The Best Birdseed Mix for Window Feeders

Problems with Commercial Mixtures

• Many commercial birdseed mixtures contain inexpensive "filler" seeds that are not attractive to many birds. This includes milo, wheat, millet, oats, rape, flax, canary, buckwheat, rice and rye seed. Birds often toss these seeds out of the feeder and eat only the seeds they like, leaving a big mess under the feeder. Before buying any mixture, check the ingredients. If the seed contains one of those ingredients, put it back and keep looking.

Best Ingredients

• Black-oil sunflower seed is the best ingredient a birdseed mixture can have for a window feeder. It attracts finches, chickadees, titmice and sparrows. The one disadvantage to black-oil sunflower seeds is that the hulls can make a mess under the birdfeeder. Most birds also like striped sunflower seeds, but smaller birds have difficulty opening them, so only hulled sunflower hearts should be used.

Secondary Ingredients

• Secondary ingredients that can be used in window birdfeeder mixes include niger (nyjer) thistle, peanuts and safflower. These ingredients are considered secondary because only select birds will eat them. Niger thistle seed attracts all types of finches, chickadees and song sparrows. Shelled peanuts are liked by chickadees and titmice. Safflower is another good choice because house sparrows, starlings and squirrels do not like it but titmice and finches do. White proso millet, red proso millet and cracked corn can be used, but only if you want to attract sparrows.

Suet, Fruit and Mealworms

• Offering suet and fruit at your birdfeeder will attract familiar birds along with other birds that don't normally visit seed-filled birdfeeders. Wrens, warblers, nuthatches, kinglets and creepers are all small songbirds that like to feed on suet or fruit. Mealworms are also bird favorites that can be feed in a window birdfeeder. Plug any drainage holes in the feeder to keep mealworms from falling out.