my birds love the sunflower seeds both the striped variety and the boss. i have a old camping pan i set close to the window and put the sunflowers hearts in it and can stand there and watch the birds just outside the glass eating closeup. especially the chickadees and finches and siskins and tits and in the spring the lewis's woodpekers are here and they do too. I had trouble this winter with some pesky starlings raiding the feeders so took a couple old nyger or thistle socks and chopped the sunflower hearts with a food chopper and hung the bag and the starlings don't get them.

LOL Tsuga. I think with the warmer weather we were having I was getting overzealous. I even started painting my garage, yet to be finished. I've been feeding suet all winter. In the past month, I've seen my first downy woodpecker as mentioned earlier, and another unidentified bird...same size as a sparrow, almost looks like a sparrow at a distance, but a closer look shows a muted red on its head and neck region, and when they spread their wings you can see a red spot on their back. Not bright red like a cardinal, a soft muted red. I've never seen them before. In one glance, I have robins, cardinals, juncos, the unidentified bird, chickadees, and usual sparrows in my yard. Tons of activity. They seem to be enjoying the new evergreen thuja green giant I planted last year too. I just purchased some black oil sunflower last night, have to figure out where I'm going to put it. I read the seeds inhibit plant growth.

i get both the mountain and black cap chickadees here in winter and early spring. mine really like shelled peanuts and hulled sunflower seeds and the black oil seeds also. they hang on the woodpecker blocks and suet feeders also. Last winter around x-mas i got a bag of mini marshmellows for fruit salads and cranberry salads and did not use them all. it was a big surprise that when i put them out on a platform feeder along with some trail mix left over. That the chickades and nuthatches carried off the marshmellos first. also would watch them grabs a sunflower seed and hop up on a branch and hold it between its feet and crack it by pecking it open.

Any good bird identification book will tell you what a particular bird eats. As for websites, I like Cornell Lab of Ornithology (link below). Figure out which birds you'd most like to attract that are in your area at certain times of year. Finches will be attracted to your nyjer seed sock. In the winter, you may get Pine Siskins attracted to that same sock. In an irruption year, you may even get a flock of Common Redpolls in the winter. In winter I like to feed a good homemade suet. It attracts a lot of birds, but mostly I get to see woodpeckers and Bluebirds. I also keep a feeder with Black Oil Sunflower seed (summer and winter) which mostly attracts Tuffed Titmice, White Breasted Nuthatches, House Finches, Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks, and Black-Capped Chickadees. Another thing that will really bring them in during the winter months is a heated bird bath. I never feed the mixes. Most contain corn and millet which attract House Sparrows (a non-native species that I try to discourage). Here is a picture of an Eastern Bluebird, and Downy Woodpecker and a Hairy Woodpecker on a suet feeder in winter. > Here is a link that might be useful: All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology