How to Attract More Birds to Your Yard

10 ways to attract more birds

If birds aren’t coming, the feeder itself is rarely the whole problem. These changes address what birds actually look for: food they can eat, safety while eating, water and a place to raise young. Start with the first three.

1. Offer the right seed for the birds you want

Black-oil sunflower attracts the widest range of feeder birds. Adding a second food brings in birds that sunflower alone misses: nyjer for goldfinches and siskins, safflower for cardinals, white millet on a low tray for juncos, sparrows and doves, and suet for woodpeckers. Skip bargain mixes padded with milo, wheat and oats. The Bird Seed Selector matches seed to species, and the seed chart shows it all at a glance.

2. Put feeders near cover, at a safe window distance

Birds prefer to approach food from a nearby perch and want a quick escape route. Place feeders about 10–15 feet from shrubs or trees. Keep them within 3 feet of windows or more than 30 feet away to reduce collisions. Details are in the placement guide, or use the Placement Calculator.

3. Add water

Every bird needs water, including insect- and fruit-eaters that never touch seed. A shallow bath (1–2 inches deep) cleaned every few days is enough. A dripper or small solar fountain adds sound and movement birds notice. See the bird bath guide.

4. Use more than one feeder style

Feeder shape decides who can eat. Tube feeders suit small clinging birds. Hoppers and platforms suit cardinals, jays and doves. Suet cages suit woodpeckers and nuthatches. Two different feeders, spaced apart, serve more species and reduce crowding. Compare styles in feeder types explained.

5. Hang a suet feeder

Suet is fat-rich food for woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, wrens and, in some areas, bluebirds. It’s most valuable in cold weather. Use “no-melt” dough in summer heat. An upside-down suet feeder, where birds cling from below, discourages starlings.

6. Plant native shrubs, trees and flowers

Native plants supply the berries, seeds and, most importantly, insects that birds eat when your feeders aren’t in use. They also feed nestlings. Serviceberry, dogwoods, viburnums, native hollies and conifers, plus coneflowers and native grasses left standing through winter, are good places to start. See native plants for birds.

7. Build a brush pile and leave the leaves

A loose pile of branches in a back corner gives sparrows, wrens and towhees instant cover. Leaf litter shelters the insects ground-feeding birds scratch for. Audubon’s brush pile guide shows how to stack one so it stays open inside.

8. Feed ground birds low

Juncos, towhees, doves and many sparrows feed on or near the ground. A low platform feeder with millet or a sunflower mix brings them in. Place it where cats can’t hide within a few yards.

9. Keep everything clean

Crowded, dirty feeders can spread diseases such as salmonellosis and the eye disease common in house finches. Clean feeders about every two weeks and baths every few days. Rake up old seed, and take feeders down for a week or two if you see sick birds. See how to clean a bird feeder.

10. Provide nest sites

A correctly sized nest box on a baffled pole can attract bluebirds, chickadees, wrens or tree swallows to raise young in your yard. Hole size decides which species can use it. Our nest box guide has dimensions. Dense, unpruned shrubs are the nest sites for cardinals, catbirds and many others.