The most economical way to feed birds is to give them bird seed! All varieties of birds like bird seed. Here are the different types of bird seed that you can feed your backyard birds:
- Sunflower seeds: This type of seed is the most common among birds and its no surprise why: they contain as much protein as ground beef! However, many people avoid providing their backyard birds with sunflower seeds because the shells can pile up in their backyard very quickly. There are 3 types of sunflower seeds: black oil, black striped, and gray striped. All are very healthy, but the largest variety of birds will flock to black oil sunflower seeds. Try the Kaytee Black Oil Sunflower Bird Seed.
- Small seeds: Birds that like small seeds usually like white proso millet or niger seed. However, these seeds can be very expensive, and usually attract a very specific breed of bird. For example, goldfinches are drawn to niger seed. If you want to provide white millet for small birds, try the White Millet for Wild Birds – 50 lbs.
- Commercial birdseed mixtures: The cheapest and easiest way to attract birds to your backyard is to provide them with commercial birdseed mixtures. Commercial birdseed mixtures are great because they offer a variety of seeds to birds, meaning that there is a high chance that at least one of the seeds in the mixture will be appealing to every bird. The negative aspect to commercial birdseed mixtures is that many birds will toss away the seeds they do want, meaning that many seeds will gather on the ground. Your best bet is to pick a commercial birdseed mixture with sunflower seeds, since almost every bird loves sunflower seeds! I would recommend buying the Bird Lovers Blend Best Blend 7 lbs. It has 28% sunflower seeds (of both black oil and striped seed).
Once you have the bird seed, you will need a feeder to put it in. I love the Birdscapes Garden Sip and Seed Feeder, pictured above. One side of this feeder can be filled with 1.15 lbs of seed, and the other can be filled with 27 ounces of water. This is a perfect one-stop shop for birds! The Birdscapes Garden Sip and Seed Feeder is attractive to a variety of birds.