Attracting colorful, chirping birds to your backyard can bring joy, beauty, and biodiversity benefits. With the right food and feeders, you can successfully pull in various bird species.
But first, it helps to understand what different backyard birds like to eat. In this blog post guide, we will cover the basics of bird diets and how to cater to their preferences.
Types of Food Backyard Birds Eat
Backyard birds consume a diverse diet consisting of seeds, berries, nuts, fruits, nectar, suet, and insects. The specific items a bird favors depend on factors like its size, seasonal availability, habitat, and beak shape. But generally, common feeder visitors enjoy combinations of:
- Seeds: Black oil sunflower seeds, nyjer thistle, safflower, millet, cracked corn, peanuts. Finches, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, jays love these.
- Fruit: Raisins, currants, berries. Robins, waxwings, mockingbirds, and thrushes relish sweet fruit.
- Suet: Fatty animal suet provides concentrated calories. Woodpeckers, nuthatches, and chickadees flock to suet feeders.
- Nectar: Orioles, hummingbirds have specialized diets relying on flower nectar and sugar water.
- Insects: Caterpillars, grubs, worms, spiders, and more. Chickadees, wrens, warblers hunt for bugs to feed young.
Top Backyard Bird Species and Their Favorite Foods
Different birds hold preferences for certain feeder offerings over others. Here’s a breakdown of favorite foods for top visitors:
1. Mourning Doves
– Black oil sunflower seeds
– White proso millet
– Cracked corn
2. Blue Jays
– Peanuts
– Sunflower seeds
– Suet
– Acorns
3. Cardinals
– Sunflower seeds
– Safflower
– Fruit like raisins
4. Goldfinches
– Nyjer thistle
– Fine, hulled sunflower chips
5. Chickadees & Titmice
– Black oil sunflower
– Suet
– Peanuts
6. Woodpeckers
– Suet
– Peanuts
– Shelled sunflower
7. Nuthatches
– Shelled sunflower
– Peanut bits
– Suet
8. Orioles
– Orange halves
– Grape jelly
– Nectar
9. Hummingbirds
– Nectar
– Sugar water
Best Bird Feeders and Foods for Backyards
Selecting the right feeders stocked with preferred foods makes it more likely birds will pay your yard a visit. Recommended setups include:
– Hopper or tube feeder with sunflower seeds, peanuts for titmice, jays, cardinals, finches, chickadees, nuthatches
– Mesh nyjer feeder to serve goldfinches
– Suet basket or plug for nutritious fat that woodpeckers love
– Ground platform with millet, corn for doves and juncos
– Caged feeder with fruit for orioles, robins, catbirds
– Nectar feeder with sugar water solution for hummingbirds and orioles
– Peanut wreath feeder for woodpeckers and chickadees
Position feeders near trees or shrubs so birds have quick escape cover. Include a water source like a bird bath, fountain, or ground tray. Providing shelter such as brush piles also helps attract birds.
Vary food and feeder offerings seasonally as diets shift. For example, fruit lovers appreciate dried berries mixed into feeders during colder months when fresh ones are scarce.
Meeting Special Dietary Needs of Nesting & Baby Birds
The feeding needs of birds change significantly during nesting season as they prepare to rear young. For example, chickadees require more insect matter from April to July to feed growing nestlings.
Here are smart ways to provide vital nutrition for breeding and baby birds in your yard:
- Put out live mealworms in special dish feeders for extra protein.
- Offer suet enriched with insects and dried fruit to support chickadee nesting needs.
- Hang grape jelly near oriole nests in spring/summer when adults seek quick energy to feed young.
- Dust platform seeds with crushed eggshells for extra calcium to support egg development.
DIY Bird Feeder Recipes
Want to whip up homemade bird food to provide natural nutrition? Here are recipes using ingredients you likely have around the kitchen:
Peanut Butter Suet
Ingredients: 1 cup crunchy all-natural peanut butter, 3 cups birdseed, 1 cup cornmeal. Melt peanut butter, add dry ingredients, chill until firm and add to feeders.
Fruit & Nut Birdseed Mix
Combine black oil sunflower seed, shelled peanuts, dried cranberries, raisins, shelled pistachios. Stores for months in an airtight container.
Simple Nectar Solution
Mix 1 part white sugar with 4 parts water. Bring water to a boil, stir in sugar until dissolved. Cool, fill nectar feeder.
Tips: Don’t add red dye or honey, as these can harm hummers. Change nectar weekly to prevent spoilage.
DIY Plate of Mealworms
Save vegetable and fruit scraps like lettuce, melon, apple cores. Place in a shallow pan and let age outside, wait for mealworms to gather. Move pan to feeding area daily.
How to Attract Specific Backyard Birds
Looking to lure in favorite feathered friends? Here are go-to foods and smart techniques to help attract certain species:
Goldfinches
Plant thistle, coneflowers. Offer nyjer seed in fine mesh feeders. Provide water source.
Chickadees & Titmice
Hang black oil sunflower seed feeders near brushy cover. Set up suet feeders. Offer mealworms.
Woodpeckers
Nail up suet feeders onto tree trunks near wooded areas. Offer peanuts, sunflower seeds, and fresh fruit.
Orioles
Serve sliced oranges, grape jelly, and nectar near dense foliage May-Sept. Provide plant fibers like hair for nesting.
Hummingbirds
Set vibrant feeders with nectar solution among bright flowers. Offer sugar water early spring through fall.
Jays & Cardinals
Appeal to these beautiful birds year-round with sunflower seeds, peanuts, berry branches, fruit halves.
Doves
Sprinkle millet, safflower, cracked corn on large platform feeders. Provide grit like sand for digestion.
Sparrows & Juncos
Please these ground feeders with white proso millet, fine sunflower chips on platform feeders near cover.
The Most Important Keys to Feeding Backyard Birds
To maximize backyard birds dining at your personal bird cafe, heed these key tips:
1. Tailor foods and feeders to visitors you wish to attract
2. Vary offerings seasonally as diets change
3. Place feeders and bird baths within quick reach of protective trees and shrubs
4. Maintain cleanliness to prevent spread of bacteria and illness
5. Provide nesting materials like pet hair, twigs, fibers for breeding birds
6. Be patient – it may take birds time to discover feeders.
Follow these guidelines to create a productive bird-watching haven that nourishes a diversity of wild birds all year long. Soon your backyard oasis will be bustling with feathered activity drawn in by your all-you-can-eat bird buffet!
The joy of seeing colorful additions like orioles, tanagers, and goldfinches feast happily on what you’ve provided is priceless. So go ahead – indulge your wild visitors’ appetites and enjoy hours of entertaining activity right outside your window.
