What Makes a Bird a Seed Eater?
Seed-eating birds, sometimes called granivores, rely heavily on seeds for food, at least for part of the year. Their bills are usually short and strong, built for cracking or crushing hulls. Finches, sparrows, cardinals, grosbeaks, buntings, doves, and many jays all fit this pattern. Most seed eaters are not strictly seed-only. Many switch to insects in spring and summer, especially when feeding young, so treat the lists below as tendencies rather than rules.
Common Seed-Eating Backyard Birds by Group
Exact preferences vary by region and by individual bird, but these groupings are a reasonable starting point.
- Finches and siskins (American Goldfinch, House Finch, Purple Finch, Pine Siskin): small seeds such as Nyjer and hulled or black-oil sunflower. See which birds eat Nyjer seed.
- Cardinals and grosbeaks: black-oil sunflower and safflower are commonly recommended.
- Chickadees, titmice, and nuthatches: sunflower seed (often carried off and stored or hammered open), plus peanuts and suet.
- Sparrows, juncos, and towhees: millet and other small seeds, often picked up from the ground or from low platform feeders.
- Doves and pigeons: millet, cracked corn, and other seed on the ground or on a tray.
- Jays and woodpeckers: sunflower and peanuts, and also nuts. See whether wild birds eat walnuts.
- Blackbirds and grackles: cracked corn and mixed seed, which can be hard to keep to just a few of them.
Seeds and Grains Commonly Offered
The Cornell Lab’s FeederWatch program covers these basic food types in its feeding guide, and they are the ones you will see most often in stores.
- Black-oil sunflower: thin-shelled and high in fat, it is attractive to a wide range of birds and is often suggested as the single most useful seed to start with.
- Hulled sunflower (sunflower hearts or chips): no shells to clean up, but usually more expensive and it can spoil faster once it is exposed.
- Safflower: favored by cardinals, chickadees, titmice, and doves. Many people report that squirrels and some larger blackbirds show less interest in it, though results vary.
- Millet: white proso millet is a common ground-feeding favorite for sparrows, juncos, and doves. Red millet is often used as filler in mixes and is eaten less.
- Nyjer (thistle): a tiny black seed for finches, usually offered in tube or sock feeders with small ports.
- Cracked corn: attracts doves, jays, and blackbirds; it can also draw unwanted visitors and spoils if it gets wet.
- Milo: often found in cheap mixes; many songbirds leave it, though some ground-feeding birds eat it.
- Peanuts and peanut hearts: a favorite of jays and woodpeckers. Use only plain, unsalted, unseasoned nuts.
What About Wild Seeds and Garden Plants?
Readers often ask whether birds eat seeds from garden flowers such as zinnias or marigolds. Goldfinches and other finches are known to feed on seed heads from plants like zinnias, coneflowers, and sunflowers, which is one reason many people leave some spent flowers standing through fall. Marigold seed is less often mentioned in bird-feeding guides, so it is better to watch what visits your own garden than to assume. Birds also pick up grass and weed seeds from lawns; for that topic, see whether birds eat grass seed.
What Seeds Come in a Bird Seed Mix?
Mixes vary a lot by brand. Many general-purpose blends contain millet, milo, cracked corn, and some sunflower. Birds that dislike certain ingredients will often scatter them on the ground to get to what they want, which can create waste and attract rodents. Mixes built mostly on sunflower, safflower, and white millet tend to waste less. Check the ingredient list, which is usually ordered by quantity.
Tips for Feeding Seed
- Match the feeder to the seed: tube feeders for sunflower and Nyjer, trays or ground areas for millet, and hoppers for general use.
- Offer a few different seeds in separate feeders so that different species can find something they like.
- Store seed in a cool, dry, airtight, rodent-proof container.
- Discard seed that is damp, moldy, or clumped, and clean feeders regularly.
- Provide fresh water, which many birds value as much as food.
Seed is not the only item on the menu. Many of the same backyard birds also depend on insects, which we cover in our list of insectivorous birds. Fruit can also help; see feeding apples to birds. If you are wondering about kitchen scraps, read about feeding birds popcorn.