If you want to see wildlife without leaving your house, watch the birds that come to your backyard. With native plants that feed both birds and the bugs that are an important part of their diet, you’ll be amazed at how many different kinds of birds you see throughout the year.
Plenty of people choose to augment plants with birdseed, too. But experts aren’t sure if this kind of backyard bird feeding will really help bird populations. In fact, research shows that it can make migration patterns less predictable or population sizes less balanced. However, giving birds in your area extra food can help individual birds, especially if there aren’t many native plants around.
If you want to feed a wild animal, you should never do it when it could hurt them, like when there’s an outbreak of bird flu that could spread through feeders. If you do decide to use a bird feeder, these answers to common questions will come in handy.
Birds come in all different shapes and sizes, from tiny hummingbirds to large predatory birds like eagles With such diversity among bird species, their diets also vary greatly depending on the type of beak they have, their size, and the habitat they live in Overall, birds tend to eat a wide range of foods including seeds, insects, fish, fruit, nectar, and even other birds!
Seed-Eating Birds
Many backyard birds like finches, doves, sparrows, and Cardinals are primarily seed-eaters This includes seeds from plants like millet, thistle, sunflowers, safflower, and more During spring and summer, seeds make up about half the diet for seed-eating birds. The rest of their diet consists of insects, fruit, and berries.
In fall and winter when insects and fruit are scarce, seeds become the main component of their diet Popular seeds offered at bird feeders include
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Nyjer seed – A favorite for finches, doves, and Cardinals. The small size allows even the smallest birds to feed.
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Black oil sunflower seeds – With high fat and thin shells, these are enjoyed by chickadees, woodpeckers, titmice, jays, and grosbeaks.
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Safflower seeds – Cardinals, titmice, finches, and chickadees prefer these. Squirrels don’t like them!
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Millet – An affordable seed enjoyed by Juncos, sparrows, doves, and quail.
Insect-Eating Birds
During spring and summer months, most songbirds shift their diet to focus heavily on insects and spiders. Some birds like flycatchers, nighthawks, and swifts eat almost exclusively insects.
Common insect-eating birds include:
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Robin – Eats beetle grubs, caterpillars, ants, and earthworms
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Chickadee – Enjoys caterpillars, ants, aphids, beetles, and spiders
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Swallow – Catches flying insects like flies, mosquitoes, moths, dragonflies
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Warbler – Feasts on caterpillars, ants, aphids, leafhoppers, spiders
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Phoebe – Catches flying insects and often returns to the same perch while hunting
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Waxwing – Loves winged insects like cicadas, beetles, ants, and dragonflies
Fruit-Eating Birds
Many birds supplement their diet with berries and fruits which provide nutrients, carbohydrates, and some fat. Some species like Cedar Waxwings and American Robins eat more fruit than others. Fruits also provide an important source of water for birds.
Fruits that birds commonly eat include:
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Berries – raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, juniper berries
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Cherries, grapes, raisins, currents
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Apple slices, oranges, pears
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Bananas, melon, mango
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Native fruits like dogwood, elderberry, serviceberry, and wild grapes
Nectar-Eating Birds
Some birds have specialized beaks and tongues to slurp up flower nectar. They get carbohydrates and sugar from nectar. These nectar-eating birds include:
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Hummingbirds – Nectar provides 60-80% of their diet. They prefer red tubular flowers.
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Honeycreepers – Hawaiian birds with curved beaks to access nectar.
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Sunbirds – Old World species related to hummingbirds that feast on nectar.
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Lorikeets – Brush-tipped tongues to slurp nectar.
You can offer these birds specialized nectar feeders or create a bird-friendly garden with tubular flowers they can access.
Omnivorous Birds
Some birds are opportunistic foragers and eat a wide variety of foods. Their diet generally consists of:
- Insects
- Seeds
- Fruit
- Nectar
- Eggs
- Small reptiles and mammals
Some omnivorous birds include:
- Crows
- Jays
- Magpies
- Thrashers
- Starlings
- Mynas
- Sparrows
These intelligent birds adapt well to backyard feeders and urban environments where they can scavenge many types of food.
Carnivorous Birds
Birds of prey and scavengers have a primarily carnivorous diet. Their hooked beaks and sharp talons are adapted for catching, killing, and tearing apart prey which includes:
- Small mammals – mice, voles, rabbits, squirrels
- Small reptiles – lizards, frogs, snakes
- Other birds
- Fish
- Carrion – dead animals
Some carnivorous birds are:
- Eagles
- Hawks
- Falcons
- Owls
- Vultures
- Ravens
- Crows
Offering meat scraps or suet cakes can help attract ravens, crows, magpies, and jays to your yard.
Birds That Eat Eggs
Some birds raid the nests of other birds to eat eggs. The shells provide calcium while the yolk offers protein and fat. Birds that eat eggs include:
- Crows
- Jays
- Magpies
- Raccoons
- Owls
- Hawks
- Rat snakes
Songbird eggs are often targeted. You can help protect nests by providing dense shrubs and evergreens for cover.
Unusual Bird Diets
A few bizarre birds stand out for their unusual diets:
- Ani – Eats ticks and other parasites off cattle and deer
- Oxpecker – Feeds on insects living on large African mammals
- Vulture – Scavenges rotting carcasses
- Flamingo – Uses its beak to filter-feed on algae and shrimp
- Crossbill – Extracts seeds from pine cones
- Lory – Drinks nectar from flowers
As you can see, the diversity of bird beaks and habitats leads to varied diets among species. Backyard bird feeding allows you to observe their different feeding behaviors close-up!
Are any human foods unsafe for birds?
Yes. Birds should not be offered many of the foods humans eat.
- Birds can’t really get any nutrition from bread, whether it’s fresh or old. Moldy bread can even be bad for birds.
- Because it has theobromine, chocolate is poisonous to birds just like it is to dogs and cats.
- Rats and mice will eat most of the table scraps, and some may not be safe or healthy for birds.
Should I feed birds year-round?
Its not necessary. Bird food is most useful when birds need a lot of energy, like when the weather is crazy, when they’re migrating, or in late winter or early spring when there aren’t many seeds left in the ground.
Most birds don’t need your help in the summer. Many birds focus on eating insects while they are nesting and raising their young, so they don’t need to eat as much. It is also important for young birds to learn how to find food in the wild, so don’t fill up feeders all summer.
Two exceptions to this rule are hummingbirds and goldfinches. To help their fast metabolism, you can put nectar in feeders for summer hummers. For goldfinches, which nest later than other birds, you can give them nyjer seed until thistles go to seed.
Bird Beaks – What do Birds Eat?
FAQ
What is birds’ favorite food?
Is it okay to feed birds bread?
What is the best food to put out for birds?
What does eating like a bird mean?
Here eating like a bird means eagerly devouring your menu choices and then contemplating seconds at restaurant Plate, an eatery headed up by chef Leon Smith (whose former credits include Wild Honey in Berwick and Smith stablemate the Grove Narberth).
How much food does a bird eat?
Feed intake values were 1802.0, 2087.1, 2017.8 and 1924.44 g/bird; feed cost per bird (N) was in the order of 94.82, 87.28, 84.38 and 77.02 for control diet, Okomu, Presco and Envoy PKM diets, respectively.
What do birds eat?
Birds can be categorized into three main types of diets: carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. Carnivorous birds feed exclusively on meat, including insects, rodents, and other small animals. Herbivorous birds, on the other hand, consume only plant matter, such as seeds, fruits, and leaves.