A tit will take one at a time from the bird table and fly off with it to a nearby tree where, supporting itself on its feet, it cracks the hard shell with its bill and eats the sweet, oily kernel. The nuthatch, on the other hand, places the seed in cracks or holes in the bark and then proceeds to crack the seed. Birds may be fed millet, canary seed, flaxseed, rapeseed, hulled oats and poppy seed. The collared dove also eats wheat and maize. In addition one can provide them with the seeds of grass, thistles and conifers as well as rowan, hawthorn, elderberries and the like, dried during the late summer months.
Tits also appreciate bits of suet and an occasional mealworm.
Some birds, like the goldfinch, will only rarely visit bird tables. For these it is possible to cut off whole thistle branches in the autumn and store them until the winter months. Then in winter they can simply be stuck upright into the snow. Food is usually put out for birds in a feeder made of wood, which should be covered with glass. Small feeders may be put outside win-dows, larger ones in gardens or parks.