Key points
- Black-oil sunflower in a hopper or tube feeder draws the widest range of birds. If you buy one seed and one feeder, buy these.
- Nyjer needs its own feeder with tiny ports or a mesh sock, and it brings goldfinches and little else. Safflower in any feeder brings cardinals and leaves squirrels and grackles cold.
- Suet in a wire cage is the winter feed for woodpeckers, nuthatches and chickadees. Peanuts in a mesh feeder bring the same birds plus jays.
- Cheap mixes are mostly milo and cracked corn that most birds kick to the ground. A single good seed costs more per bag and far less per bird fed.
The feeder matters less than what is in it. A good feeder full of the wrong seed sits empty while the birds eat from a neighbour’s cheap tube of sunflower. Each seed draws a different set of species and each needs a feeder shaped for it, so this guide pairs them: which seed, which birds, which feeder.
If you are starting with one feeder: black-oil sunflower in a hopper or a tube with large ports. Add a nyjer feeder for goldfinches, suet in winter for woodpeckers, and safflower if squirrels or grackles take over.
Black-oil sunflower: the default
Small black seeds with a thin shell and a high oil content. Nearly every seed-eating bird takes them: cardinals, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, house and purple finches, goldfinches, grosbeaks, jays and woodpeckers. The thin shell means small birds can open it, which is what sets black-oil apart from the striped sunflower sold for people.
Feeder: a tube with ports and perches, or a hopper with a tray. Capacity in a tube is usually 1 to 3 pounds, in a hopper 4 to 8. Sunflower is about 2.5 to 3 cups per pound.
Hulled sunflower, sold as hearts or chips, is the same seed shelled. It costs more per pound, leaves no husks under the feeder, and spoils faster when wet, so it suits a covered feeder and a tidy patio.
Safflower: the squirrel and grackle filter
White, slightly bitter seeds. Cardinals, chickadees, titmice, house finches, doves and nuthatches eat them readily. Grey squirrels, grackles and starlings mostly do not. Switching a feeder to safflower is the cheapest fix for a feeder being emptied by the wrong visitors, as our squirrel-proofing guide explains.
Feeder: anything that takes sunflower. Hopper and platform feeders suit cardinals best because they prefer to perch flat.
Nyjer: for goldfinches
Tiny black seeds, often sold as thistle though they are not. Goldfinches, pine siskins and redpolls eat it; little else bothers. It is expensive by weight and dries out within a few weeks, after which finches ignore it.
Feeder: a dedicated nyjer tube with very small ports, or a fine mesh sock or tube. Ordinary port feeders pour it onto the ground. Capacity is usually 1 to 2 pounds, which is plenty given how slowly it goes.
White millet: for ground birds
Small round pale seeds. Juncos, sparrows, doves, towhees and buntings eat it, mostly from the ground or a low tray. Few birds take it from a hanging tube. Millet is the seed that makes a good mix good and a bad mix tolerable.
Feeder: a platform or ground tray, ideally with a mesh floor that drains.
Peanuts: for woodpeckers, jays and nuthatches
Shelled, unsalted peanuts in a stainless mesh feeder draw woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, titmice and jays, and the mesh makes them work for each bite. Whole peanuts in the shell on a platform are jay food. Peanut pieces spoil in heat and damp, so buy small bags.
Feeder: a mesh tube or cage with openings around a quarter inch. Squirrels love peanuts, so this feeder needs a baffle more than most.
Suet: the winter feed
Rendered beef fat, sold in cakes, often mixed with seed, fruit or insects. Woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, wrens and in spring warblers and orioles take it. Plain suet softens and goes rancid above about 70 degrees Fahrenheit, so it is a cold-weather food unless you buy no-melt cakes made with more flour and less fat.
Feeder: a wire cage sized for a standard cake, about 5 by 5 by 1.5 inches. An upside-down cage, where the bird clings underneath, lets woodpeckers and nuthatches feed and defeats starlings, which cannot hang.
Cracked corn and milo: mostly filler
Cracked corn draws doves, jays, ducks and a great many squirrels and sparrows. Red milo, the round reddish seed that fills cheap mixes, is eaten by a few western species and largely ignored elsewhere. Both end up on the ground. Mixes that list either first are padding.
Why single seeds beat mixes
A bag of mix looks cheaper than a bag of sunflower. Weigh what gets eaten and it is the reverse. Birds pick out the sunflower and millet and throw the rest down, where it rots and draws rodents. Buying two or three single seeds and putting each in its own feeder costs more per bag, less per bird, and keeps the ground clean.
If a mix is unavoidable, read the label. Sunflower first, millet second, no milo, no wheat.
Storage
Seed keeps for a few months in a sealed metal bin in a cool dry place. Plastic bins get chewed through. Nyjer and suet have the shortest life; sunflower the longest. Seed that smells musty or has webbing in it has moths and should go.
Who should not buy which
Anyone with a squirrel problem should not start with peanuts. Anyone without goldfinches locally should skip nyjer. Anyone in a hot climate should buy no-melt suet or none in summer. And anyone tempted by a 40 pound bag of mix because it is cheap should price it against what the birds leave on the ground.
How we choose feeders
When we recommend feeders in our feeders section, each pick lists the seed it is built for, the capacity in both pounds and cups, the port size, how it comes apart for cleaning, and what owners report after a season about clogging, mould and squirrels. Our full process is on the how we choose page.
Final verdict
Black-oil sunflower in a tube or hopper first. Nyjer in its own feeder for goldfinches, suet in a cage for winter, safflower when squirrels or grackles win, and no mixes with milo. Match the feeder to the seed and the birds will match themselves to the feeder.
Questions people ask
What is the best all-round bird seed?
Black-oil sunflower. The thin shell suits small beaks, the high oil content suits every seed eater, and cardinals, chickadees, finches, nuthatches, titmice and jays all take it. Hulled sunflower hearts are the same seed without the mess.
Why will birds not eat my seed mix?
Most inexpensive mixes are padded with red milo, cracked corn and wheat, which the common feeder birds in most of North America leave. They pick out the sunflower and drop the rest, which then draws rodents. Buy single seeds or a mix that lists sunflower first.
How often should I clean a feeder?
Every two weeks, more in wet weather, with hot water and a brush, then dry it fully before refilling. Seed that clumps or smells sour should be thrown out. Feeders that come apart without tools get cleaned; feeders that do not, do not.
