Attract bluebirds, tanagers, mockingbirds, catbirds, robins and wrens with Meal Worm Feeders   Keep them out of the sun and rain.

Suet can be fed from suet plug feeders, cages made from mesh, onion bags, combination seed/suet feeders or you can just smear fat on a tree.   Suet Feeders

Decorative Feeders can incorporate most of the specialty designs for specific birds.

The Triple Haven Feeder  lets you serve up to three different kinds of seed at the same time

This attractive, roofed Ground Feeder is a nice addition to any backyard.  It has a super-fine mesh floor that allows you to serve any type of seed--even Nyjer--without it falling through

Humming Bird Feeders

Hang a humming bird feeder in your patio and watch them hover while they feed.  Humming bird feeder shapes and colors are designed to attract hummingbirds so don't add colored dye as it may be toxic and follow mixing instructions.

Hummingbird Feeders

Window Hummingbird Feeder

Build a Bird Feeder with Free Bird Feeder Plans:

         Wild Bird Feeder Plans            Castle Bird Feeder Plan

Squirrel Proof Bird Feeders

One squirrel proof bird feeder triggers a cover to drop over feed trays or tip on axles when heavier squirrels rest on perches.  Hoods cover feeders and disks surround posts from below feeders.  Posts can be metal or lined with sheet metal to prevent clawed critters from climbing.  It's amazing how far a squirrel can fly if it needs to jump to a feeder from a near by structure. 

The Squirrel Proof Selective Feeder also has an overhanging metal roof that protects bird seed from foul weather

More than two dozen Squirrel Proof Birdfeeders

Sunflower Seeds

Black Oil and Striped Sunflower Seeds are a premium feed.  They are a high energy and nutritious food source packed with protein and fat and leave less waste than some other seeds.  A wide range of birds eat sunflower seeds.  Gold Finches, House Finches, Purple Finches, Cardinals, Bluejays, Scrub Jays, Chickadees, Nuthatches, Titmice, Mourning Doves, Buntings, Grosbeaks, Juncos and Sparrows eat sunflower seeds.

The Bird's Cafe Feeder is a quaint New England gazebo design suitable indoors or outdoors.

The sphere shaped Globe Feeder is a pretty backyard feeder that holds 6-pounds of black oil sunflower seed.

 
Thistle Seeds, Niger

Another highly nutritious seed rich in protein and fat.  Goldfinches, House Finches, Purple Finches, Redpolls, Siskins, Juncos, and even Mourning Doves eat thistle seeds.  Thistle feeders with tiny openings limit attracted birds and squirrels do not like Thistle (it's debated).   Nyjer Feeders

Wire caging surrounding this Metal Nyjer Feeder prevents larger birds from getting to the seed.  Goldfinches dine in peace

The Duncraft Sonata Nyjer Feeder is another caged feeder.

 
Safflower

High in protein and fat.  Cardinals, Mourning Doves, Finches, Grosbeaks, Jays, Chickadees, Nuthatches, Titmice, Song Sparrows, and White-throated Sparrows like Safflower.

 
Milo, Sorghum

Often used as filler in mixed blends.  Mourning Doves, Pigeons, Bluejays, White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows, Grackles, Starlings, and Cowbirds eat Milo.  Finches, Cardinals, Grosbeaks, Chickadees, and Titmice will also eat some, but it is not a preferred seed and attracts unpopular birds.

 
Millet

Another popular mixed blend filler.   House Finches, Mourning Doves, Cardinals, Buntings, Juncos, Towhees, Blackbirds, Pigeons, Song Sparrows, White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows, and English Sparrows like Millet.  The white variety is preferred

 
Corn

Bluejays, Mourning Doves, Juncos, Blackbirds and Sparrows eat corn.  Upland game birds like Pheasants, Turkeys, Partridge and Grouse love corn.   Pigeons, Starlings, cowbirds and squirrels like corn.

 
Mixed Seed

Good mixed seed will contain some of most of the above quality seeds.  Quality of mixed seed can vary.   If birds select only some seeds in a blend and waste the rest, try another mix.  

 
Peanuts

Feeding shelled unsalted peanuts isn't messy and they are highly nutritious for the birds that can eat them.  Bluejays, Scrub Jays, House Finches, Cardinals, Woodpeckers, Magpies, Chickadees, Nuthatches, Titmice, White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows eat peanuts.  Most birds can shell whole (unshelled) peanuts, with varying degrees of effort.  Squirrels love peanuts.

 
Fruit

Migrating birds and early arrivals regularly encounter shortages of their usual feeding sources and readily substitute fruit made available for them.  Try halving oranges and apples and fixing on a nail or spike.  Feed grapes, berries, bananas, melons, and raisins.

Robins, Thrushes, Catbirds, Mockingbirds, Orioles, Tanagers, Waxwings, Bluebirds, Kingbirds, Woodpeckers, Crows, Blackbirds, Sparrows, some Warblers and more birds than can be listed will eat fruit.  See Gilbert H. Trafton's Bird-Fruit Chart based on U.S. Department of Agriculture studies for a longer list of birds and some of the Fruits they eat.  See the section on Plants, Shrubs and Trees you can plant to provide Fruit, Nectar, Seeds and Cover.

 
Suet Bird Feeder

Suet (animal fat) and peanut butter, rich in proteins and fat, provide needed energy for wintering birds like Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, Chickadees and Titmice.  Most birds will eat some suet. 

Sold in cakes and bars.  Ask for some animal fat to feed the birds (in winter) at your meat market.  Most likely they're already familiar.  Or you can make your own by mixing animal fat or vegetable oil with bird feed, peanut butter and fruit.  Feed it in winter, the fat tends to become rancid in warm weather.  Or skip the fat and oil and just use peanut butter in warm weather.

Suet Feeders

The  Upside Down Suet Feeder  is starling resistant; perfect those birds who consider upside down a natural pose: woodpeckers, nuthatches and chickadees.

Peanut Butter

Protein, Fat and Oil.   Mourning Doves, Song Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows and House Finches will eat peanut butter.

 
Mealworms

Bluebirds, Wrens, Robins, Cardinals, Woodpeckers, Chickadees, Nuthatches and Titmice eat mealworms.  Offer in a dry cup in the shade.

If you have the stomach, you can raise mealworms (Tenebrio molitor).  In a plastic bucket or pan with a screen mesh cover for plenty of air, place oat bran a few inches deep.  Place mealworms in the pan.  Partially bury a halved apple, cut side down in the oat bran for moisture and replace weekly.  Rip paper grocery bags into pieces and place several layers over the oat bran. Keep at about 60-65 degrees. The mealworms will grow into adult beetles, lay eggs, and the eggs will turn into yummy little mealworms which grow to the size you purchased.

Nectar Producing Plants for Hummingbirds

Trumpet Honeysuckle, Trumpet Vines, Honeysuckle, Monarda, Coral Bells, Salvia, Fuchsia, Petunia, Corydalis, Impatiens, Firecracker, Lillies, Belladonnas,  Hibiscus,   Lantanna, Snapdragon, Ivy Geraniums, Cigar Plant, Quince...there are many.

Red seems to be their favorite color, but other colored flowers work too.  Plant large thick gardens.  They visit lots of flowers to get a little nectar.  Hummingbirds will also eat insects visiting and living in the plants and even make nests from spider webs.  Plant nectar producing flowers in window boxes and view them from your home.

 
Birds Eating From Your Hand

Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches will likely eat from your hand.  Other birds documented to have eaten from people's hands include White-breasted Nuthatches, Tufted Titmice, Bluebirds, Evening Grosbeaks, Redpolls, Jays, and Chipping Sparrows.  Place feed in a cup formed by your palm upturned and fingers pointing up for a perch.  Birds see well from a distance easily notice you are holding feed.

 
Water for Birds

The Corinthian fountain designs at Home & Garden Fountains is a 50birds choice.  If you like Greek, Romanesque architecture (you can see we do), you will want to see their beautifully sculptured fountains and they have plenty of contemporary art as well.

Over Feeding

Too many birds together is unnatural, unsanitary, wasteful and dangerous to birds, some species more than others.  Viewing only a few birds is more appealing than a bunch of noisy fighting birds. 

Cut them off occasionally.  They will find feed elsewhere and come back when you feed again.  It will make them less dependent, more resourceful, smarter, and healthier.

 
Keep It Clean

The same nutritious ingredients necessary for life - carbs, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water - are the same ingredients that promote bacteria, mold, mildew, intestinal illness, disease and death.  One who attracts flocks to unkempt, unsanitary feeders is not a friend of birds. 

Keep it dry.  If a feeder can't keep feed dry, throw it away.   Exchange feeders and give them a rest.  Clean and dry feeders and let them sit.  Ultraviolet rays from the sun are a powerful disinfectant.