How to Feed Backyard Wild Song Birds A guide to bird foods and feeders
÷More Food Means More Birds
The territory in which a songbird family lives is largely controlled by the availability of food in any yard. The more food that is available in a single yard, the smaller the territories of each of the songbird species in that same yard. Birds also eat a lot of annoying insects and the more species of birds you have in your yard, the more insect pests will be naturally controlled.
What do I feed the birds? Different species have definite preferences and while sunflower hearts and safflower tend to be the best all around seeds for many birds and most birds will eat suets readily for the protein and fat, you will find there are many species that won"t generally be attracted to seeds or will eat them occasionally, Orioles for instance love Oranges and Jelly and Hummingbirds primarily eat insects and nectar, and Finches love Nyjer, the chart on the front page will list specific preferences for common backyard birds. Using this chart can help you bring more varieties into your backyard habitat, many you didn"t realize were in your area
In many commercial blends, you will notice that millet, grains, and cracked corn will be listed as main ingredients, these are very inexpensive seeds, unfortunately, most songbirds will not readily eat them and you will notice a lot ending up on the ground as they sift through the mix to their preferred feeds, once on the ground, they will also turn up a lot of unwanted rodents so be sure to blend in seeds and suets the birds will readily eat and you will start seeing more birds
And don"t forget a clean water supply!!! Birds, like us need clean water to survive, a birdbath will do nicely, and please be a good host and keep it clean for your guests.
What type of feeder do I use? Your standard hopper or tube feeders are a good place to start as they will hold a good quantity of a variety of seed. Having a couple of feeders at different levels will attract more birds, tube feeders are fine too, though be careful to keep them clean to keep the birds from getting conjuctivitis, a bird disease that can be deadly, and try to put smaller amounts of fresh food daily especially during the rainy season to keep the food from getting stale.
Suet feeders are simple cages that attract a wide variety of birds and all weather suets provide a ready source of fat and protein and can be used year round. Suet kibbles and nuggets are an excellent addition to your bird seed mix in your feeders.
Platform feeders are great for ground feeding birds that won"t eat from your hanging feeders. Small bowls of natural jelly will attract orioles, tanagers and woodpeckers among others as will sliced fresh fruit nailed to a tree or in a fruit feeder. Finches love Nyjer seed and this small seed requires a special feeder or thistle sock and don"t forget the hummingbirds. They are attracted to red and love nectar. A simple, natural hummingbird nectar in a nectar feeder will do the trick and will attract many other birds as well. Again, it is vitally important to keep the nectar fresh as the sugar causes it to spoil quickly.
How Do I Stop the Squirrels From Eating All the Bird Food? Our Diablo Flaming Sauce is one of the only real remedies. The Capsaicin that causes the heat in chili peppers is the main ingredient, squirrels can"t take the heat and birds don"t have the heat receptors to taste it. Spray it on your seed or use one of our Diablo Blend seeds mixed in with your store bought seed and the squirrels will give up. Of course putting out a ground spread of a squirrels favorite away from your feeders will give the squirrels a readily available food source and keep them fat and happy too.
Finally, different types of cover will provide the birds with places to rest and hide from predators and a few well placed trees and bushes as well as various plants and flowers will help bring in more birds.