Favorite seeds of backyard songbirds this winter.

What's happening! I wanna draw more cardinals, native sparrows, juncos and other native birds this winter without attracting non native ones such as house sparrows, starlings and monk parakeets. I've used sunflower seeds in the past, but don't remember what the end result was. Should I change feeders or change location to draw in certain types of birds? Among them the cardinal and I'd like to see more of them as well as chickadees, woodpeckers, juncos and others that are native to my community each winter. Please drop in if you have anything to add. Take care.

I have no idea how to feed a certain bird species without attracting the unwanted ones.

We buy a songbird mix that the cardinal seems to like.  These mixes have sunflower seeds, cracked corn, and millet plus some I don't know the name for.

The cardinal will pick out the seeds it likes and throw out the seeds that the cardinal is not interested in.

We have woodpeckers, bunting, and several other kinds of birds,

The small birds gather on the ground to eat what the other birds threw onto the ground.

You tried millet or safflower seeds before for better results? Tried mealworms to help reel in more songbirds?

Plain sunflower seeds seem to attract the most birds for me. Tit mouses, cardinals, nuthatches, some but not all woodpeckers, chickadees and some others all like it. Juncos seem to like cheap millet and cracked corn. Hoggish blue Jays like all of it so I scatter my seed on the ground instead of in a feeder, that way nobody can hog it all. It's fun to watch them all popping around scratching in the leaves. I also use a suit feeder, all of the woodpeckers and the nuthatches like that.

I have small garden pond with a pump that runs year-round. During very cold weather I see more birds and more kinds of birds drinking and bathing than I do coming for the food.