Adorable Wild Birds Being Fed On The Balcony

You're always asking about what and how to feed your garden birds - such as which is the best type of food to provide or whether there's anything to avoid. Whatever food you use, always make sure it's fresh!

Bird seed mixtures

There are different mixes for feeders, for bird tables and for ground feeding. The better mixtures contain plenty of flaked maize, sunflower seeds and peanut granules.

Small seeds, such as millet, attract mostly house sparrows, dunnocks, finches, reed buntings and collared doves, while flaked maize is taken readily by blackbirds. Tits and greenfinches favour peanuts and sunflower seeds. Mixes that contain chunks or whole nuts are suitable for winter feeding only. Pinhead oatmeal is excellent for many birds. Wheat and barley grains are often included in seed mixtures, but they're really only suitable for pigeons, doves and pheasants, which feed on the ground and rapidly increase in numbers, frequently deterring the smaller species.

Other seeds and nuts

Black sunflower seeds
These are an excellent year-round food, and in many areas are even more popular than peanuts. The oil content is higher in black than striped ones, and so they are much better. Sunflower hearts (the husked kernels) are a popular no-mess food.

Bird cake and food bars

Fat balls and other fat-based food bars are excellent winter food.

If they are sold in nylon mesh bags, always remove the bag before putting the fat ball out – the soft mesh can trap and injure birds.