	Black Sunflower	Peanuts Suet	Tube Suet	All
Oriole	Orange Grape Jelly	Nectar Corn	Oriole Feeder	Spring-Summer
Pine Siskin	Black Sunflower Thistle	Millet Corn	Tube Fly Through	Fall-Winter
Purple Finch	Black Sunflower Thistle	Peanut Safflower	Tube Fly Through	Fall-Winter
Red-bellied Woodpecker	Suet	Black Sunflower Fruit	Suet Fly Through	All
Red-headed Woodpecker	Suet	Black Sunflower Fruit	Suet Fly Through	Spring-Summer
Redpoll	Millet Fruit	Thistle	Fly Through Tube	Winter
Robin	Worms Fruit	Black Sunflower Peanut	Fly Through Tube	Spring-Fall
Thrush	Fruit	Black Sunflower	Fly Through	Summer
Titmouse	Black Sunflower	Suet	Tube Suet	All
Towhee	Black Sunflower	Suet	Ground	All

Related Bachman's Information

	Attracting Butterflies
	Attracting Birds

Select source information provided by the University of Minnesota Extension, www.extension.umn.edu.

Last Updated: March 2012

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