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Best Winter Bird Foods: What to Feed Backyard Birds in Cold Weather

Which Foods Attract Which Birds?

Written By: Tom Warren Birder

When the snow flies and natural food sources are scarce, our feathered friends rely on a little extra help! Winter bird feeding is one of the simplest and most rewarding ways to enjoy wildlife right outside your window. From suet to sunflower seeds, learn which foods birds love most in cold weather—and how to keep them healthy all season long.

Best Winter Bird Foods

Favorite winter bird foods include:

  1. Sunflower
  2. Niger (Thistle)
  3. Cracked Corn
  4. Nuts & Fruit

See our chart on more wild bird food preferences.

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“The little grain of wheat, tritucum, is the noblest food of man. The lesser grains of grasses are the food of passerine birds at present. Their diet is like man’s”.  
–Henry David Thoreau, Walden

the best winter food for girls infographic

Suet

Suet can be purchased inexpensively in the meat department at your local grocery store. Suet can be placed in containers purpose-built for bird feeding (they most often resemble a little cage). Almost all birds will eat suet, especially in cold weather. Most often, you will see the Downy, Hairy, Red-bellied, and  Pileated Woodpeckers, as well as chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice. See how to make suet.

Cracked Corn

A number of birds are ground feeders and will eat corn scattered on the ground; cardinals, sparrows, juncos, turkeys, and other birds will appear daily.

Nuts

An expensive but special treat, nuts provide much-needed protein, fats, and vitamins. Unshelled peanuts will be attractive to blue jays and woodpeckers, and will also provide entertainment as you watch smaller birds like chickadees and titmice attempt to reach the nutmeats inside the shell. Peanuts are a favorite of blackbirds, chickadees, jays, and sparrows. Peanut hearts are especially attractive.

Niger (Thistle seed)

Niger, commonly called thistle seed, is a very popular seed for finches, including redpolls, Pine Siskins, Goldfinches, and Purple Finches.

Fruit

Apples, crabapples, pears, and oranges are popular foods for jays, waxwings, woodpeckers, Ruffed Grouse, and pheasants.

Sunflower Seeds

Small black oil seeds are best. Hulled sunflower seeds are attractive to birds, though costly. Popular with many birds, but especially finches.

At garden stores, pet shops, and numerous other stores, you can purchase seed mixes in bags from 10 to 50 pounds. Seeds will typically include sunflower, corn, millet, buckwheat, and other grains.

You can also make your own bird food: See homemade bird food recipes. 

Red-bellied woodpecker at a suet feeder.
Red-bellied woodpecker at a suet feeder.

What Attracts Which Birds

Best Winter Bird Foods
Bird SpeciesFavorite Winter FoodsBest Feeder TypeFun Fact / Feeding Tip
ChickadeeSunflower seeds, suet, peanutsTube feeder, suet cageLoves to grab seeds and hide them for later!
CardinalCracked corn, sunflower seeds, safflowerPlatform or tray feederPrefers to feed facing open areas, not enclosed feeders.
Blue JayPeanuts (in or out of shell), suet, sunflowerPlatform or peanut feederWill call loudly to announce a new food source.
Woodpecker (Downy, Hairy, Red-bellied)Suet, peanuts, sunflower seedsSuet cage or tree-mounted feederClings easily to bark and vertical surfaces.
Finch (Goldfinch, Purple Finch, Siskin)Niger (thistle seed), sunflower heartsTube feeder with small portsPrefers to feed in groups—great for window viewing!
NuthatchSunflower seeds, suet, peanutsSuet cage, hopper feederOften climbs down tree trunks headfirst.
SparrowMillet, cracked corn, sunflower seedsGround or platform feederAttracts easily with mixed seed blends.
Junco (Snowbird)Cracked corn, millet, sunflower chipsGround feeder or open trayForages low to the ground, especially after snowfalls.
WaxwingBerries, apples, orangesPlatform feeder or natural branchesLoves fruit left out on shrubs or trees.
TitmouseSunflower seeds, suet, peanutsTube feeder, suet cageBold little bird—often first to test new feeders!

How to Store and Keep Bird Seed Fresh

Old bird seed loses its nutritional value and should be discarded. Wet, lumpy bird seed should be removed from feeders. Maintain a seed inventory for only a few weeks and use large metal trash cans with tight covers to store seed.

Spoiled seed can be contaminated with mold, feces, fungus, and other chemicals. Mold and fungus can lead to bird diseases. 

Where to Place Bird Feeders in Winter

Feeders can be placed on poles, hung by wires from tree limbs, or put on gutters so that they are just feet from windows, preferably in south-facing locations.

During periods of severe winter storms, snow, and freezing rain, clearing an area on the ground near the cover of bushes or forest can be life-saving for many species.

See more about choosing the right birdfeeder.

Fill your feeders before impending storms and then watch the feeding party that follows! 

What food do you put out for birds in the winter?

Backyard Birds
About The Author
Tom Warren

Tom Warren

Birder

Tom Warren is a graduate of Harvard College and earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. After serving in the US Army, he became a compensation professional. He ha...
Read More from Tom Warren

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Comments

<span>Anne</span> Sun, 01/05/2025 - 11:15
I tried (Pennigton) Corn-Kernal cobs this year; the whole corn-cob; squirrels love them~
<span>Paul</span> Thu, 12/30/2021 - 09:54
Not a fan of suet for some reason around here (southern Illinois) black birds are attracted to it and they keep away a lot of the smaller birds. We use a lot of black oil sunflower and fruit and nut blend.
<span>Janice</span> Fri, 02/26/2021 - 08:15
As the de facto representative of cardinals, blue jays, finches, bluebirds, chickadees, mourning doves, and many more within a mile radius of my homestead, I maintain 9 feeders, including suet, varieties of seed, fruit, nuts, and meal worms. But the overwhelming favorite of my cardinals is safflower seed.
<span>Mike</span> Tue, 01/21/2020 - 20:54
Here in the lakes region of New Hampshire we have fed the birds year round until last summer. Our area has too many bear that are being habituated to bird feeders and garbage bags left out. We used to put the feeders out only from about 8:00am to dusk from April 1 to December 1, otherwise out all the time while they hibernate. Not so this year, as they came out early and became quite brazen and roamed all times of day without any regard for humans. I will be making and installing a 3" diameter thick wall pipe concreted in the ground 4' deep, with feeders above their reach. if the squirrels and doves, and etc. don't eat what falls to the ground enough I will add a system to catch it all. There are two commercial versions we have seen on the market for this but are very expensive to buy so I'll make my own.
<span>Barbara Warner</span> Mon, 01/20/2020 - 09:25
My husband and I love watching the birds and it keeps us busy trying to prevent squirrels eating all the bird seed. We have several feeders on our deck plus suet blocks, and we enjoy watching cardinals, woodpeckers, blue jays, sparrows, mourning doves, chickadees, juncos, and sometimes other birds we haven't identified! We have lots of house wrens and robins in the spring, and starlings!
<span>Pam</span> Sun, 03/24/2019 - 02:16
I have been buying the roasted unsalted peanuts from Costco for several years from my blue jays and squirrels.there is one bird food I found that has a combination of split and pieces of peanuts but they are both raw and roasted together is it safe for the birds to eat raw peanuts?
<span>Denise W.</span> Thu, 01/24/2019 - 08:32
I just love to feed my feathered friends, and had a ton of feeders on my porch and outside my windows. Unfortunately, the birds are so messy when they eat, and while some of the dropped food is eaten by ground feeders, the mice also found heaven on earth! They were just fat and happy and living under my house, so I had to move my feeders. They feed at night, so you won't know you have a problem until you start finding stashes of birdseed in the strangest places!! So just a warning...
<span>Marg</span> Thu, 01/24/2019 - 17:40
I was buying bird seed at my bird store the food had cayenne pepper in it (but is way more expensive) so now I but good bird seed pour seed into a large bowl and sprinkle cayenne pepper stir well. Rats and mice squirrels do not like the hot taste. Birds do not feel the heat.
<span>Linnea</span> Thu, 01/24/2019 - 16:39
When I took my car to the garage the mechanic brought a plastic container from under the hood that was full of sunflower seeds! I set a couple of mouse traps under the hood that night and caught two fat mice. Now I try to keep the seeds from accumulating too much under the feeders.
<span>Ron Retallick</span> Thu, 01/24/2019 - 07:20
I hang squirrel proof feeders in a tree and my pole feeders have baffle to keep squirrels off. I feed black oil Sun flower seeds, peanuts, suet, and a fruit & nut mix. Millet on the ground draws in the Juncos and Morning Doves. Blue Jays devour the peanuts. Cardinals and Chickadees love the sunflower seeds. Downey and red breasted woodpeckers, Gold Finch are also in the mix. Squirrels clean up the spill . I feed all year but only one feeder in the warm months