Picky, picky: The right food to feed birds

Before you pick up the first bag of bird seed you come to off the supermarket shelf, you might want to consider Michael Russell's advice on the Bird Watching Now Web site for what to offer the birds that are likely to visit your feeders.

"The best seeds to provide for your dinner guests are sunflower seeds," he writes. "These seeds attract cardinals, woodpeckers, blue jays, goldfinches, purple finches, chickadees, titmice, and nuthatches." Russell also suggests niger in a special tube feeder to attract goldfinches, but warns that it is expensive and not to waste it. Safflower seeds attract cardinals, titmice, chickadees, and downy woodpeckers. Another nice feature of these white seeds is that squirrels leave them alone.

Russell also suggests scattering white millet, a very cheap seed, on the ground for ground-feeding juncos, mourning doves, sparrows, and quail. But he also warns--and this is an eye opener--not to buy bags of mixed birdseed. Too often birds will come across the seeds it doesn't like and simply fly away, not to return. However, if you put specific seeds for specific birds at your feeding locations, you are more likely to attract the birds you want.

You can read Mike Russell's entire article on the birdwatchingnow Web site.