What Types of Birds Use a Birdfeeder?

Attract more types of birds by offering more than just seeds.

Birdfeeders are not just for seeds anymore, and not just for seed-eating birds. A birdfeeder can also attract birds that eat insects, nectar and fruit. The only birds you won't attract with a birdfeeder are meat-eating birds such as hawks and eagles as well as fish-eating birds such as pelicans.

Seed Eaters

Finches love black-oil sunflower seeds and niger (nyjer) thistle.

Seed-eating birds have strong, thick beaks that allow them to break seeds open. They include finches, sparrows, doves, juncos, buntings and grackles. What birds you attract to a seed-filled birdfeeder will depend upon where it is placed and what seed it contains. Black oil sunflower seed attracts the biggest variety of birds. Place it closer to the ground to attract ground-feeders such as doves, juncos and sparrows; place it higher up to attract finches and chickadees.

Insect Eaters

Attract robins with a suet or mealworm birdfeeder.

Most insect-eating birds have small, sharp beaks that allow them to snare insects in their jaws. Examples of insect-eaters include robins, warblers, chickadees and titmice. Woodpeckers and sapsuckers are built slightly differently, as they have a longer, sharper beak that allows them to hammer beneath a tree's bark to find larvae. Insect eaters may occasionally visit seed feeders but are more attracted to suet, which is a mixture of animal fat, seeds and fruit. Mealworms placed on a platform feeder also attract insect-eaters. All of the previously mentioned insect-eating birds are attracted to suet, as are cardinals, wrens, kinglets, brown creepers, brown thrashers and thrushes.

Nectar Feeders

Hummingbirds have thin, narrow beaks that allow them to drink nectar.

Nectar feeders are birds that drink nectar, a liquid produced by plants composed of sucrose, glucose and fructose. Hummingbirds and orioles are the most famous nectar feeders, and they have special feeders designed to attract them. But cardinals, thrushes, woodpeckers, tanagers and finches are also known to visit nectar feeders when they can.

Fruit Eaters

Cedar waxwings eat fruit year-round in North America.

Fruit-eating birds are not exclusive to the tropics. North America has its share of fruit-eaters which manage to find fruit year-round, including cedar and holly berries. To accommodate them, birdfeeders are now designed to hold a variety of fruit. These birdfeeders may be basic platform feeders with special hooks or cages to hold fruit pieces. Orioles love fruit, as do mockingbirds, thrashers, waxwings, robins, tanagers, bluebirds, jays, cardinals and many others. You can use almost any fruit including oranges, apples, cherries, berries, pears and grapes.

References

• Cornell University: Bird Feeding Ecology and Diversity; Christine Wilkinson; 2010
• Project FeederWatch: What to Feed Birds
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Suet, Mealworms and Other Foods
• University of Maine Cooperative Extension: Bird Feeding Basics; Catherine Elliott
• West Virginia University Extension Service: Beauty in Your Backyard: Attracting and...; Norma Venable; August 2009
• Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries: Bird Feeding Basics; Carol A. Heiser

Resources

• Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences: Winter Bird Feeding: The Basics; Heather Beck, et al.
• Love My Pets: Attracting Wild Birds -- Getting the Most Out of Your Home Bird Feeders; April 2011
• Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences: Winter Bird Feeding: The Basics; Heather Beck, et al.
• University of Wisconsin Extension: Bird Feeding -- Tips for Beginners; 2007