Essential Tips for Backyard Bird Feeding - Choosing the Right Food

• Black Oil Sunflower Seeds: These seeds attract the widest variety of birds and are ideal for tube or hopper feeders.
• Nyjer (Thistle) Seeds: Perfect for attracting finches, these seeds require specialized feeders.
• Suet: High in calories, suet is great for woodpeckers and other insect-eating birds, especially in colder months.
• Cracked corn: A good food source because it provides energy and nutrients.
• Avoid Processed Foods.
• Locate bird feeders at different levels.
• Offer a variety of seeds in separate feeders.
• Provide suet during cool weather only.
• Mix peanut butter and corn meal.
• Provide fruit for berry-eating birds.
• Provide nectar for hummingbirds.
• Locate feeders to reduce window collisions.
• Keep cats indoors.
• Keep Feeders Clean to Prevent Disease.
• Provide Fresh Water in a Birdbath.
• Avoid Offering Bread as it Lacks Nutrition.
• Visiting sick birds can signal trouble, watch so you can act before illness spreads.
• Plant Native Shrubs to Attract Insects for Birds.
• Install a Squirrel Baffle to Protect Your Feeders.