BirdyardBackyard bird feeding

Feed the birds
that actually show up.

A working notebook of what backyard birds eat and where they feel safe.

Open the bird finder Read the field notes

The feeding year

What to put out, month by month

October: switch to winter food 10

October

Switch to winter food

As insects disappear, fat becomes valuable. Add suet and peanuts alongside sunflower rather than replacing it.

  • Suet
  • Peanuts
  • Black-oil sunflower

TipCheck suet for rancidity in mild spells; use warm-weather formulations if it softens.

Full October guide

Start here

A Sick Bird at Your Feeder: How to Tell, and What to Do

Crusty eyes, fluffed feathers, wart-like growths, a bird that lets you approach — what each sign probably means, why you cannot treat it yourself, and the exact cleaning sequence that stops it spreading.

Problems · 12 min read

Read the note
A male Indigo Bunting perched on a thin branch
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) — photo: Dan Pancamo · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

In the notebook

All 9 notes
01 Habitat Turning a Lawn Into a Bird-Friendly Garden A feeder brings birds to visit. Habitat makes them stay. The four layers that matter, what to plant, and why "untidy" is doing more work than another feeder. 11 min 02 Habitat Birdbaths: Depth, Placement, Cleaning and Winter Water is the cheapest way to attract birds and the easiest way to spread disease. How deep a bath should be, where to put it, how often to clean it, and what to do when it freezes. 9 min 03 Birds Identifying the Female: The Feeder Birds People Get Wrong Female cardinals, house finches and blackbirds are not just duller males. Here are the females most often reported as "a new species", with the marks that settle it. 10 min 04 Food What Can You Feed Backyard Birds? A Food-by-Food Guide Sunflower, nyjer, suet, peanuts, mealworms, fruit, corn, oats — and a clear list of what not to put out. What each food actually attracts, how to offer it, and what spoils fastest. 13 min 05 Birds Why Birds Fight at the Feeder There is a pecking order at every feeder, and it is not simply "biggest wins". What dominance actually looks like, why some small birds displace larger ones, and how feeder design changes the argument. 9 min 06 Seasons Feeding Birds in Winter: What Actually Helps Winter feeding is the one time of year when a feeder can genuinely matter. But the popular advice is full of half-truths about dependence, timing and fat. Here is what the evidence supports. 12 min 07 Feeders Where Should You Put a Bird Feeder? Ten feet from cover, three metres from glass, and out of a squirrel's jump. Feeder placement is a set of trade-offs, and getting it wrong is why birds stay away — or fly into your window. 10 min 08 Food Which Bird Seed Actually Attracts Which Birds? Most bags sold as "wild bird mix" are mostly filler. Here is what each common seed really attracts, what the birds ignore, and the two or three bags worth buying instead. 11 min

The bird finder

Who is at your feeder?

56 profiles, each with what the bird eats, which feeder suits it, and when to expect it. Filter by the food you already have.

Browse all 56 birds
Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak Evening Grosbeak Pine Grosbeak Black-capped Chickadee Carolina Chickadee

Feeding birds is a supplement, not a rescue. What changes a garden is consistency, clean feeders and a little untidiness left on purpose.

How these notes are made