The traditional More Birds acorn screen feeder allows you to choose the seed type you wish to offer at your feeding station. Duncraft’s Grandview hopper feeder with double suet cages combines 2 feeding options in 1 feeder – seeds and suet – even providing 2 separated suet feeding positions.

To build on last week’s information about offering seeds at your feeding station, it’s prime time to provide a full menu of foods for all birds – local residents, passage migrants that stop in, migrants that spend an extended period, and eventually, migrants that will stay for some part of winter. It’s an exciting time, or it’s about to become an exciting period of fall feeding station activities – for you and for birds. Depending on where you live, the climate, and what birds you prefer to attract, fall can be one of the most transformative times of the year – right outside your windows.

We like to provide a full menu of food types, within reason and using a level of experience and preference that brings our favorite birds for regular daily visits. We also like to do a little “personal research,” because every year is different. That is, different species of birds appear in varied numbers each fall, and we sometimes adjust our fall feeding strategy as the season progresses. Of course, there are regional considerations for areas of the Sunbelt during fall too, but anywhere you live, fresh water for drinking and bathing is always an important component of any feeding station.

We always like to emphasize the idea that there is a chance that some birds that arrive as migrants may be encouraged to stay longer when they find a dependable source of food and fresh water. So we emphasize providing suet during fall to attract woodpeckers and nuthatches that often prefer suet to seeds, although that can depend upon the preferences of individual birds. There are other suet eaters too, again depending on individual preferences, but suet is a good anchor for our fall and winter feeding plans.

We provide hot pepper no-melt suet to avoid squirrels from dominating our feeding station. The pepper seasoning repels squirrels and other mammals, but it does not affect the appetite for suet among birds. It has made a big difference in keeping squirrels at bay and our suet costs are a fraction of what they were before the advent of hot pepper suet.

Of course, the biggest aspect of fall and winter feeding is providing seeds for finches, small and large, as well a cardinals and other birds that may include jays, doves, native sparrows, and even quail in some areas. As described in last week’s Backyard Birding article, we prefer to narrow our seed offerings to shelled black oil sunflower seeds for larger seed-eating birds. And for smaller birds, especially goldfinches and siskins, we provide thistle seeds, which may be describes as nyjer seeds in the bird feeding industry. As it turns out, these 2 seed types also provide the best benefits for seed-eating birds, with the highest oil and food value contents, which is exactly why birds prefer them when they are available. Another reason we offer shelled sunflower seeds is to avoid the need for clean-up and to keep a healthier feeding station site.

If you’re trying to avoid squirrels, avoid seed mixes with corn, and frankly, we avoid seed mixes altogether. Be aware of packaged seed mixes that contain filler types of seeds that either end up uneaten on the ground or that attract starlings, blackbirds, House Sparrows, and rodents. Shelled peanuts are popular with a variety of birds, as long as they don’t attract unwanted birds and rodents, including squirrels. We often mix a small portion of shelled peanut halves or chips with our shelled black oil sunflower seeds, partly because jays prefer them, and so do some woodpeckers and nuthatches. We always provide our seeds in squirrel-proof feeders to keep squirrels from dominating our feeding station.

We hope it’s obvious that we aren’t trying to convince people to copy our bird feeding preferences, but it took us some seasons of time to learn the hard way, by trial and error, so we do want to provide this level of guidance to give you the best possible advice about bird feeding.

Even at more northern latitudes there is still reason to keep your nectar feeders filled with fresh sugar-water mixture (1 part white cane sugar to 4 parts fresh water). Even when you think the hummingbirds in your area have migrated south, there’s always the chance that you can attract a wayward western species, especially Rufous Hummingbirds. They may actually need a little help to find nectar if off-course. And you won’t prolong the attraction of your nectar feeder to other hummingbirds – they migrate when they are ready, and it’s not any more necessary to take down your hummingbird feeders than it is to destroy your flower gardens.

That brings up the topic of fall bird feeding options in the Sunbelt. In addition to the above foods and suggestions, birders living in warmer parts of our southern states have a few more options, which include keeping sugar-water available for hummingbirds that are a regular part of the fall and winter avifauna in southern California, southern Arizona, and southern Texas. Some other Sunbelt areas attract more and more “off-season” fall and winter hummingbirds, Louisiana included. Some lingering orioles and House Finches will appreciate sugar-water too.

Most orioles migrate south of the American border during our winters, except some Baltimore Orioles overwinter along the Florida peninsula; plus Altamira Orioles are full-time residents of southern Texas. In these areas you will want to provide grape jelly and sliced oranges to attract colorful orioles, and some other birds may feed on the oriole preferences. Other fruits may be attractive to Sunbelt birds too, during fall migration and into the winter season. You have probably done some of your own research into what fruits are attractive to birds in your neighborhood, or give it a try.

Whether you live north, south, east or west, it’s best to be in the habit of checking your feeding station at least once daily (twice is better). Simply check to see if there is ample food and fresh water, and when appropriate take a moment to top them off. We like to suggest: “Fill feeders and bird baths before they are empty,” rather than waiting for a feeder to be empty or your water feature dry before taking action.

Overall, everyone has a little different situation, with different weather and habitats surrounding their feeding station, including urban, suburban, and rural settings. These variations along with landscaping and land use activities can attract different bird communities at locations just a few miles apart, much less across a state or continent. The key is to provide the foods that will attract the birds you most want to share your feeding station with. It’s an exciting time of the year, with the potential of seasonal birds reappearing, and even new species that will surprise you. While we hope to attract a variety of interesting birds, we are also benefiting birds in a big way through our backyard feeding, watering, and landscaping activities to provide havens for birds during fall migration and thereafter.

Fall migration brings a variety of birds from the north – from northern grasslands and forests, even from as far away as the Arctic tundra. They may quickly pass through your area, some may remain days or weeks, and others will populate your neighborhood during a period of winter. Certainly, it’s part of the fun each fall to monitor the activities of birds – enjoy this October and the entire fall season!

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