Optimal Avian Nutrition in 2025: Nourishing the Guts of our Feathered Friends
In the coming year, enhancing your garden with a variety of bird-friendly feeders and food can create a vibrant avian spectacle. Dr MacMillan recommends offering a diverse selection of high-quality bird food to keep birds busy and less hungry. Here's a list of the best bird foods to attract a wide variety of birds in 2025.
Black oil sunflower seeds are universally favoured due to their high fat and protein content and thin shells that are easy for small birds to crack open. These seeds attract over 40 bird species, including cardinals, chickadees, finches, and woodpeckers.
Safflower seeds are another great choice, attracting cardinals and other birds. They are known for their benefits in keeping squirrels out of bird feeders, ensuring the food goes to its intended audience and preventing contamination.
Nyjer (thistle) seeds are ideal for finches, but due to their small size, they need to be offered in a finer-mesh feeder to prevent the seeds from falling out.
Suet is a high-energy food that is particularly popular during the autumn and winter months when birds require more energy. It attracts woodpeckers, nuthatches, and insect-eating birds. Suet, especially when mixed with seeds or fruit, is a great option for attracting a variety of feathered friends.
Peanuts or peanut hearts appeal to titmice, jays, and magpies. Whole peanuts should always be provided in a bird feeder to prevent smaller species from taking larger pieces than they can safely manage.
Millet is good for ground-feeding birds like sparrows and doves.
For those seeking to attract colorful birds, specialty mixes such as Kaytee Wild Bird Food for nut eaters and Wagner’s blends for jays are popular choices.
Nectar is essential for attracting hummingbirds and orioles. You can make your own nectar by mixing one part white sugar to four parts water, boiled and cooled.
Remember, providing a mix of these foods maximizes the variety of bird species visiting your garden. Regularly cleaning the bird feeder is important to keep birds healthy and encourage repeat visits.
Lastly, a clean supply of water is crucial for wild birds, as it allows them to quench their thirst and bathe. A large shallow bird bath or dish is preferable.
With these bird food recommendations, you'll be well on your way to creating a thriving bird-friendly garden in 2025. Happy birdwatching!
[1] Avian Web: Black Oil Sunflower Seeds [2] Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Safflower Seeds [3] National Audubon Society: Suet [4] Bird Watcher's Digest: Choosing the Right Seed [5] Petco: Specialty Bird Foods
- Incorporating a diverse selection of high-quality bird food, such as black oil sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, nyjer seeds, suet, peanuts, millet, specialty mixes, and nectar, can create a vibrant avian spectacle in the coming year.
- Black oil sunflower seeds, with their high fat and protein content, are universally favoured by over 40 bird species, including cardinals, chickadees, finches, and woodpeckers.
- Safflower seeds are another great choice for bird food, attracting cardinals and other birds, and are known for deterring squirrels from bird feeders.
- Nyjer seeds, ideal for finches, should be offered in a finer-mesh feeder to prevent the seeds from falling out.
- Suet, a high-energy food, is particularly popular during autumn and winter months and attracts woodpeckers, nuthatches, and insect-eating birds.
- Peanuts or peanut hearts appeal to titmice, jays, and magpies, and should always be provided in a bird feeder to prevent smaller species from ingesting larger pieces than they can manage.
- Millet is good for ground-feeding birds like sparrows and doves.
- For those seeking to attract colorful birds, specialty mixes such as Kaytee Wild Bird Food for nut eaters and Wagner’s blends for jays are popular choices, while nectar is essential for attracting hummingbirds and orioles.
