VALLEY SPLENDOR BIRD FEEDING TIPS

SIMPLE WAYS TO KEEP THE BIRDS COMING

Providing Fresh Water

• Birds rely on water just as much as they need food, so give birds clean water to drink, and it will in-turn attract them to the food.
• Birds appreciate a clean place to take a bath, to not only groom themselves, but also stay healthy.

Picking the Proper Feeder

• Different blends of bird food require different types of feeders. For example, you can offer:
  • sunflower seeds in a tubular or hopper feeder
  • thistle (also called Nyjer Seed) in a finch feeder, which is a tubular feeder with smaller ports
  • mixed seed in a hopper feeder or a tray feeder

Understanding the Importance of Suet

• Suet is type of bird food that is high in fat, providing birds with extra protein for energy.
• Suet comes in a small square block that is placed in a wire mesh suet holder.
• Suet is great for feeding birds that might not come to a regular feeder, and also is great for the cold winter months when birds need that extra energy.

Helpful tips on which birds like what seeds

Black Oil Sunflower

• The number-one choice for the largest variety of birds.
• The most economical seed that will be sure to get birds to your backyard.

Striped Sunflower Seed

• The seed preferred by larger birds, such as cardinals and jays.

Hulled Sunflower Seeds

• Sunflower seeds without the hull or shell. Because there is no shell to crack open, a greater variety of birds can enjoy these hulled seeds, including mockingbirds, wrens, woodpeckers, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, gold finches, house finches, cardinals, grosbeaks, sparrows, and jays.
• Great for feeding on decks, patios, and gardens because no messy shells fall beneath the feeder.

Thistle (Nyjer Seed)

• The top seed choice of finches.
• Not a favorite of squirrels, so they are less likely to try eating from your feeder if it contains Thistle (Nyjer seed).

Safflower

• A highly desirable seed that attracts many of the same birds as Black Oil Sunflower, such as chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, gold finches, house finches, grosbeaks, and jays.
• Not desired by squirrels and grackles, so your feeders can be left undisturbed

Millet

• A small round seed that has several different types including White, Red, and Golden Millet.
• Mostly offered in mixes of bird seed.
• Enjoyed by ground-feeding birds, including doves, sparrows, juncos, bobwhites, and quails.

Milo

• Also known as Sorghum, a less desirable seed often offered in more inexpensive mixes.
• High in carbohydrates – enjoyed by doves, sparrows, quails, and tohees.

Cracked Corn

• Dried corn kernels that have been cracked into smaller pieces.
• Preferred by birds that feed on the ground, including pheasants, quails, doves, sparrows, towhees, blackbirds, grackles, and jays.