How to attract Cardinals to bird feeder
One of the most popular birds in the United States should not need to be attracted to a bird feeder, though stubborn Northern Cardinals in your area may need a push.
How to attract Cardinals to bird feeder is with an open to all, open top pole or ground platform bird feeder. Large birds such as Cardinals are incompatible at regular feeders, thus will benefit with an open platform or dish. With that in mind offer Cardinals their favorite sunflower seeds, dried mealworms and berries.
As Northern Cardinals are widespread across the States while found in any habitual environment, the abundance of Cardinals in your area should be enough.
With that in mind Cardinals can be distracted if fed in other yards, or if there remains an abundance of food in the wild.
You'd need to give Northern Cardinals a push they need to be attracted to your yard at first, then you can think about getting them to use your bird feeder - which I believe they soon will once they are there.
What attracts Cardinals to your yard is food of course, with plain seed mixes, yet with sunflower seeds a favorite - along with dried or live mealworms to substitute insects that are eaten in the wild - and then there's fruits you can offer them on top of a platform.
Cardinals are incompatible at normal bird feeders as this large bird species is simply too big to cling on the side of a wire bird feeder or land on a short perch.
What you must do then in order to attract Cardinals to your bird feeders, and keep them coming back daily - is to open up a Cardinals bird food source to the elements. And as Cardinals rarely eat at bird feeders, a platform or dish must be used.
Downside to this is bird food can spoil when exposed to sun or damp conditions, though this can be avoided if you choose the best time to leave out bird food in the open.
Open up to Cardinals on platform
What you must understand about Northern Cardinals foraging behavior is that they prefer to feed off the ground or close too on a mix of berries, insects and seeds.
Cardinals are a fairly large backyard birds so while seen to use a hanging bird feeder, in truth Cardinals struggle to use bird feeders - as their ability is limited on regular bird feeders hanging off a tree branch or bird feeder pole bracket.
What kind of feeders Cardinals like are the open top platform bird feeder kind.
Big bird needs to be fed out in the open just as a platform bird feeder provides. Ideally it should be a pole mounted platform although a ground platform bird feeder can be even more effective.
What Northern Cardinals eat in the wild can be replicated on top of a platform, whereas a more restricting self-enclosed bird feeder wouldn't hold what their diet requires.
What is great about attracting Cardinals to bird feeders of the platform kind, is that you can put any common bird food on it, including any kitchen scraps such as oats if out of wild bird food.
Northern Cardinals should mostly be fed on seed mixes, although they are a grain eating bird, thus you can feed oats to Cardinals mixed within a seed mix, or offered on their own.
Cardinals love a seed filled suet cake so this can be offered to them on the platform.
While other kinds of suet you can offer to Cardinals can include those filled with fruit of course with insect stuffed suet cakes or balls.
Ground feeder, for ground eater
While Northern Cardinals are seen to forage mostly on the ground in the wild as they hop about in short or long undergrowth, to feed Cardinals on the ground would be a good idea to begin with.
Bear in mind Cardinals can be seen to forage higher in trees, though its on the ground if your backyard has no tree.
How to attract Cardinals to a feeder then would be with the use of a ground platform bird feeder.
Its an open to the elements bird feeder mind thus bird food can quickly spoil; timing is everything as you only need to leave out a mix of Cardinal favorites when you know it will be eaten up before it goes bad.
On this ground level bird feeder pile up a mix of dried or live mealworms to replace insects eaten in the wild, including a mix of seeds with sunflower seeds being a priority.
Its an open ground dish-like feeder thus berries, fresh fruits or dried fruits can be offered to Cardinals in the dish.
As a ground eating bird, it would be safe to place a ground bird feeder on the lawn as to be sure these less capable at bird feeder birds - can indeed eat what is normally reserved for hard to reach bird food trapped inside hanging bird feeders.
Fed on Sunflower Seeds
How you would encourage Cardinals to use your platform bird feeder is to use seeds, while a priority must be on sunflower seeds.
Cardinals can be seen to eat seed mixes that can contain sunflower seeds or wheat, in which they will feed most on - while nut meat or cracked corn may be eaten.
Feed Northern Cardinals a sunflower seed variety sitting on top of the platform feeder.
What kind of bird seed do Cardinals like is the plain sunflower seeds kind with other sunflower seed varieties tried.
No better time to feed Cardinals on seeds only as its for winter or summertime, while it does help to offer dried mealworms to balance their diet.
Birds can come to rely upon a platform bird feeder in your yard, thus Northern Cardinals may only feed in your yard and not in the wild.
Replace insects with Mealworms
Cardinals really do like to eat dried mealworms because the species are an insect-eating bird, thus will normally eat all kinds of insects found in the wild.
No issues with Cardinals eating dried mealworms then, while live mealworms can be offered as its more attractive to them as they wiggle around.
Mealworms are not compatible in any enclosed bird feeder thus this is where an open top platform bird feeder comes in useful again.
Cardinals can be fed on your dried mealworms on top of the platform with no restrictions in place.
I believe Northern Cardinals can be attracted to a yard, and therefore a bird feeder if there's only seeds or fruits on offer - though to have dried or live mealworms visible to Cardinals can almost guarantee success.
And while your at it you can feed dried mealworms to Cardinals on the ground.
Can be attracted off bird feeders
Did you know you don't actually need the assistance of any kind of bird feeder to attract birds, when bird food thrown over the ground can be just as effective.
However a platform bird feeder on a pole or close to the ground can at least keep things tidy and more organized in the yard.
In addition to a bird feeder, why not throw bird seeds and dried or live mealworms over your lawn - to allow Cardinals to forage as they normally world in the wild.
Bird feeders used to attract Cardinals are used to at least let them know there's bird food in them, while bird food dropped on the lawn may need to be a gradual thing.
What you can feed Cardinals must be safe to go on the ground, as seeds or mealworms will be OK for a few days - while never throwing fruit on the ground as it will rapidly spoil.
Rather than throw bird seeds or mealworms on the lawn, to place them where Cardinals mostly frequent the yard would help. Bird food can be piled on garden furniture, on the porch railing or on the deck if this is where Cardinals visit daily.
Live mealworms will sure get their attention although its essential you at least let Cardinals know there's food available to them.
Guarantee Cardinals can be attracted to eat your bird food by laying it on top of a bird feeder dish - while remembering Cardinals can still be fed with no bird feeder in use at all, if you can at least clean up bird food before it rots.
Noisy Bird Bath feet away
If you are having trouble attracting Cardinals to your yard, and therefore your bird feeder, you can try to get their attention with noise.
The kind of noise you can create is with the sound of running water; operated off a solar powered fountain placed in a bird bath.
Northern Cardinal do like to use bird baths thus are seen as a common bird bather; as Cardinals must still preen their feathers while hydrating to stay fit.
Birds can be attracted to the sound of running water and as we know Cardinals like to use a bird bath, then a bird bath must be used. Cardinals will first come to the water source, then the plan is they will soon find their way to platform feeder setup close by.
It can be an extra expense you don't need but remember a bird bath can be critical to a birds health.
Birds suffer in drought thus can come to depend on a bird bath as a source of fresh water. Cardinals will behave in and around a bird bath as they normally would in puddles in nature, while never seen to be disturbed by a fountain feature.
Any bird bath can be used as long as its big enough to accommodate a large Cardinal, while the fountain feature sits in the center for the solar panels to be exposed to the sun.
None of the mechanism is a danger to Cardinals, yet once the Cardinals have been attracted to the bird bath - they may rarely use it again while focusing more on your bird feeders.
What you must do then to attract Cardinals to bird feeders is to at least get their attention with the sound of running water, then in time they will come to use the platform feeder.
To summarize
How you'd attract Cardinals to bird feeders is to be sure its open to all birds, particularly to those of a larger than smaller size common backyard bird.
What bird feeder you must be using to attract Northern Cardinals is one that is open to the elements, as a Cardinal is not what you'd call your average bird feeder bird.
Rely on an open top pole mounted bird feeder to allow Cardinals to perch around the rim or walk all over the bird food up for offer. With that in mind a Cardinal is a ground feeding bird, thus can benefit with a ground bird feeder if you like.
What bird food you must be offering to Cardinals would be close to what they forage for in the wild.
Prioritize protein rich seed mixes while baring in mind sunflower seeds are a big favorite of Cardinals.
What else Cardinals would appreciate mixed up with seed mixes is dried mealworms, with live mealworms going down a storm.
Cardinals are big berry or fruit eating birds thus you can replace wild berries with strawberries or grapes if you wanted to - including any dried fruits you have to hand.
Regular bird feeders can be used with seeds or peanuts, or if using dried mealworms they must be added to an open dish. All of which is out of bounds for a Cardinal as this too large bird finds it hard to tackle such limited bird food contraptions.
Northern Cardinals will benefit with an open top platform bird feeder while offering bird seeds or mealworms on the lawn can be a big help.
If Cardinals in your local area are too stubborn to come to your yard, the sound of running water in a solar powered bird bath can soon change their minds.
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