Which Bird Food Attracts Which Birds? A UK Garden Guide
Posted by BirdSeed.co.uk on 22nd Sep 2026
Most people start feeding birds with a bag of mixed seed and hope for the best. That works — but if there is a particular bird you want to see more of, the food you choose makes a real difference. Here is what tends to bring what.
Quick reference
| If you want to see… | Put out… |
|---|---|
| Blue tits, great tits, coal tits | Sunflower hearts, peanuts in a mesh feeder, suet pellets |
| Robins | Mealworms, suet pellets, seed scattered on the ground |
| Goldfinches and siskins | Sunflower hearts |
| Blackbirds and song thrushes | Ground-fed seed mix, mealworms, fallen suet |
| Greenfinches and chaffinches | Sunflower hearts, mixed seed |
| House sparrows and dunnocks | Mixed seed, much of it on the ground |
| Starlings | Fat balls, suet pellets |
| Nuthatches and woodpeckers | Peanuts in a mesh feeder, suet blocks |
| Wrens | Suet pellets and crumbs low down or on the ground |
Sunflower hearts: the single most useful thing you can buy
If you only put out one food, make it sunflower hearts. They are sunflower seeds with the husk already removed, which means every bird that can crack a seed will take them — and so will several that cannot. Finches, tits, sparrows, robins and dunnocks all eat them.
The husk-free part matters more than it sounds. Black sunflower seeds leave a carpet of empty shells under the feeder; hearts leave almost nothing. They also weigh less per feed, so a 2kg bag goes further than the same weight of a mix padded out with wheat.
Peanuts: for tits, nuthatches and woodpeckers
Peanuts are high in fat and oil, which is exactly what small birds need in cold weather. Blue tits, great tits, nuthatches and great spotted woodpeckers will all work at a peanut feeder.
One important safety point: always put peanuts out in a mesh feeder, never loose in a dish, and especially not in spring and summer. Adult birds carry whole nuts back to the nest, and a whole peanut can choke a chick. A mesh feeder forces them to take small pieces.
Suet: the cold-weather workhorse
Suet is fat, and fat is energy. In winter a small bird can burn through most of its body reserves overnight, so a high-fat food put out in the afternoon can genuinely be the difference between a bird surviving a cold night and not.
- Suet pellets — the most versatile. Robins, wrens, dunnocks and starlings take them from a tray or the ground; tits take them from a feeder.
- Fat balls — best for starlings, sparrows and tits. If yours come in a nylon net, take the net off before hanging them: birds can catch their feet and tongues in it.
- Suet blocks — sit in a cage feeder and last well, which suits woodpeckers and nuthatches that feed in long sessions.
- Suet-filled coconut halves — hang straight up with no feeder needed, so they are the easiest way to start.
Mealworms: the one robins really want
Dried mealworms are the closest thing to a robin's natural diet that you can buy in a bag. Blackbirds and wrens take them too. They are best offered in a shallow dish rather than a hanging feeder, and soaking them in water for ten minutes first makes them easier for birds to swallow and adds moisture.
Mixed seed: the sensible default
A good mix earns its place because it feeds a wide range of birds at once, including the ground feeders that hanging feeders never reach. The thing to look at is what is actually in it. Cheap mixes are bulked out with whole wheat and split peas, which most garden birds will not eat — so it looks like you are getting more for your money, and then it sits under the feeder going mouldy.
If you would rather not deal with husks and seedlings on the lawn at all, no-mess mixes use hulled and kibbled ingredients so there is very little waste left behind.
Three things worth getting right
- Clean your feeders. Dirty feeders spread disease between birds — trichomonosis has hit greenfinch numbers hard in the UK. Rinse and scrub feeders every couple of weeks and move them around the garden occasionally.
- Do not put out milk or large amounts of bread. Birds cannot digest milk, and bread fills them up without feeding them.
- Keep it going. Birds learn where reliable food is and build it into their day. Feeding year round is now generally recommended, not just in winter.
Not sure where to start? The full range is here, and a bag of sunflower hearts plus a feeder will get you further than anything else for the money.