Perhaps the most versatile of all the feed types, sunflower seeds will attract a wide diversity of birds to your feeders.
Striped sunflower seeds have thicker shells and are better for heavy-billed birds such as cardinals. Compared with black-oil sunflower seeds, they are harder to crack open and may be a good choice if you don't wish to feed blackbirds or house sparrows.
Birds that will eat striped sunflower seeds include:
Cardinals
Grosbeaks
Jays
Nuthatches
Titmice
Discarded hulls underneath the feeder may contain leftover seed pieces and attract rodents, so keep them cleaned up. Purchasing seed that's already hulled will help avoid a mess, but hulled seed tends to be more expensive and will spoil more easily than seeds with shells, so you may have to refill the feeder more frequently.
