Preferred Foods of Different Birds

Black oil sunflower seed is the most universally eaten food eaten at bird feeders. But there are many types of seeds, nuts, fruits, and other foods you can offer birds to attract them. The most popular will depend on where you live and the types of birds visiting your feeders.

In addition to food, you can attract birds by providing water (sometimes running water, a mister or dripper, is necessary) and shelter.

Type of Bird	Food
Blue Jays and other Jays	Peanuts, sunflower seed, suet, cracked corn, bread products, peanut butter, lard & seed mixes
Cardinals and Grosbeaks	Sunflower seed, safflower, cracked corn, millet, apples and other fruit, peanuts
Cedar Waxwings	Berries, raisins, apple slices, currents, grapes
Goldfinches and other Finches	Sunflower seed, Nyjer (thistle), sunflower hearts, millet, fruit, suet, peanuts
Hummingbirds	Plant nectar from appropriate live plants, sugar solution
Indigo Buntings and other Buntings	Peanuts, millet, mixed seeds, sunflower hearts
Kinglets	Suet, suet mixes, baked products, mealworms
Mockingbirds, Thrashers, Catbirds	Halved apples, chopped fruits, mealworms, suet, nutmeats, millet (thrashers), soaked raisins, currents, sunflower hearts
Mourning Doves and other Doves	Millet, Nyjer (thistle), sunflower hearts, safflower, cracked corn
Nuthatches	Suet, suet mixes, sunflower seed, sunflower hearts, peanuts, peanut butter, mealworms
Orioles	Halved oranges, apples, berries, grape jelly, suet mixes, soaked raisins, mealworms, currents
Pine Siskins and other Siskins	Nuts, rolled oats, Nyjer (thistle), mixed seed, sunflower seed, sunflower hearts, millet, suet
Quail	Sunflower seed, seed mixes
Red-Winged Blackbirds	Cracked corn, mixed seed, sunflower seed, sunflower hearts, millet, suet, bread products
Robins, Bluebirds, and other Thrushes	Apples, sunflower seed, mealworms, berries, suet, chopped fruit, soaked raisins, currents, nutmeats, sunflower hearts
Tanagers	Suet, fruits, sugar solution, mealworms, baked products
Titmice and Chickadees	Peanuts, sunflower seed, suet, peanut butter, mealworms
Towhees and Juncos	Millet, sunflower seed, peanuts, cracked corn, suet, nutmeats, baked products
Warblers	Suet, suet mixes, fruit, baked products, sugar solution, chopped nutmeats
Woodpeckers	Suet, meat scraps, sunflower seed, sunflower hearts, cracked corn, peanuts, fruits, mealworms
Wrens and Creepers	Suet, suet mixes, peanut butter, peanuts, bread products, fruit, millet (wrens), mealworms