Autumn
is a great time to feed the birds, and not only will your resident backyard
birds appreciate a delicious buffet, but birds getting ready to migrate will
also stop by for a snack. Not top mention the juvenile birds who still have
hearty appetites.
Birds
have many different types of diets and an array of feeding preferences, understanding what and how birds eat is the first step toward attracting them
with food.What
foods are best to offer autumn birds? While feeding needs will change throughout the season and depending on which birds are visiting your feeders,
the following foods are good bets for fall bird feeding.
Sunflower Seeds…
Black
oil, striped or hulled, are the single best food to offer birds in any season.
They are high in nutritious oil and easy for the birds to eat. They can be
offered in platform, tray, hopper or tube feeders. If you have ever grown sunflowers,
you would have seen birds devour the seeds as soon as they appear.
Suet…a is a high energy food ideal for
fall birds. There are many ways to offer suet, including cakes, balls and plugs
that come in many blends flavors. Place suet in cages or soften it to fill
holes in a suet log for woodpeckers,
nuthatches and chickadees. Pellets or chopped
suet can be put in platform feeders and trays.
Nyjer…seed is
the favorite food of many finches. Goldfinches, siskins and redpolls are all
especially fond of this high-oil seed, and will happily cling to sock or mesh
feeders to eat. Use a tray or fine mesh net beneath the feeder to catch spilled
hulls and make cleanup easy. Finches generally movearound in the fall. Your
summer finches will leave and others will arrive. By keeping your feeders
clean and filled will entice them to your yard.
White
millet…
is a starchy grain that is preferred by sparrows, juncos, and mourning
doves. Because many of these birds are ground feeders, offer millet in
open tray or
platform feeders, or sprinkle it among fallen leaves for birds that
forage in
the leaf litter.
Custom Mixed Seed… are great in any season. In the fall, offer a mix with
seeds that are preferred by the birds you are trying to attract. Avoid mixes
with a lot of fillers such as milo and oats, however, because songbirds may not
eat those seeds as readily, leaving them behind for less desirable birds such
as pigeons. Offer mixed seeds in any feeder, including platforms,trays, hoppers and tubes.
Peanuts… are a
great autumn food for birds, and many jays will cache nuts for a winter food
supply. You can offer peanut halves in tube feeders for chickadees, nuthatches
and woodpeckers. Blue jays are easily attracted to peanuts in the shell in a
peanut wreath. However, avoid feeding birds salted or flavored nuts.
Natural
foods…
left in your yard after the
summer ends are great for migrating birds. Fruit trees can attract a wide
variety of hungry birds in autumn, as can seeds from ornamentals grasses, spent
flowers and old berries still clinging to your bushes. Leave your leaf litter intact in your yard
for birds to forage for seeds, insects and nuts – and it's a great excuse to
avoid raking!
The
way to a bird’s heart truly is through its stomach, and it’s easy to attract
birds with food. By understanding what birds eat and the best foods to use to
entice them, backyard birders can attract a wide variety of different species
to their backyard buffet.
