You can encourage wild birds to visit your yard by offering food for them. The quality, types and location of wild bird foods are important to tempt your feathered visitors to keep coming back. Offer food that complements the birds' natural diet. Remember to avoid using insecticides, pesticides and fertilizers in your yard that contain chemicals that could harm birds. Does this Spark an idea?
Quality Seeds
Nutrition and freshness determine the quality of wild bird food seeds. Check the expiration date on the bag before you buy it. As wild bird seeds age, the nutrients degrade, and the center portion of the bag might even have mold or mildew.
Read the label on the bag to see how much filler seed it contains. The predominant ingredient is listed first. Common filler seeds in commercial brands of wild bird food are milo, sorghum, red millet and golden millet. According to the Natural Wild Life Federation, wild birds will push those seeds onto the ground. Don't waste your money on them.
Sunflower, safflower and nyger seeds, as well as peanut kernels, will attract a variety of desirable birds, from cardinals to chickadees to goldfinches, to your feeder.
Fruit
Not all birds are seed eaters. Provide a variety of flowering and evergreen plants in your yard to attract wild birds that are fruit and insect eaters. Berry bushes are ideal. To attract birds that like fruit, put out a small plate of finely chopped dried fruits.
Insect Eaters
Woodpeckers are the most well-known insect-eating birds. They peck at tree bark to find small insects climbing up and down the tree. Purchase a suet block loaded with dehydrated insects. Place the block in a wire suet holder and hang it from a tree limb. Check it occasionally to be sure it hasn't gotten moldy or rancid, especially in hot weather.
Dead Trees
A great way to encourage wild birds to remain in your yard is to allow dead trees to remain. Insects that live in the tree offer food for insect-eating birds, and the hollow part of the tree provides shelter, nesting area and safety for wild birds.
Sunflower Seed Oil
According to the Natural Wild Life Federation, the majority of seed-eating birds enjoy the flavor of sunflower seed oil. Stir one tablespoon of the sunflower seed oil into seed mixtures, prior to placing in feeders. Check feeders often for cleanliness.
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