Food for Winter Birds
By NGA Staff
Here are 25 feeder birds that spend their winters in the United States. To determine if a particular species may visit your yard, check with your local extension service to learn about birds' winter habitats in your immediate area.
Northern cardinal
- Winter range: Southwest, Northeast, Southeast, Midwest
- Food preference: Most sunflower seeds
- Feeder position: Elevated
- Preferred habitat: Woodland edges, brushy swamps, and suburban gardens
Blue jay
- Winter range: Northeast, Midwest
- Food preference: Raw peanuts, sunflower seeds
- Feeder position: Elevated
- Preferred habitat: Oak trees, city parks, suburban yards
Chickadee (several species)
- Winter range: Pacific Northwest, Northeast, Southeast
- Food preference: Black oil sunflower and black-striped sunflower seeds, peanut kernels
- Feeder position: Elevated
- Preferred habitat: Deciduous, mixed forest; suburban areas
Scrub jay
- Winter range: Pacific Northwest, Southwest
- Food preference: Peanut kernels, black-striped sunflower seeds
- Feeder position: Elevated, ground
- Preferred habitat: Scrub oak, woodland, suburban gardens
Pyrrhuloxia
- Winter range: Southwest
- Food preference: Most sunflower seeds
- Feeder position: Elevated
- Preferred habitat: Desert brush and streambeds
Pine siskin
- Winter range: All regions
- Food preference: Niger, hulled sunflower and black oil sunflower seeds
- Feeder position: Elevated
- Preferred habitat: Coniferous forests, woodlands, brushy pastures
Common redpoll
- Winter range: Northeast, Midwest, Pacific Northwest
- Food preference: Niger and black oil sunflower seeds
- Feeder position: Elevated
- Preferred habitat: Brushy pasture, open thickets; weed fields
House finch
- Winter range: Pacific Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, Midwest
- Food preference: Black oil sunflower and black-striped sunflower seeds
- Feeder position: Elevated
- Preferred habitat: Residential areas, deserts, orchards, coastal valleys
Clark's nutcracker
- Winter range: Pacific Northwest
- Food preference: Sunflower seeds and suet
- Feeder position: Elevated
- Preferred habitat: Pine stands, higher elevations
Carolina wren
- Winter range: Northeast, Midwest
- Food preference: Hulled sunflower seeds, suet, and peanut kernels
- Feeder position: Elevated, ground
- Preferred habitat: Woodland thickets, ravines, brushy slopes
Hummingbird
- Winter range: Deepest Southeast and Southwest
- Food preference: Nectar (sugar and water in 1:4 ratio)
- Feeder position: Elevated
- Preferred habitat: Forest edges, brush, gardens
Song sparrow
- Winter range: All regions
- Food preference: White proso millet
- Feeder position: Elevated, ground
- Preferred habitat: Forest edges, clearings, thickets
Tufted titmouse
- Winter range: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, some areas of the Southwest
- Food preference: Peanut kernels, black-striped and black oil sunflower seeds
- Feeder position: Elevated
- Preferred habitat: Damp woodlands; villages, city parks, and feeders
Goldfinch (several species)
- Winter range: All regions
- Food preference: Hulled sunflower, niger, black oil sunflower seeds
- Feeder position: Elevated
- Preferred habitat: Brush piles, thickets, tall grasses, and trees
Evening grosbeak
- Winter range: Pacific Northwest, Northeast, Midwest, some areas of the Southeast
- Food preference: Most sunflower seeds
- Feeder position: Elevated
- Preferred habitat: Deciduous forests; suburban areas
White-throated sparrow
- Winter range: Northeast, Southeast
- Food preference: Black oil and black-striped sunflower seeds, white proso millet, and peanut kernels
- Feeder position: Ground
- Preferred habitat: Thickets; suburban areas
Red-breasted nuthatch
- Winter range: All regions
- Food preference: Black-striped and black oil sunflower seeds
- Feeder position: Elevated
- Preferred habitat: Coniferous forests
Steller's jay
- Winter range: Pacific Northwest, Southwest
- Food preference: Peanut kernels and sunflower seeds
- Feeder position: Elevated, ground
- Preferred habitat: Coniferous forests, pine and oak trees, mixed oak
Downy Woodpecker
- Winter range: All regions
- Food preference: Suet
- Feeder position: Elevated
- Preferred habitat: Deciduous forests
Quail
- Winter range: South
- Food preference: Sunflower seeds, cracked corn, and other small grains
- Feeder position: Ground
- Preferred habitat: Chaparral foothills, desert, suburban areas
Spotted or eastern (formerly called rufous-sided) and other towhees
- Winter range: Pacific Northwest, Southwest, Southeast
- Food preference: Proso millet, sunflower seeds
- Feeder position: Ground
- Preferred habitat: Forest edges, thickets, woodlands, shrubby areas
Mourning dove
- Winter range: All regions
- Food preference: Black oil sunflower seeds, white and red proso millet
- Feeder position: Ground, elevated
- Preferred habitat: Open fields, parks, lawns with trees and shrubs
Dark-eyed junco
- Winter range: All regions
- Food preference: White proso and red proso millet, cracked corn
- Feeder position: Ground
- Preferred habitat: Fields, road sides, parks, gardens
White-breasted nuthatch
- Winter range: All but some Plains states
- Food preference: Black-striped sunflower and black oil sunflower seeds
- Feeder position: Elevated
- Preferred habitat: Deciduous, mixed forests
White-crowned sparrow
- Winter range: Southeast, Northeast, Pacific Northwest
- Food preference: Black oil and hulled sunflower seed, white and red proso millet, peanut kernels, and niger seed
- Feeder position: Ground
- Preferred habitat: Brush thickets, open woods and gardens
Provided by NGA
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