Backyard Sanctuary - Wild Bird Feeding Institute

Create a Backyard Sanctuary

Here are resources to help you turn your backyard into
a sanctuary for your birds.

Above all, we want you to have a good experience feeding wild birds!

NEED INSTRUCTIONS TO GET STARTED?
HERE'S EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW.

Do you want to know what bird feed and feeder combination will bring the most wild bird visitors to your yard? Download our free instructions to setting up your wild bird feeding station in your yard, and then get started!

DOWNLOAD FREE INSTRUCTIONS

Blue Jay eating a peanut from a peanut pick-outs wild bird feeder

Nuthatch eating seed out of a human hand

WBFI CARES ABOUT HELPING YOU HELP YOUR BACKYARD BIRDS

How many times do we see or hear news stories concerning birds and issues that affect them like conjunctivitis, cat predation, or window strikes? While we cannot control all the forces impacting the wild birds visiting our feeders, we can be responsible custodians of our food and feeders and the feeding environment to make our yards as safe as possible.

You want to know how to take care of your bird feeding equipment and do what you can to protect wild birds visiting your feeding stations.

See the resources below for some basic steps you can refer to so you can be a responsible backyard birder.

FOOD & FEEDER PREFERENCES

Just as you might not like all the different kinds of food available to us, so birds are much the same. The primary foods consumed by birds include:

Seeds found in wild bird feed (download the bird feed preference chart above)
Insects
Nectar

The physical structure of a bird species is also important to the style of bird feeder a bird can use. Download the bird feeder preference chart to see what style of bird feeder your favorite birds can use. For example, only a couple of wild bird species can hang upside down to eat and therefore can use the feeder with the perch above the feeding port.

thumbnail of Project Wildbird bird food and feeder preferences of North America chart

Wild Bird feed and feeder preference chart

DOWNLOAD THE 6 STEPS

To help you be good stewards of the birds visiting your backyard, WBFI and the not-for-profit experts in backyard wild bird feeding compiled the information you need in the 6 Steps poster. WBFI is glad to make this important information available to you now.

You can help change the world and make it a better place for birds.

DOWNLOAD 8.5 x 11 Poster

bird preference chart

NYJER®... THE SECRET IS IN ITS OIL

Wild birds select a bird seed based on several criteria, and one of those criteria is the oil content of the bird seed. Unlike humans, birds consume food for energy first rather than for taste.

Nyjer® is one of the highest oil content seeds you can feature in your yard. It is grown in India and Ethiopia where it is a valuable oil crop like corn, safflower, or canola oils are in North America.

Check our Bird Preference Chart to see which wild bird prefer Nyjer®.

QUALITY STANDARDS ARE YOUR KEY

Since 2005, WBFI's members have subscribed to our voluntary industry quality standards program for bird feed and for bird feeders. What does this mean for you? It means that when you purchase a product that displays our Quality Standards logo, you can be assured that the product meets industry quality standards.

Our industry quality standards are based on the standards from the Association of American Feed Control Officials or AAFCO. Learn more about our standards here.

ORGANIC WILD BIRD FEED?

If you are interested in purchasing organic wild bird feed, you will need to search very carefully to identify a source. The vast majority of the wild bird feed sold in the US and Canada is not organic.

If you identify a source that claims to be organic, be sure to verify that the product is certified before you buy it. There is a certification for organic producers in order to be able to use the claim "organic" on their product.