Bird seed types chart
Which bird eats what is well documented by Project FeederWatch and decades of feeder studies. The table ranks nothing; it tells you what each food does so you can buy for the birds you actually want.
| Seed or food | Best for | Feeder | Squirrels | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black oil sunflower | Cardinals, Chickadees, Titmice, Nuthatches, House Finches | Tube feeder, Hopper feeder, Platform or tray feeder | Loved by squirrels | Keeps well for months in a sealed metal can |
| Striped sunflower | Cardinals, Blue Jays, Grosbeaks, Woodpeckers | Hopper feeder, Platform or tray feeder | Loved by squirrels | Keeps well |
| Sunflower hearts and chips | Goldfinches, Chickadees, Titmice, House Finches, Nuthatches | Tube feeder, Hopper feeder, Platform or tray feeder | Loved by squirrels | Spoils faster; buy what you use in a few weeks |
| Safflower | Cardinals, House Finches, Titmice, Mourning Doves, Grosbeaks | Hopper feeder, Platform or tray feeder, Tube feeder | Many squirrels avoid it, though not all | Keeps well |
| Nyjer (thistle) | Goldfinches, Pine Siskins, Redpolls, House Finches, Purple Finches | Nyjer (finch) tube, Nyjer sock | Squirrels ignore it | Goes stale in weeks; buy small bags |
| White proso millet | Juncos, Native Sparrows, Mourning Doves, Towhees, Quail | Ground tray, Platform or tray feeder | Moderate interest | Keeps well |
| Cracked corn | Mourning Doves, Blue Jays, Juncos, Quail, Native Sparrows | Ground tray, Platform or tray feeder | Loved by squirrels, deer and raccoons | Keep dry; wet corn grows aflatoxin mould |
| Milo (sorghum) | Mourning Doves, Quail | Ground tray | Low interest | Keeps well |
| Shelled peanuts | Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, Titmice, Chickadees, Blue Jays | Peanut mesh feeder, Hopper feeder, Platform or tray feeder | Loved by squirrels | Keep dry and cool; mould is the risk |
| Peanuts in the shell | Blue Jays, Woodpeckers, Titmice | Platform or tray feeder, Peanut wreath | Squirrels take them too | Keeps well dry |
| Suet and suet dough | Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, Chickadees, Wrens, Titmice | Suet cage, Tail-prop suet feeder | Squirrels and raccoons take it | Raw suet goes rancid above about 70 F; use no-melt dough in summer |
| Mealworms | Bluebirds, Wrens, Robins, Chickadees, Mockingbirds | Mealworm feeder, Platform or tray feeder | Little interest | Dried keep for months; live need refrigeration |
| Fruit (oranges, apples, berries) | Orioles, Robins, Mockingbirds, Cedar Waxwings | Oriole feeder, Platform or tray feeder | Some interest | Fresh only |
| Grape jelly | Orioles | Oriole feeder | Low | Fresh daily |
| Nectar (sugar water) | Hummingbirds, Orioles | Hummingbird feeder, Oriole feeder | None | Fridge for up to a week |
| Mixed seed blends | Native Sparrows, Juncos, Mourning Doves, House Finches, Cardinals | Platform or tray feeder, Hopper feeder | Loved by squirrels | Keeps well |
Seed and food, from 5 lb bags to bulk
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Used only to send the checklist.Frequently asked questions
What is the best all-round bird seed?
Black oil sunflower. Its thin shell is easy for small birds to crack and its high oil content gives a lot of energy, so cardinals, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, finches, jays, grosbeaks and woodpeckers all eat it. If you only buy one seed, buy this one. Its downsides are shell litter under the feeder and that squirrels love it too.
What bird seed do squirrels not like?
Safflower and nyjer are the two seeds squirrels most often ignore. Many squirrels find safflower bitter, though some learn to eat it, and nyjer is too small to interest them. Hot pepper treated seed is another option; birds cannot taste capsaicin but mammals can. None of these beats a properly placed baffle.
Is cheap mixed bird seed worth buying?
Usually not. Cheap mixes are bulked with milo, red millet, wheat and oats that most feeder birds flick onto the ground, where they rot or feed rodents and house sparrows. A mix is worth buying when sunflower, safflower or white millet leads the ingredient list. Otherwise single seeds in separate feeders go further.
What seed attracts the most birds?
Black oil sunflower attracts the most species at hanging feeders, and white proso millet scattered on a low tray brings the ground feeders such as juncos, sparrows and doves. Offering those two plus a suet cake and a nyjer feeder covers most of the common backyard birds in North America through the year.
Does bird seed go bad?
Yes. Seed can go rancid, grow mould or become infested with insects. Oily seeds and hulled hearts spoil fastest, nyjer dries out within weeks, and anything that gets wet can grow harmful mould. Store seed in a sealed metal can in a cool, dry spot, buy only a few weeks of the fast-spoiling kinds, and throw out anything clumped, musty or mouldy.