To get you started, here's a list of foods that attract some winter birds. Should you want more information about birding, the short book list that follows will help.
* Sunflower seeds: Blue jay, cardinal, crossbill, (quite rare) chickadee, mourning dove, flicker, nuthatch, tufted titmouse, downy, hairy and red-bellied woodpeckers, house finch.
* Cracked corn: Blue jay, cardinal, mourning dove, redpoll as well as field, house, song and white-throated sparrows.
* Suet: Woodpecker, titmouse, chickadee.
* Niger seed (some call this thistle seed): Goldfinch, house finch, pine siskin, dove, nuthatch.
* Wild bird mix: Dove, cardinal, redpoll, sparrow.
From "The Backyard Bird Watcher" by George Harrison. Simon & Schuster.
Other useful books include:
* "A Field Guide to the Birds" by Roger Tory Peterson. Houghton-Mifflin Co.
* "The Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding," John Farrand Jr. Editor. Alfred A. Knopf.
