Feeding birds in the wintertime in Ohio

What kind of seeds do you feed the birds here in Ohio? We have mixed seeds and some Sunflower Seeds, we would like to get some Cardinals and other kinds besides Sparrows, we have hundreds of Sparrows. We would like to have some other kinds, is there some seed that attracts the other more rare birds? We have Thistleseed for the finches, Sunflower Seeds for the squirrels and other birds, and Suet Cake, and a seed bell. All in the same place, we don't have much room for the feeders to be separated, so we have them basically all in the same area, as long as we feed the squirrels the mixture too, they stay away from the seed bell, they tried to get into the feeder we have for the birds, but they can't reach it, I watched a squirrel try to get in it and he streeeeeetched but could not reach it. So I don't worry about it, we have a couple of woodpeckers, one is the small downy woodpecker and the other one is larger, I think it is the red-bellied one, I saw its red cap. They really love that suet cake! The nuthatch is not afraid of us, I was outside watching them and he came down and got a seed off of the seed bell with me standing there watching him.

I've heard that if you don't want many Sparrows, don't feed millet, milo or cracked corn. So you might make sure that the feed that you buy doesn't have either of those ingredients. You might try feeding only Blackoil Sunflower Seed and Finch Mix and Nyer thistle. I'm not in Ohio, but I also feed whole raw peanuts in the shell and shelled raw peanuts. The sparrows don't eat either of those, but the Cardinals, Titmice, Chickadees, Woodpeckers and Blue Jays do! You also might try posting this question in the general Birdwatching forum: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/birdwatching/all/. Good luck!

This message was edited Nov 3, 2010 8:08 PM

Thanks for the advice,we have gotten some more Sunflower Seed and we have some peanuts. We had a older bird feeder and the squirrels decided to chew the string which was hanging it up and break the feeder. So we got another one, this one is from Perky Pets, it has a metal cage around it and 12 ports, so hopefully the squirrels can't chew this one down. There was one this morning that looked at it as if to say what the heck is that thing? But the birds have found it, the downy woodpecker has found it too. I like it because it also has holes in it to drain the water when it rains. And also it does not spill the seed like the other one did. Hopefully it keeps the squirrels out of the seed.