Why one feeder does not suit every bird

Fill a hanging feeder with general mixed seed and you will please a few birds and frustrate the rest. Beak shape decides the menu. A blue tit's tiny, pointed bill can prise a peanut from a mesh bag but cannot crack a whole sunflower seed; a blackbird's longer, sturdier bill is built for hunting worms on a lawn and stripping berries from a hedge, yet it will struggle at a swinging port. Goldfinches have fine, tweezer-like bills that are hopeless with fat balls but perfect for tiny seeds.

Once you understand those differences, feeding becomes far more rewarding. You stop scattering one offering and hoping, and start setting out the right food in the right place. Here is what the most familiar garden visitors actually want.

Blue tits, great tits and the small woodland crowd

These acrobats will happily hang upside down from a feeder while eating. They are bold, quick and always on the move, checking for insects on the way.

• Peanuts are a staple, but always buy them from a reputable supplier and never offer salted, roasted or mouldy nuts, which can harm birds.
• Sunflower hearts suit them beautifully, being small, rich in energy and free of husks to drop on the lawn.
• Live mealworms are gold in spring and early summer, when adult birds are feeding growing chicks that need protein rather than fat.
• Suet pellets and fat balls see them through cold spells, though always remove the plastic netting before hanging.

Long-tailed tits prefer suet in small amounts and rarely commit to anything larger. Great tits will take peanuts, sunflower hearts and the occasional seed from a tray.

Goldfinches and the seed-eaters

Goldfinches are the reward for patience. They can be shy at first, but once a reliable supply appears, they arrive in chattering flocks. Their slender bills mean they need fine food and often a dedicated feeder.

• Nyjer seed is the classic choice, best offered in a tall feeder with tiny ports so the seed is not wasted on the ground.
• Sunflower hearts are taken readily and tend to attract them more reliably than any other food.
• Teasel and thistle heads left standing over winter will be stripped by goldfinches without any help from you at all.

Greenfinches are heavier relatives with more powerful bills, happy with black sunflower seeds and sunflower hearts. Chaffinches feed both from hanging feeders and on the ground beneath them, hoovering up fallen seed. House sparrows are less fussy, taking mixed seed, millet and crumbs, and they prefer a tray or table to a dangling port.

Blackbirds, thrushes and other ground feeders

Blackbirds will rarely use a hanging feeder, and that is fine. They are ground birds, built for foliage and soil. Offer their food low down, or on a flat tray on a short pole, and keep the area clear enough that they can see danger coming.

• Mealworms, dried or live, are taken eagerly, especially during the nesting season.
• Soaked sultanas and raisins are excellent in cold weather. Soak them first, as dry fruit can swell uncomfortably inside a bird.
• Chopped apple and pear left on the grass will vanish within hours.
• Berries from your own shrubs are their natural winter larder.

Song thrushes are shyer and more likely to visit a quiet garden with damp ground and snails. Robins and dunnocks will also use a ground tray, robins often hopping close to the spade whenever you are digging. Starlings are boisterous ground feeders who will clear a dish of mealworms in minutes, so offer food in several places if you want the smaller birds to get a look-in.

Plant it and they will come

Feeding stations are only half the story. A garden with the right plants feeds birds all year, with no washing up. Aim for a mix of dense hedging, berry-bearing shrubs and seed heads left standing.

• Hawthorn and blackthorn for nesting cover and autumn haws.
• Rowan, guelder rose and crab apple for berries that last into winter.
• Ivy, which flowers late for insects and ripens berries in early spring when little else is available.
• Teasel, sunflower and rudbeckia left uncut for seed-eating finches.
• Honeysuckle and wild cherry for insects, which in turn feed chicks.

If you can leave a scruffy corner with leaf litter and damp soil, so much the better. Blackbirds, thrushes and dunnocks need invertebrates far more than they need seed.

Feeding well through the year

Birds' needs change with the seasons. In winter, offer high-fat food such as suet and sunflower hearts, and put it out early in the day. In spring and summer, lean towards protein: live mealworms, soaked dried mealworms and insect-rich food for growing chicks. Avoid bread and milk, which fill birds up without nourishing them, and never put out anything mouldy or rancid.

Keep feeders clean, washing them regularly with hot, soapy water and allowing them to dry fully. Rotate the positions of feeders so droppings do not build up in one spot, and provide a shallow dish of fresh water for drinking and bathing. Place feeders where cats cannot ambush them, ideally close to a hedge or shrub so birds can dash for cover, but not so close that a cat can hide within pouncing distance.

Finally, be patient. New feeders can sit untouched for a fortnight before word gets around. Once the first tits find them, the rest of the neighbourhood will follow.