As you prepare to entertain family for the Thanksgiving feast, why not also prepare a feast for your feathered friends in the neighborhood. Hang some bird feeders and make holiday treats for them. We have one thing in common with many birds, and that is a love for sunflower seeds. While we eat the ones with stripes, birds prefer the black-oil type sunflower seeds. Birds like cardinals, chickadees, titmice and finches all love sunflower seeds.
Thistles are tiny seeds that appeal to finches, sparrows and chickadees.
You will want a thistle feeder for these birds. I was amazed at how quickly birds notice feeders and start to partake. While filming the Southern Gardening TV segment on feeders, the little chickadees came to the new thistle feeder within a couple of hours after placing it in the yard. The bird that showed up first, however, was a bright red cardinal. Even though the holes in the thistle feeder are tiny, he still managed to get a meal.