Treat your garden birds to get more tweets (I mean treats).
‘No mess’ bird feeding helps keep your garden relatively clean and provides high energy nutrition to your favourite birds.

No Mess Mixes

• Pre-mixed selections are now available from most suppliers. They are formulated for dispensation through a hanging feeder and attract a range of birds. Kibbled (ground into small pieces) maize, hemp, millet and sunflower hearts are amongst the usual ingredients.
• Mealworms are the favourite of starlings and robins and not a crumb will be left. Put in a small dish.
• High energy mixes are best reserved for cold winters. They include peanut granules, pinhead oats and sometimes mealworms. Use on table feeders and in hanging baskets.
• Kibbled (ground into small pieces) maize is a cheap feed for sparrows, pigeons and doves. Usually taken from the ground.
• Niger seed is very fine, small thistle seeds from a special dispenser. It is especially loved by siskins and goldfinches. Dunocks may also like a few sprinkled on the ground
• Sunflower hearts attract the wides range of birds including tits, finches, and goldcrests. There are no husks to leave behind
• Fat balls and suet mixed with seed can attract a range of birds including woodpeckers. Good for cold weather.
• For fruit loving birds like thrushes and blackbirds you could try a few soaked raisins. Try out in cold weather when there is little alternative food available.

Traditional Feeds

Black sunflower seeds are so popular with tits and finches so it was worth giving them a mention despite the mess the husks can leave.
Peanuts are protein rich but blue tits may leave a little debris on the area below a feeder.

Bird food from amazon‘

Happy Bird Tips

• Platforms and ground feed stations attract more species of birds than hangers.
• Little and often is better than one over stocked feeder.
• Avoid cheaper mixes that contain a lot of filler (it wont fill the birds so it is just left or discarded
• Clean your feeders regularly and resite occasionally to avoid problems.
• No mess seeds are less likely to germinate if they fall in your garden

photo credits
Bird feeding fledgling by Adrian Midgley CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Bird Feeding at Sariska Tiger Reserve by Mirza Asad Baig CC BY-NC-ND 2.0