How to Feed Wild Birds

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By Regina Paul
eHow Contributing Writer

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Feeding wild birds is one way to get close to wild birds, and can also be very educational for your children. It's also a great way to get photos of wild birds for research papers, or just for your own pleasure. There are many different kinds of wild birds, and different types of bird seed and feeders attract different types of wild birds. For the purposes of this article, you'll learn how to feed chickadees, and finches.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Bird feeder
Black oil sunflower seeds

Step 1

Purchase black oil sunflower seeds. These sunflower seeds have thin shells and their seeds have a higher fat content which can help the finches and chickadees in your area thrive during the winter months when food is scarce.
Step 2

Purchase a bird feeder. It's important thing to choose a bird feeder that is easily accessible to you and is easy to clean. For example, window feeders are good because they are both.
Step 3

Fill your bird feeder with the black oil sunflower seeds, but only enough to last for a day or two, otherwise they can spoil.
Step 4

Watch the bird feeder and soon you will see the colorful finches and chickadees, and maybe even a few nuthatches.

Tips & Warnings

Consider teaching the birds to feed from your hand by putting a few sunflower seeds on the ground close to you, and then gradually moving the sunflower seeds closer and closer until they are in your hand and the wild birds are eating them there. Take pictures of the wild birds that come to eat at your feeder. Make sure your bird feeders are high enough off the ground to protect them from marauding cats.
Be aware that bacteria can grow in sunflower seeds left too long in a bird feeder, especially if birds are standing over the top of the seeds as they are eating them and putting droppings on them. Wild birds that eat infected sunflower seeds can die. Be aware that sunflower seeds that get wet can grow mold which can kill birds that eat the infected sunflower seeds. If you decide to build a bird feeder, don't do it with plywood because some birds will eat the glue and it will kill them.