Seeds Suitable for your Garden Birdfeeder
Articles from Best Garden Bird Feeders
Different birds are attracted to different types of food and you can attract the type of bird you would like in your garden by putting out suitable food. For seed eating birds there are a variety of seeds that you can buy. Below is a selection of some different types of seeds and the birds that will be attracted to them.
Birds will toss out seeds that they don’t like so to minimise waste place different seeds in separate garden bird feeders.
Striped and Black Oil Sunflower Seed – cardinals, blue jays, chickadees, crossbills, evening grosbeaks, goldfinches, purple finches, mourning doves, white crowned sparrows, siskins, titmice.
Hulled Sunflower Seed – jays, goldfinches, cardinals, evening grosbeaks, nuthatches, red-bellied woodpeckers, chickadees,pine grosbeaks, grackle and titmice.
White Proso Millet – doves, quail, towhees, sparrows,red-winged blackbirds and cowbirds.
Cracked Corn – quail, pheasants, crows, jays, doves, towhees and juncos. Cracked corn rots easily as it takes up water so replace often.
Nyger or thistle seeds – goldfinch. Use in a speciality bird feeder.
Seed Mixtures – Various. A good mix containing black oil sunflower, millet and cracked corn will attract a wide variety of birds.
Oats, milo,wheat – Try to avoid seed mixers that contain these ingredients as few birds will eat them. They are often put into inexpensive mixes as fillers.
Storage
Always store seed mixtures in metal canisters to prevent then getting damp and forming molds. Keep in a cool dry place.
Image by stevevoght