Black-oil sunflower Project FeederWatch
- Who comes for it
- Cardinals, chickadees, finches and sparrows; woodpeckers now and then
- The most common feeder seed in North America: thin shells and lots of energy.
Bird feeder guide
Pick a food to see which birds it brings to a feeder near you and how to offer it. Below: how often to clean, and what never to put out.
Sunflower hearts RSPB
- Who comes for it
- Tits, finches and sparrows
- How to offer it
- Hanging seed feeder
- When
- 1 November to 30 April only: the RSPB advises pausing seeds and peanuts from May to the end of October, when the risk of spreading trichomonosis is higher.
- Husk-free and rich in oil and protein.
Cleaning schedule
| What | How often | How |
|---|---|---|
| Seed and suet feeders | Every week or two; more often in heavy use or wet weather | Take apart, scrub off old seed and hulls, wash in warm water and dish soap, rinse, dry fully before refilling |
| Hummingbird feeders | Every couple of days, ideally at each refill; more often when it is warm | Take apart, wash, rinse thoroughly; discard cloudy or mouldy nectar at once |
| Bird bath | New water every couple of days; scrub weekly | Empty and scrub out if the water is cloudy or fouled |
| Disinfecting (optional) | In busy periods, or if you see sick birds | Soak cleaned parts 10 minutes in 1 part bleach to 9 parts water, rinse, dry |
| Under the feeders | Regularly | Rake or sweep up droppings and spilled food; move feeders now and then |
Wear gloves, and wash your hands afterwards. Don’t use feeders that can’t be washed thoroughly, such as wooden ones. Source: Project FeederWatch.
| What | How often | How |
|---|---|---|
| Feeders | Every week | Wash with a mild disinfectant and hot water, rinse fully, dry before filling; move them to a new spot weekly |
| Food | Each refill | Put out only what goes in a day or two (suet within 7 days); empty out old food first |
| Water | Every day; disinfect weekly | Rinse and refill with fresh tap water |
| Bird tables and flat feeders | Retire them | Disease spreads more easily where contaminated food collects on flat surfaces |
| If you see a sick bird | At once | Stop feeding, clean feeders and store them away; resume after a month, and only if no more sick birds are seen |
Wear gloves, clean feeders outside with separate utensils, and wash your hands afterwards. Source: RSPB.
What never to put out
- Salted peanuts, or peanuts roasted with coatings or flavourings.
- Mouldy food: throw away mouldy fruit and peanuts, since some moulds make toxins harmful to birds.
- Red food colouring, honey, brown sugar, molasses or artificial sweeteners in nectar.
- Raisins with preservatives.
- Bread and other dry, hard food in spring and summer: the RSPB warns that chicks can choke on it.
- Salted food, which dehydrates birds.
- Cooked food, which attracts rats.
- Loose peanuts: use a rigid steel mesh feeder, and only aflatoxin-free nuts.
- Bread or dry, hard food in spring and summer: parents may take it to the nest and chicks can choke.
- Anything in a nylon mesh bag, which can trap feet and beaks.
- Seeds and peanuts from May to the end of October, when trichomonosis spreads more easily.
Feeder types
- Tube
- Keeps seed fairly dry; short perches suit finches and keep out grackles and jays. Nyjer needs very small ports.
- Hopper
- A roofed platform that protects seed; large ones take most feeder birds, small ones keep big birds off.
- Platform
- A flat tray with drainage holes; near the ground it draws juncos, doves and sparrows. FeederWatch suggests retiring trays if diseases spread by droppings appear.
- Suet cage
- Cages reachable only from below resist starlings but suit woodpeckers, nuthatches and chickadees.
- Nectar
- Choose one that comes apart easily for cleaning.
- Ground
- Sparrows, towhees and doves often feed only on the ground or a large flat surface.
- Hanging seed feeder
- Sunflower hearts for finches, tits and sparrows.
- Steel mesh nut feeder
- The only safe way to offer peanuts; good for tits and Nuthatches.
- Mesh fat ball feeder
- For tits, sparrows and Starlings.
- Mealworm feeder
- Or a small scatter on the ground, for Blackbirds and Robins.
- Bird tables
- The RSPB now advises retiring them, along with other flat-surfaced feeders.
How to use this guide
Choose your region at the top of the page, then a food. The card lists the birds that come for it, how the source suggests offering it and, in the UK, the months the RSPB now recommends. North American advice comes from the Cornell Lab’s Project FeederWatch; UK and European advice from the RSPB.
Where to hang feeders
Put feeders somewhere quiet, close enough to shrubs or trees that birds can dart to cover, but not so close that cats can ambush them. FeederWatch suggests about 10 ft (3 m) from cover as a compromise; the RSPB says a couple of metres from thick cover, out of reach of ground predators, and not under branches where birds perch. Moving feeders now and then stops droppings and spilled food building up underneath.
Questions
Which single food brings the most kinds of birds?
In North America, black-oil sunflower: FeederWatch calls it the most common feeder seed and a favourite of cardinals, chickadees, finches and sparrows. In the UK, the RSPB names sunflower hearts and seed mixes for tits, finches and sparrows in the colder months, and suet and mealworms all year.
Why does the UK advice stop seeds in summer?
After a scientific review, the RSPB advises pausing seeds and peanuts from 1 May to 31 October, when the risk of spreading trichomonosis, a disease that has hit Greenfinches hard, is higher. Suet and mealworms are fine all year.
Can I use bleach on feeders?
Yes, after washing: FeederWatch suggests soaking parts for 10 minutes in one part bleach to nine parts water, then rinsing well and letting them dry. If you would rather not use bleach, it mentions boiling water or diluted vinegar, though not every alternative meets disinfectant standards.
Sources
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Project FeederWatch: Feeding Birds (food types and the birds they attract, feeder types, feeder placement, cleaning and disinfecting, sick birds).
- RSPB: Feeding birds near you (foods and birds, seasonal feeding, feeder hygiene, sick birds, water) and How and what to feed your garden birds (foods to avoid, feeders, mesh bags, flat-surfaced feeders, weekly cleaning).
- National Audubon Society: Hummingbird Feeding FAQs (no honey, brown sugar, molasses or artificial sweeteners in nectar).