Why Feed Birds
Choose the Food to Attract the Bird
Science Fair: Why do birds eat certain kinds of seeds?
Courtesy & Copyright Holly Strand
- Black-Oil Sunflower Seeds (Feed the widest number of birds including Chickadees, Finches, Pine Siskins…)
- Striped Sunflower Seeds (harder, more restrictive for birds)
- Sunflower Seeds (shelled) – Reduce sunflower shell residue.)
- White Millet (Lazuli Buntings, Juncos and Sparrows)
- Milo (Pigeons, Jays & Doves)
- Nyjer Thistle (Am. Goldfinches, Pine Siskins, and Redpolls)
- Cracked Corn (Doves, Pheasants, Quail, Turkeys, ground-feeding birds)
- Suet (Purchase premixed with seeds, nuts, raisins… or make your own.)
- Peanuts (Jays)
- Oranges (Orioles, Tanagers)
- Sugar Water (1 part sugar to 4 parts water, Hummingbirds)
Read More From These References:
- Common Cache Valley Feeder Birds (checklist with pictures)
- Feeding Birds: A Quick Guide To Seed Types, All About Birds, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University,
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/types-of-bird-seed-a-quick-guide/ - 8 Types of Birdseed for Outdoor Feeders and How to Choose One, Melissa Mayntz, About.com Birding/Wild Birds, http://birding.about.com/od/birdfeeders/ig/Types-of-Birdseed/ (Redirects)
- Wild About Utah Feeding Birds Archives: https://wildaboututah.org/tag/feeding-birds/
- To Feed or Not to Feed Wild Birds–Bird Feeders Can Be Sources of Joy — and Disease, Susan Morse, US FWS, https://www.fws.gov/story/feed-or-not-feed-wild-birds
- Make Your Home a Safe, Healthy Home for Birds, US FWS, https://www.fws.gov/story/2021-09/backyard-birds
- Bird feeding: backyard habitat for wildlife, US FWS, https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/document/id/1902/
- Backyard Birds (Powerpoint Presentation), US FWS, https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Backyard%20Birds.pdf
- The Herald Journal, Songbird trackers: USU researcher studying migration, survival factors of colorful lazuli buntings