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So you have bought your new bird feeder, and now you want to know how to get the birds to come over for dinner. Learning how to attract birds to your new bird feeder involves just a few simple steps:

Made in USA Birdhouses

Offer Shelter

• What birds visit most?
• What size bird is the bird house designed for?
• How close are the bird house and feeder positioned?

The bird house you offer as shelter needs to be designed for the birds you feed. Most bird houses are ideal for birds that are a bluebird size or smaller, including wrens, finches, and titmice. Choosing a birdhouse with a hole opening that is 1.5" or smaller will keep larger birds out. Placing a bird house within close distance from a bird feeder allows birds to feed their young, and enjoy short flights for food in harsh weather conditions. Adding additional bird houses will increase your yard's appeal.

Offer the Right Bird Food

Many people assume any generic bird seed will suffice in a bird feeder, and fail to realize that bird feeders are designed to hold certain types of food. Many factors need to be considered when choosing bird food. The various types of bird food include:

Blue Tits at Tube Bird Feeder

• Black oil sunflower seeds (most widely acceptable)
• Safflower seeds
• Sunflower seeds
• Thistle seed (not a favorite of squirrels)
• Suet cakes
• Mealworms
• Fruit
• Peanuts
• Nectar

Bird seed is popular for feeding from a tube feeder. We suggest reading more on the best bird feeders for your needs, which will help in attracting the birds you are most interested in, whether doves, cardinals, wrens or hummingbirds.

For new tube bird feeders, start by filling with black oil sunflower seeds, which is a favorite among most birds. Once your birdfeeder starts attracting birds, try a mixture of black oil sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, and sunflower hearts. Suet cakes work well too, but you will need a suet feeder if you plan to serve cake. Buying the best bird seed or suet cakes from a pet store, not a grocery store, helps to give you the advantage over neighboring competition, and placing a platform feeder nearby with oranges or berries helps to attract a greater variety of birds.

Make sure that you keep your birdfeeders full all year round. Some birds will visit throughout the year, and if your feeder is always full, the birds will keep coming back for more. Winter is a harsh time for non-migratory birds, and often their only source of nourishment is through birdfeeders.

Hanging Bird Feeders Correctly

• Provide shelter
• Avoid noisy areas
• Keep out of reach from squirrels and cats

When searching for a place to hang your birdfeeder, please keep in mind that the best place might not always be in your line of sight. Birds like to have cover and shelter. Bird feeders need to be hung in a place where the birds feel safe from predators, like cats and squirrels. Avoid open and noisy areas, and try to hang your bird feeders at eye level or a little above. Do not hang feeders too close to anything where squirrels can jump on them, or too low they are within a cat's reach. Birds will not enjoy constant attack by predators, and will move on to find a new bird feeder if they can't eat in peace. If you have an area in your yard where you can place a shepherd's hook, this would be ideal. Shepherd's hooks are designed specifically for birdfeeders because they are taller, and the hook is further away from the pole.

Platform feeders can be hung or placed on the ground. There will be more safety for the feeders when hung, but some birds are ground feeders, like doves and sparrows.

If you already have an existing birdfeeder and are looking to replace it or add another one, remember that birds are creatures of habit, and might not take to the new birdfeeder right away. Try slowly letting the old birdfeeder run out, keep the new one filled and see if your birds can find it. Once the birds find the new feeder take the old one down, or if you are keeping it, slowly start to refill it.

Lure with a Bird Garden

Attract Birds with Water

• Water
• Shrubs
• Pretty Flowers
• Bird houses

Entice birds by creating a bird garden. Birds like water, so try placing your birdfeeder near a pond, birdbath or a dripper. Water will act as a natural attractant, particularly the sound of running or trickling water. If there is a steady supply of water year round, you have a better chance of attracting birds and convincing them to return.

Shelter comes in a variety of forms for birds. Shelter can be a shrub or thicket, offering a dense camouflage from predators, or a nest box or bird house. Shrubs and thickets that bear fruit in the winter are an added bonus.

Planting flowers attract birds because of the seeds that come after the bloom. One of the better flowers to plant for attracting birds is the daisy - easy to grow, and full of seeds during winter time. Another popular flower for birds is the sunflower. Native plants are also ideal, attracting birds that are already native to your location.

Tips and Tricks

Sometimes we all need just a few more tips.

• Something shiny: Birds are attracted to shiny objects, so using a bird feeder with a metallic base or design is effective, or simply place a shiny metal object close to the feeder. If incorporating a bird house into the yard, consider a house with a copper top.
• Tease with seed: Scatter a few seeds on the ground near the feeder to get the attention of visiting birds.