What kind of bird feeders do Cardinals like

Considering Northern Cardinals are larger than life birds, the species demand an easy to access bird feeder, preferably made for unrestricted access.

What kind of bird feeders do Cardinal like most would be any seed feeder. It must have a wide perching area via a single perch or a tray that surrounds the base. Sunflower seed feeders fit the bill, with sunflower seeds being a favorite. To be safe, a hopper seed feeder will do, so will any open top platform feeder.

Northern Cardinals are not the smallest of common backyard birds, thus are bound to struggle to use any type of unstable hanging seed feeder.

Cardinals do eat at seed feeders but they must remain stable with enough space for them to perch - while at the time allowing Cardinals to feed with ease.

Perching is one thing as Cardinals need additional space to lean over to eat the seeds.

You can't go wrong with a multi-use seed feeder that is in the shape of a hexagon or is a panoramic style. Filled with a heavy load of seed mixes, this hanging bird seed feeder remains quite stable.

What you can feed Cardinals in terms of types of seed mixes, is sunflower seeds only.

Cardinals love a sunflower seed with specialty sunflower seed feeders allowing Cardinals to not only perch on a seed catching tray with ease... this bird feeder can accommodate their size better than any seed feeder style.

What other kinds of bird feed you can offer Northern Cardinals is suet cakes or balls in their own cage feeder - preferably of the seed, fruit or insect kind.

Dried mealworms can be offered up in an open top platform bird feeder, or why not a bird food dish mounted or hanging off a bracket or branch.

Attracting Cardinals to your yard would begin on the ground, as Cardinals are ground eating birds. With an open top ground bird feeder made accessible to Cardinals and many others - you can be sure food is made available at all times.

Handy tip for you: if any hanging seed feeder currently in use is seen to be too unstable for Cardinals, you can simply rest the feeder on a flat surface [as seen in featured image above] to allow Cardinals to access it without issues.

Cardinals like seed feeders

Northern Cardinals will spend more time on any kind of bird seed feeder, as they are in fact seed-eating birds in the yard.

Not any seed feeder mind you, Cardinals are big and therefore unable to perch on small or short length perches - in which is a common feature on long tube seed feeders.

Solution to this is Cardinals will be seen, and probably favor a seed filled bird feeder that is much longer and wider; with a tray or dish attached to the base of the clear plastic tube feeder - as it provides room for them to spread their wings.

Make no mistake, Northern Cardinals will give compact, more restricting hanging seed feeders a go if they can - in which could see them perch, but unable to feed properly.

What you can do is proceed to wedge a long twig or branch through these port holes, to make an extended perch to which Cardinals will benefit hugely.

Seed feeders for use by Cardinals are seen to be hopper style seed feeders that hang or are mounted on top of a post, a wide hexagon or panoramic feeder style - or indeed an a big open or roofed platform feeder, with seeds available.

Sunflower seed filled feeders a favorite

What kind of bird seeds Northern Cardinal like most is in fact sunflower seeds being a huge favorite.

And while normal seed bird feeders that provide seed mixes can be used, sunflower seeds will be eaten up the most.

What you can do then is to fill a specialty sunflower seed bird feeder, filled up to the top with these larger than normal bird seeds. Sunflower seed feeders are designed in a way that will allow Cardinals to feed far easier.

Feeders that hold sunflower seeds make use of a wire style feeder, to which birds will poke their beaks in through the mesh wiring to pull out a sunflower seed, one at a time.

As previously established, Cardinals cannot cling to the side of a hanging, unstable bird feeder so you can guarantee sunflower seed feeders are larger, thus are more heavy, while there's going to be a dish mounted to the base to perch.

Seed trays attached to the bottom of mesh sunflower seed feeders, and so to regular seed feeders are designed to catch seeds - whereas they can benefit larger birds such as Northern Cardinals.

Easy to access feeders only

You can see what I am getting at by now, Northern Cardinals are a larger than life common backyard bird, thus demand an easy to access bird feeder, preferably filled with seeds.

Feeders made easy to access would primarily be made with a long perch that sticks out up to 4 inches - or indeed a seed tray attached to the base would be a great substitute.

Forget the long, narrow clear plastic tube seed feeders, while switching over to the wider, short tube feeders that use a tray on the bottom, and therefore an easier place for Cardinals to perch on.

Benefit being this tray to perch on can allow Blue Jays, Crackles and other non common hanging bird feeder birds.

Narrow dish trays that surround a side feeder can be up to an inch wide, thus Cardinals are seen to be pressed up against the plastic window. Whereas a wide tray would provide them the space they need to feed.

How to attract Cardinals to a bird feeder relies heavily on an easy to access bird feeder, because if Cardinal can't perch, then they simply won't use it to feed on.

Ground feeders preferred

If you didn't know already, Northern Cardinals are a common ground eating bird, thus are seen to forage among leaf piles, in vegetation or on a lawn... than seen to actually use a restricting bird feeder.

Rather than accommodate Cardinals on a hanging bird seed feeder, to which can be a complicated device for them to use - why not place a ground platform bird feeder in a safe and secure place in your yard.

What this ground bird feeder offers is an open top platform where mostly bird seeds or other Cardinal favorites can be placed on.

No restrictions apply, as this ground bird feeder will be open to all birds, big or small, though they will only be ground feeding birds at all time.

Down side to this is the feeder is open to unwanted birds in your yard, whereas the open top will allow the bird food to get wet. Quick solution to that would be a ground bird feeder with a roof.

If you can provide a solid as a rock, stable open top platform bird feeder that is mounted to a post or wall, such as a platform bird feeder on a pole - Northern Cardinals are sure to benefit from this kind of bird feeder the most.

Cardinals like an easy to access bird feeders, and it doesn't come much easier than free for all bird feeders exposed to the elements.

Cardinals eat at suet cages

Cardinals are a big, big suet eater in the yard, thus a suet feeder made accessible for them to feed off, will see great success.

How you'd hang a suet feeder off a tree branch or of a spare bracket on a bird feeding station, won't apply to Cardinals. Northern Cardinals demand a stable platform to which a fragile, blowing in the wind suet feeder won't do.

Instead, you'd need to think outside the box to provide suet to your Cardinals, while allowing other birds to comfortably feed on the suet cage.

What you can do is offer a hanging suet cake feeder for your other common birds, while setting aside a suet bird feeder for Cardinals.

It will be worth your time with potentially any more expense as Cardinals will eat suet if made accessible to them.

Rather than hang a suet bird feeder off a tree branch or bracket, why not simply push it flush against a tree branch or wedge the suet feeder on the bracket to stabilize it.

If not you can simply place the suet bird feeder on its side on an open top platform bird feeder - to which Cardinals will perch over it as they peck away at the fatty suet.

Suet cakes or balls can be out in the open, though a suet cage can stabilize the suet in all its form, whilst preventing larger birds and common backyard pests running away with the whole thing.

Mealworms can be offered

Whilst a big part of a Northern Cardinals diet consist of seeds, so to does the species feed on an equal part of insects in the wild.

And you can feed Cardinals insects in the way of specialty dried or live mealworms.

Remember when I mentioned Cardinals demand an easy to perch on seed feeder for sunflower seeds - made as a wire mesh feeder rather than a clear plastic one - well, you can add dried mealworms to this kind of bird feeder.

Northern Cardinals are insects eaters to which they mostly forage for on the ground.

Best place to place a handful of dried mealworms for Cardinals would then be on a ground platform bird feeder, or any kind of open top bird feeder.

If you have a bird feeding station pole or Shepherd's hooks setup, there is such a thing as a wire mesh mounted bird food tray. The tray connects to any size width pole with a simple tightening of a bolt.

Cardinals can happily perch on the rim of this wire tray dish while other birds make use of the more compact hanging bird feeder.

Northern Cardinals do like dried mealworms with an option of live ones. If you offer dried mealworms in a hanging open tray, Cardinals may still be able to access it, if the feeder remains stable.

To summarize

What kind of bird feeders do Cardinals like are those that offer up a series of mixed wild bird seeds.

What seeds Cardinals prefer most are sunflower seeds, so it would ideally be filled with these larger bird seeds only, or more of.

Seed feeders for smaller, more agile birds have a short perch fixed to them, something a Cardinal can perch on, but struggle to feed at the same time. Bird seed feeders for use by Cardinals must use a tray that surrounds the base.

Sunflower seed bird feeders are a favorite of Northern Cardinals because the birds love these seeds the most - while this kind of wire mesh bird feeder is more accessible.

Remain mindful of Cardinals not being birds that cling in any direction on the side of a bird feeder, thus a wide tray and therefore not a single short perch is compatible with the larger bird species.

Feeders for Cardinals must by the easy to access seed bird feeders. Make it a hopper style, or a panoramic or hexagon clear window seed feeder.

Similarly, an open top platform bird feeder on a pole, that hangs or is mounted is better suited to Cardinals.

Better still, Cardinals are ground foragers at heart, thus a ground bird feeder will benefit Cardinals more than any other kind of bird feeder in use today... well at the same time will keep your yard tidy.

While Cardinals will eat suet in a suet feeder, this fragile, unstable cage that hangs must be placed on it side, on top of a platform feeder for Cardinals to eat.

Finally, insects are a big part of a Cardinals diet in the wild, thus dried mealworms can be offered to them in a specialty sunflower seed bird feeder, or pile them on an open top platform feeder.

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