How to attract · guide

How to Attract Birds Without a Feeder

How to attract birds without a feeder is, in FeederWatch's own words, not a compromise: bird feeders are not the only way — or even the best way — to feed birds, and planting native plants is one of the best ways to support bird populations ¹.

This guide follows Audubon's native-plant habitat steps ³⁴ and FeederWatch's water advice ¹; window safety is from All About Birds ².

Goldfinch on a coneflower seed head — how to attract birds without a feeder means growing the food instead — Photo: Cephas, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How to attract birds without a feeder: grow the food

Native plants brim with insects, berries, nectar and seeds ³. For insects — the protein 96 percent of land birds rely on to feed chicks — plant native trees such as oaks, willows, birches and maples and herbaceous natives like goldenrod, milkweed and sunflowers ³; a native oak supports over 500 caterpillar species against five for a ginkgo, and one chickadee brood needs more than 6,000 caterpillars ⁴. For fruit, stagger the season: serviceberry and cherry in summer, dogwood and spicebush for fall migrants, cedar and holly for winter ³. For seed, native sunflowers, asters and coneflowers — and do not deadhead them, since seedheads are fall and winter food ³. For nectar, red tubular natives such as columbine, penstemon and honeysuckle ³.

Attract birds with water, cover and the things you stop doing

Water draws birds just as feeders do: a shallow dish or bath, ideally with a dripper for moving water, the water changed daily ¹. Cover comes from shrubs, evergreens and a brush pile — Audubon recommends building one for shelter ³ — and from what you leave alone: fallen leaves as mulch and insect habitat, dead trees and branches where safe for cavity nesters, and no pesticides, because a bird-friendly garden is a bug-friendly garden ³.

The payoff is a food supply FeederWatch calls easier and more dependable than any feeder, and one that does not need weekly scrubbing ¹.

Keep the birds you attract safe: windows, cats, clean feeders

Window collisions kill perhaps a billion or more birds a year in North America, and far more die at homes and low-rise buildings than at high-rises simply because there are so many of them ². Older rules about safe feeder-to-window distances are no longer thought valid; the fix is to make the glass visible — markings spaced no more than 2 inches apart on the outside, exterior screens, or hanging cords ¹².

Cats are the most numerous pet in North America and kill hundreds of millions of birds each year; ground-feeding birds, ground-nesting birds and fledglings are at greatest risk, and feeder birds are easy prey, so FeederWatch strongly recommends keeping cats indoors ¹. Clean seed and suet feeders every week or two — more often in heavy use or wet weather — with warm water and dish soap, since leftover seed and hulls harbor pathogens ¹.

More attraction guides

Attract birds to your yard →Attract birds to a feeder →Attract birds to a new feeder →Attract birds to a bird bath →Bird calls to attract birds →Attract birds to your hand →Attract birds in winter →Balcony birding →Attract birds to a birdhouse →Birds that eat yard pests →How to attract american goldfinches →How to attract northern cardinals →How to attract black-capped chickadees →How to attract ruby-throated hummingbirds →How to attract baltimore orioles →How to attract bluebirds →All guides →

Frequently asked questions

Can you attract birds without feeding them?

Yes — FeederWatch says feeders are not the best way to feed birds; native plants, water and cover do it more dependably ¹³.

What plants attract birds without a feeder?

Oaks, birches and goldenrod for insects; serviceberry, dogwood, cedar and holly for fruit; sunflowers, asters and coneflowers for seed; columbine and honeysuckle for nectar ³.