Peanuts and millet

Peanuts and a commercial mix of nuts called "peanut pickouts" are extremely successful for attracting a variety of birds, such as chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, and Blue jays.

Peanuts can be fed year-round and are a good alternative to beef suet in the summer.

They can be offered in cylindrical feeders assembled from quarter-inch mesh hardware cloth, which deters pilfering efforts by squirrels.

To discourage House sparrows and Brown-headed cowbirds in the summer, I decrease the amount of white proso millet used in my feeders.

If you live in an area of mature hardwood forest in the eastern half of the United States, however, it is worth at least one cylindrical feeder stocked with white proso millet to attract Indigo buntings and Chipping sparrows.