I used to put Safflower seed in my pole feeder and the cardinals loved it. I would often have a couple pair dining.

Now I only have a suet feeder (and hummingbird feeders) but I still get Cardinals visiting daily. I have a upside down feeder and the Cardinals can't hang like that... but they do swoop up and grab a beakful.

My Mom has a tray feeder (on legs) in which she puts Sunflower and assorted seed and the Cardinals like that as well.

I have a platform feeder, with Royal Wing fruit & nut birdfeed, from Tractor Supply

Here is a link that might be useful: Tractor Supply

We have a platform feeder--simply a 12"x4" rectangle of 3" wood with 1/4" hardware cloth and screening stapled to the bottom, mounted on a pole with "L" brackets. We put black oil sunflower seed in it and have lots of cardinals. The sunflower seed is also liked by chickadees and other birds.

I just have some cheap plastic hanging feeders on the patio with black sunflower seed in them. The cardinals seem to have no trouble landing at them and feeding. I think it is more about having a "safe tree" area nearby that they can easily get to. I also feed suet in the winter months but have never seen them feed on it.
I think I would like to try making a tray feeder to attract some more birds...thanks for the sizes etc. above.

I have 2 Stop-a-Squirrel feeders hanging from treelimbs and get all kinds of birds. Way too many squirrels here for platform feeders.

Switched to all sunflower seeds when I found them rummaging around in the seeds to get the ones they wanted and knocking so much of it on the ground.

Our Cardinals bring us such pleasure. We've noticed the male always appears first, maybe to ck if it's safe enough for her to come. Pairs seem very devoted to each other -the male offers his female tidbits of ??? when she first joins him, looks kinda' like they're kissing.

I read they are groundfeeders, and ours must be or like what they find on our lawn a whole lot. It's not unusual to see 4-6 males at a time near flowerbed around two large trees close to the front porch...but if a female drops in her 'mate' chases the other males away.

They prefer birdbath in back over ones in front and side yard-perhaps because trees are closer to it.

Year before last we had the pleasure of watching a pair build a nest in a very large wreath on one wall of our covered patio. It had bright colored thread woven in & bits of dryer lint tucked in to line it, our contribution decorate the nursery. When two eggs appeared we could hardly wait for the babes to appear!

Then very early one morning our Doxie simply would
not stop barking or come away from the top step to the
entrance near the nest. I went out to see what he was having such a fit over and a snake was coiled up, hiding behind behind a potted plant in the corner! A neighbor came and killed it for me (I was too chicken.) The
#&!@$ thing had swallowed both eggs, giving me four MORE reasons to hate snakes -two for the poor parents who were so confused and upset and two for the babies to be.
Attempting to save the eggs the man who killed it chopped egg sections out, but they were already broken.

They've raided our bluebirds houses too and as far as we're concerned, the only good snake is a dead one.

I guess I don't read very well when I first get up. I thought the title of this post was brest feed to attract cardinals. Vique.

LOL @ Vique.
We have homemade feeders in which we put homemade food, and all of our birds, including the cardinals LOVE it. Take a 2 X 4, point one end and add two slats for a roof. Drill holes in the 2 X4 not all the way through and spaced about 6 inches apart. Drill smaller holes and insert dowels for perches. Make your own birdfood using 3 C cornmeal, 1 C wheat flour, lard, peanut butter, wheat germ, fruit bits, cranberries and raisins, some honey and some birdseed containing sunflower seed. Pack this mixture into the holes, wipe your fingers on the bark of the trees to clean off the mixture. We have 5 such feeders and have to fill them twice daily.

I have more cardinals at this feeder than any of the other 6 feeders. Also, they love dough suet I buy at wal mart.

The directions for making a feeder sound good, but I can't do such DIY jobs any more.

Ron, your feeder looks more like what I have been reading about, except that they say cardinals prefer a pole feeder.

I was hoping some of you might have one or two that you especially like and could recommend.

I'll check out the online shops and see what I can find.

Sue

cardinals may be territorial and you may never have more than one family. They would know in the bird forum. The most popular seeds for most birds are the black oil sunflower seeds. You can get good buys on 50 lbs at places like Atwoods and Tractor supplies stores. If you buy a mix, the birds will just scratch it out onto the ground to get to the black oil sunflower seeds.

I swear, my eyes are getting worse all the time. Every time I see the title of this thread on the board I think it says, Breast feeder to attract Cardinals?

And I imagine a woman sitting in the garden, nursing her baby, surrounded by a flock of red birds. :-)

Cardinals do prefer feeders that are stable and do not sway. However, no matter the feeder design, they like sunflower seeds best of all and will feed upon it where ever they can find it.

Yep, sunflower seed. We have 8 nesting pair in our yard. Sometimes they chase each other off, but for the most part they all eat together in the evening.