A mix in a hopper
Birds Choice Medium Hopper Bird Feeder
About 3 lb of mixed seed behind a screen floor that drains and lifts out.
Bird seed mixes
A good mix is mostly black-oil sunflower, with white proso millet and cracked corn for ground birds. Red millet, golden millet, oats and flax are fillers most birds leave to spoil, and milo suits western ground birds but is often wasted elsewhere. Read the ingredients list before you buy.
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A big tube for blends
Aspects Big Tube Seed Feeder #421
Aspects’ large seed tube for sunflower, safflower or seed blends.
A low tray
Duncraft Open Air Ground Platform Bird Feeder
17 x 11¼ in on a metal mesh floor, for the millet and corn ground birds pick out.
A commission never decides the picks. How we choose.
Who eats milo and oats
9 of the 27 common feeder birds on our seed chart take one or the other, according to Project FeederWatch. Birds in your area vary by region and season.
7 more feeders
Birds Choice · Seed feeder
Large Hopper Bird Feeder with Suet Cages
- Holds 6 lb
- Comes apart to clean
About 6 lb of seed plus two suet cakes on one pole: a feeding station in one box.
Keep in mind: Pole mount only, and the 1 in pole flange (#1202) is sold separately.
Birds Choice · Platform feeder
Seed Catcher Platform Feeder, Medium
- Comes apart to clean
A big pole-mounted tray for cardinals, jays and doves, or a catcher under a hopper so less seed hits the ground.
Keep in mind: The 1 in pole flange (#1202) or the leg set (#SNLS) for ground use is sold separately.
Birds Choice · Platform feeder
Small Hanging Platform Feeder
A small hanging tray for cardinals, jays, doves and juncos, with a mesh floor that drains.
Keep in mind: An open tray collects droppings: scrape it daily and wash it every week or two.
Kingsyard · Seed feeder
Squirrel-Proof Large Capacity Feeder House
- Holds 5 lb
- Squirrel-resistant
Holds 5 lb of mixed seed and closes its ports under a squirrel’s weight.
Keep in mind: The spring also closes under large birds, so jays and grackles may be shut out.
Duncraft · Platform feeder
Eco-Strong Platform Feeder
- Holds 2 lb
An open tray that brings the most kinds of birds: seed, fruit, nuts or suet on a mesh floor that drains.
Keep in mind: An open tray collects droppings: scrape it daily and wash it every week or two.
Birds Choice · Seed feeder
Small Hopper Bird Feeder
- Holds 1.5 lb
A small hopper for a few days of sunflower, with a mesh floor that keeps seed dry.
Keep in mind: About 1.5 lb: refill every few days when it is busy.
Duncraft · Platform feeder
Large Ground Platform Bird Feeder
- Holds 5 lb
Doves, juncos, sparrows and towhees that feed on the ground, with room for seed, seed blocks, fruit or suet cakes.
Keep in mind: Food on an open tray at ground level is within easy reach of squirrels and other animals too.
What a good mix holds
Sunflower attracts the widest variety of birds and is the mainstay of most feeders, Cornell notes, so look for a mix where it leads. White proso millet and cracked corn add food for ground-feeding birds such as doves, juncos and sparrows.
The fillers
Red millet, golden millet, flax and oats bulk out cheap mixes, but most birds shun them and sort through the bag to get at what they want. The seed left behind grows bacteria and mold that spoil fresh seed sooner. Rapeseed draws only a few birds, such as quail, doves, finches and juncos, and canary seed is a favorite of house sparrows and cowbirds. The ingredients list on the bag shows how much of each is inside.
Milo, the small red seed
Milo, also sold as sorghum, is a favorite of many western ground-feeding birds: in Cornell’s seed preference tests, Steller’s jays, curve-billed thrashers and Gambel’s quail chose it over sunflower. Elsewhere it is often left. If a mix is full of small red seeds, check that they are milo, not red millet, and stop offering milo if cowbirds come for it.
References
| Source |
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| Feeding Birds: a Quick Guide to Seed Types ↗ |
| Common Feeder Birds ↗ |