How to attract birds without a feeder
What you may not know about feeding birds in your yard is that no feeder of any kind is needed providing you still offer wild birds their favorite seeds, peanuts or suet.
How you would attract birds without a bird feeder hung up off a pole or branch, is with use of a dish acting as a bird bath or feeder to place food or water in. Said dish can be positioned anywhere its visible in the yard while baring in mind both an elevated and ground location will invite a wider range of bird species.
Without a bird feeder clearly hung up in your yard, I can say it may be more difficult for birds to spot if food is left out of any kind of feeder.
You will have to commit to some kind of bright or colorful unwanted food dish which can now be used to hold seeds, nuts or suet... plus water once in a while, or in addition too with two shallow dishes used side-by-side.
What will happen is this now double in size feeding area becomes more visible to birds who will only spot bird food by sight; which will be found whenever birds land in your yard, or as birds fly over while notice bird food facing up in their direction.
No limit to the kind of birds who will eat this way, including Finches, Sparrows, Robins, Bluebirds, Jay's, Cardinals and Warblers, to name a handful.
Downside is Orioles with Hummingbirds especially avoiding nectar in this case unless it comes out of a feeder.
Another downer is without a bird feeder hung up off the ground to deter pets or pests, its possible insects will soon be seen to swarm on the bird food.
It can be a serious issue putting bird feed on the ground with a rat issue in the area, whereas squirrels will be seen to steal all the bird food - especially peanuts - whenever a bird feeder isn't hung up off the ground.
Huge benefits to never using any kind of bird feeder mind you, like a a simple dish replacing all this bird feeding equipment which can be used over and over again, for all kinds of bird food or water.
Utilize multi-use bird bath
If you're dead set against using or refuse to invest in a bird feeder of any kind, just maybe you have a bird bath, or something you can fashion as a water bowl to attract birds to bathe or drink.
On the other hand you just may not want to invest in any kind of backyard birding equipment, in any case how you will attract birds without a feeder positioned in the yard, gets far more difficult.
With that in mind, there's certainly no harm in setting out water for your wild birds.
If birds can be attracted to a water source - laid out in a shallow bowl for example - then who's to say you can't feed birds nearby the same way.
How you attract birds to your yard is with bird food or water, the latter being less popular when food is a daily priority.
No need to buy a bird bath if you don't want to, but is easier to clean and maintain; but if you do you can change it over to food, of which birds can perch or land on it to feed.
Add bird food on elevated areas
I won't lie, it won't be easy to feed wild birds in your yard without a bird feeder hung up off a pole or branch, nor will it be impossible if you are patient enough.
You see without a bird feeder hung up or mounted, you do reduce birds who will almost exclusively feed out of feeders - which happens to be positioned high up off the ground - which is where certain bird species prefer to feed in the wild.
What you will have to do then is to cater to birds who mostly feed on elevated areas anywhere in the yard - with a focus on birds who are exclusive ground feeders.
With no bird feeder to utilize then I encourage you to begin spreading out bird seeds, nuts or mealworms on elevated areas around the yard.
Most birds will be happy to feed on top of fence posts, tree branches, garden furniture and if you like, on top of the shed or garage roof.
Expect to attract Northern Cardinals to your yard this way, including other large birds like Blue Jays who frequent the yard; who also happen to be less able at feeders because their size can restrict them somewhat - with people often forgetting about pigeons and even crows showing up out of nowhere.
Scatter all kinds of bird food around the yard on elevated places then, baring in mind the food most remain accessible but is out of the way.
Dump bird seeds on ground
How else you can attract birds without a feeder is going after ground feeding birds, most of which do use bird feeders but are quite happy to eat off the lawn.
Lawn being the grass of course if available to you, as its the most natural foraging habitat for our wild birds. If no lawn is available then any old turf will be fine - including the deck or patio if its in a lit up area.
You can put bird seed on the ground with many ground feeding birds seen to eat them up in no time, including Sparrows, Bluebirds, American Robins, Blue Jays and Cardinals.
Dumping bird seeds on the ground doesn't have to be overly complicated, but its worth remembering to throw bird seeds of any kind in areas that are lit up, or where you happen to see birds frequent the most in your yard on a daily basis.
Bird seeds are a great choice because they're part of various birds diet in the wild, thus will attract many birds to feed even without a feeder available. Where you'll attract different birds to feeders, the opposite is possible when directing birds to the ground.
Downside to exclusive ground feeding techniques is you do cancel out feeding beautiful Hummingbirds or Orioles, including some Finches and I believe all Woodpeckers.
Grow wild bird attracting flowers
Something a little more drastic yet will need some commitment on your part, is the planting of wild flowers in your yard.
No bird feeders can be replaced with what seed eating birds feed on in the wild, flowers that do in fact produce the thistle seeds or sunflower seeds found in bird mixes.
Excessive I know but in time with a garden full of blooming flowers in summertime, birds will be attracted to your yard by normal feeding instincts, with no work on your part.
Where wild flowers grow they also bring with them insects, of which a number of wild birds will eat them - including some birds who feed on insects in mid-flight - which can only bring more birds to your yard.
Bird feeders do attract insects for the wrong reasons whereas insects like flies coming to flowers can benefit your birds immensely.
Certainly no need to wait when you can pick up bird-attracting plants and flowers planted in pots at the garden center now - or grow plants in planters without the need of digging up your own garden.
Conclusion
You ask how to attract birds without a bird feeder in use, but have you thought about using a bird bath of any kind to substitute as a bird bath plus feeder.
It doesn't have to be a bird bath you bought especially when it can simply be an unwanted shallow dish or plate to use as a water bowl once in a while, whilst prioritizing it most as a dish for all kinds of wild bird food.
Bird bath plus feeder can then be placed anywhere you have the space with little to no maintenance or fuss on your part.
Regardless, to position this multi-use bird bath plus feeder on elevated areas around your yard - which must be in a sunny or lit up area - you can be sure you invite the most bird species to feed.
Many birds can be attracted to a makeshift bird feeder dish if its kept on the ground, in which case you'll also find great benefits to simply throwing bird seeds on the ground.
Dumping bird food which is usually restricted to bird seeds or mealworms of the live or dried kind, will see a multitude of birds come calling to eat.
With no bird feeder to utilize you can then turn to nature to feed birds in your garden for you, by planting seeds or insect-attracting plants - grown in planters or directly in the soil in a sunny location on your lawn.
Seed-growing flowers of the sunflower kind will be highly popular, as its the same seeds that are included in various wild bird seed mixes.
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