I am often asked "How can I set up my bird feeders to attract the largest numbers of birds to my backyard?" To answer this question one must keep in mind that there are three types of birds when it comes to the foods they eat. These include the seed eaters, insect eaters and fruit and nectar eaters. Within these groups there is a lot of overlap. For instance, Chipping Sparrows come to seed feeders in the winter but eat insects all summer. Meadowlarks eat insects all summer and eat seeds in the winter. Cedar Waxwings are primarily fruit eaters but feed their young on insects and berries. You must provide food for all three groups to get the most species possible to your feeders and yard.
Many people who are new to birding start out attempting to attract the seed eaters. This can be done with a number of commercially available wild bird seed mixes and several specialty seeds. Among the seed eaters there are three basic feeding styles. These are the clingers, the perchers and the scratchers. No one type of wild bird feeder in made to accommodate all three types.
The clingers consist of many of the most sought after backyard birds in the United States. They include the goldfinches, Pine Siskins, redpolls, Purple Finches, Cassin's Finches, House Finches, woodpeckers, chickadees and nuthatches. In the wild these birds will cling to the top of a flower or grass blade and glean the seeds from the seed head. These birds are best accommodated with special feeders which allow the birds to cling directly to the side of the feeder instead of utilizing a perch. These special feeders are available for dispensing thistle or Nyjer seed for the finches and black oil sunflower or peanuts for the other small clingers.
The perchers include species like the cardinals, buntings, many native sparrows, English Sparrows, jays, grosbeaks and most blackbirds. These birds are able to perch at hopper style bird feeders or tube bird feeders with perches. In nature these birds feed up off the ground, but perch in an upright manner while they feed.
The scratchers are birds such as the quail, doves, towhees, juncos, White-crowned Sparrows, thrashers and others who normally feed by scratching in the leaves or on the ground for the seeds they eat. Platform type wild bird feeders are the best for these birds as they accommodate their scratching instinct and present a much more comfortable feeding environment for them.
Insect eating birds have been a little trickier to attract in the past. However, modern innovations have made it possible to attract them to your yard utilizing artificial food sources. Many of these birds enjoy suet including the nuthatches, chickadees, woodpeckers, wrens and more. Several commercial companies even make a suet cake with dehydrated or freeze dried insects embedded into the suet to attract insect eating birds. Specialized wild bird feeders such as a bluebird feeder may be used to attract insect eaters by feeding live mealworms or other live insects. Peanut butter will also attract a variety of insectivorous birds such as wrens, thrashers, chickadees, woodpeckers, titmice, warblers, bluebirds, towhees, White-crowned Sparrows and juncos.
The fruit eaters, like the insect eaters are trickier to attract. They enjoy berries, orange halves and other fruits. However, we have found several ways to accommodate these birds. We provide orange halves on the pegs of our recycled oriole feeders. This attracts orioles, catbirds, mockingbirds and thrashers. We have also used melon fruit and place it on pegs like the oranges or in suet baskets. This attracts the same birds as oranges as well as tanagers. Jays also seem to appreciate the melon fruit. Raisins have been known to attract robins, thrashers, waxwings, catbirds and other species. The suet companies have even produced a suet cake with berries and fruit added to attract the fruit eaters. Each of these work to varying degrees, but the real bird magnet for fruit eaters is grape jelly! We provide this delicacy in our recycled oriole feeder and there is a steady line of birds to this food. Nectar eaters include the hummingbirds, orioles and some woodpeckers. a simple mix of one part table sugar to four parts water in a good hummingbird feeder will satisfy these birds.
With this information in hand I would recommend the following feeders to accomplish the goal of the attracting the most birds species possible:
1. A Starling resistant suet feeder. Upside down suet feeders are best for this. If Starlings are not a problem where you live an upright suet feeder will do the trick. A tail prop suet feeder will make the woodpeckers feel at home and the other suet lovers will not mind it.
2. A tube feeder for thistle (Nyjer) seed preferably without perches. Stainless steel or screen mesh are best and easiest to clean.
3. A tube feeder for black oil sunflower seed and/or peanuts without perches. Again stainless steel is easy to clean.
4. A platform type feeder to accommodate the scratchers.
5. A hopper type feeder filled with a good mixed wild bird seed to accommodate the perchers.
6. A recycled oriole feeder having two pegs for fruits and two bowls, one for grape jelly and one for peanut butter. A second feeder of this type could be used to present melon fruit on the pegs and mealworms and raisins in the cups.
7. A nectar feeder. Make sure it is easy to clean and easy to fill and is wind resistant. Many ornamental hummingbird feeders are nice to look at but do not meet these requirements.
These feeders provided with water and a little shelter for the birds should attract about any bird which passes by. Always remember the three basic elements of providing food for birds and wildlife-comfort, cleanliness and consistency. Provide the birds with their food of choice in a feeder that will allow them to utilize their natural instincts to obtain it. Keep the feeders clean and always make sure there is food in them. While wild birds are not dependent on us for food, it is much more pleasing for you if birds are actually coming in to the feeders. An empty feeder attracts no birds. Utilizing these recommendations should maximize the numbers of birds in your yard.
