Winged Wednesday - Attracting Birds: The Basics

Over the past couple of years, I've gone through a number of different feeders, types of seeds, and done a lot of experimenting trying to discover the secrets of attracting a good variety of birds to our yard. This Winged Wednesday, I'll share with you some of the lessons learned and little tricks that seemed to make a real difference.

Step: 1 is identifying what type of birds you want to attract. This will determine what types of seed you will need to purchase and what types of feeders you'll need to hang. Here are some common birds which you may want attract.

1. Northern Cardinal
2. American Goldfinch
3. Blue Jay
4. House Finch
5. Purple Finch
6. Dark-eyed Junco
7. Chipping Sparrow
8. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
9. White-breasted Nuthatch
10. Downy Woodpecker
11. Red-bellied Woodpecker

Step: 2 is identifying what kinds of food they eat. Here are some common types of seed, listed with the birds which are generally interested in them.

1. Safflower Seed - House Finch, Cardinal, Mourning Dove, Dark-eyed Junco, Purple Finch
2. Sunflower Seed - Black-capped Chickadees, Carinal, White-breasted Nuthatch, Downy Woodpecker, Purple Finch
3. Peanuts - Blue Jay, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker
4. Nyjer - American Goldfinch, Dark-eyed Junco, Mourning Dove
5. Suet - Downy Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Black-capped Chickadees

Step: 3 find the correct feeder for the seed and the birds. Some birds cling to the tops of flowers to eat seed like Goldfinches. Other birds feed off the ground like Dark-eyed Juncos, and others dig into the bark looking for grubs and stashing nuts.

1. Tube and sock feeders work great for birds that like to cling. We've had a lot of success with these feeders and Nyjer seed for feeding Goldfinches.
2. Tray and hopper feeders work great for birds who want to land while they feed. We use both of these kinds of feeders for both Safflower and Sunflower seeds. The Mourning Doves, Cardinals, and House Finches seems to appreciate this.
3. Wire mesh is often present on tube and some hopper feeders, this allows birds to cling and take some larger seeds like peanuts or sunflower. Our Nuthatches, Chickadees, Woodpeckers, and Jays all seem to enjoy this setup.

Step: 4 Identify pests which may include Starlings, House Sparrows, or Squirrels. There are easy steps you can take to prevent pests from driving away the birds or from damaging feeders, but I'll explain these in a separate post.

White-breasted Nuthatch on a Peanut Feeder

Cardinal on a Sunflower Hopper Feeder

Goldfinch on a Nyjer Sock