To attract the most birds and to reduce competition at a feeder, it is wise to erect two or more feeders a few yards or more apart. By erecting more than one feeder and by offering more than one type of food, you'll not only reduce competition between birds for food, but you'll also attract more varieties. Here is where many people go wrong. Choosing the proper food depends on what kinds of birds you want to attract. When most of us think about feeding birds, we think mostly about buying some type of wild bird seed.
Seed eating birds are the most commonly attracted birds to feeders.
To attract them, you want to buy the best seed possible. Unfortunately, many of the wild bird seed commercial mixes on the market are composed of cheap filler seeds that many birds don't like and only a few in the mix that they do. What the birds usually do like in these seed mixtures are the sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds come in several different types but the best one to buy is the black oil sunflower seed. Studies with many different birds show that black oil sunflower seeds are the overall favorite of most seed eating birds.