How to Attract 30+ Iowa Birds to Your Feeders

When I started my bird feeding blog, I wrote a guide on how to attract different species of birds in Minnesota to a feeder. It quickly grew to be the most-read story on this blog. So, I thought it would be a helpful resource to put together a similar guide on Iowa birds for my friends to the south.

I’m continuing to piece together guides for different states when I have the time in an effort to share my love of bird feeding. It’s such a great hobby to connect with nature while benefiting your mental health at the same time!

So, below I’ve listed (in alphabetical order) birds you can attract in Iowa, their preferred food, and the top bird feeder options. Also, I’ve provided tidbits based on my experience and some of my top food and feeder picks for birds I’ve had a lot of success with attracting.

Before diving into the specific birds, here are a handful of universal things you can do to increase your chances of bringing birds to your yard before you even hang up a feeder.

  1. Provide water (especially a heated bird bath in the winter)
  2. Avoid using pesticides
  3. Have trees and shrubbery nearby
  4. Plant native plants in your yard
  5. Keep your cats indoors

Bird Feeder References (links to bird seeds on Amazon)

Large tube feeder

Small tube feeder

Hopper feeder

Platform feeder

Nectar feeder

Fruit feeder

Suet Cage Feeder (small)

Suet Log Feeder

Bird Feed References (links to examples)

Black Oil Sunflower Seed

Safflower Seed

Mealworms (dried – check out your local bird store for live mealworms!)

Millet

Peanut bits

Suet Block

Sunflower hearts (no shell or mess)

Authors note: I’m skipping birds of prey, rare and nuisance birds like Cowbirds, House Sparrows, Grackles, etc. in this article. If you really want these…white millet, suet and cracked corn would be my top food recommendation.

Sources: The Cornell Bird Lab, Audubon Society and a hefty dose of my firsthand experience.

Baltimore Oriole

Iowa birds - Baltimore Orioles are colorful spring and summertime guests.
Baltimore Orioles visit in the late spring and through the summer. They enjoy eating orange slices and grape jelly.

What Time of Year?

The spring and early summer (everywhere in Iowa)

Red – Wintering Range, Blue – Breeding Season (Spring until Fall)
Image Credit: Cephas, Wikipedia

What Should You Feed Baltimore Orioles?

Grape jelly (top pick), oranges, hummingbird nectar, suet (sometimes – they have orange flavors of suet specifically for orioles, but I’ve never had luck with these). Baltimore Orioles will prefer eating mealworms later in the summer during nesting season.

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Baltimore Orioles?

A specialty orange/jelly feeder, nectar feeder

My Top Bird Feeder Pick For Baltimore Orioles

Other tidbits:

Baltimore Orioles typically arrive from their migration in Iowa in late-April or May, which is the best time to have one visit your feeder. However, if they set up a nest nearby, they will visit your feeder through August.

Related Content: How to get Baltimore Orioles Visiting Your Bird Feeder

Blue Jay

Iowa birds - Blue Jays are year-round residents throughout the state.
Blue Jays bring a lot of fun personality to bird feeders. They prefer peanuts.

What Time of Year?

Year-round (everywhere in Iowa)

What Should You Feed Blue Jays?

Peanuts in the shell (best bet), peanut bits, suet, sunflower seeds, corn

My Top Bird Seed Recommendation for Blue Jays:

Premium Peanuts In Shell – Wild Bird – Wildlife Food

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Blue Jays?

Blue Jays need a sturdy house or platform feeder with a lot of room to support their weight (they’re a large feeder bird).

Other tidbits:

Attract Blue Jays with peanuts on a sturdy platform feeder, or simply serve them on the ground (beware as this will also certainly attract squirrels and chipmunks – not that I would know…).

Related Content: How to Attract Blue Jays to Your Bird Feeder

Cedar Waxwing

birds, berries, branches-5500566.jpg
Shrubs and trees with berries are key for drawing in Waxwings

What Time of Year?

Year-round

Yellow – Summer Only Range, Green – Year-Round, Blue – Winter Range

What Kind of Food do Cedar Waxwings Like?

Fruit! Your best bet is to have a native tree or shrub in your yard with small berries (dogwood, cedar, winterberry, etc.).

What Kind of Bird Feeder Suits Them?

Cedar Waxwings rarely visit feeders but are known to visit bird baths in flocks. You may also have luck with a bird seed mix that has dried fruit in it.

Chickadees

black-capped chickadee, bird, animal-5727839.jpg
Chickadees love eating sunflower seeds and will carry them over to a nearby tree

What Time of Year?

Year-round (everywhere in Iowa)

What Kind of Food Do Chickadees Like?

Nearly everything (they’re the least picky bird I have at my feeders): Sunflower seeds, safflower seed, suet, mealworms (my Chickadee visitors especially love these).

My Top Amazon Bird Seed Recommendation for Chickadees:

Kaytee Mealworm Food Pouch

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Chickadees?

Nearly any feeder. Chickadees aren’t picky!

Related Content: 5 Surefire Tips to Attract Chickadees to Your Bird Feeder

Common Redpoll

redpoll, finch, bird-940196.jpg

What Time of Year?

Winter (in most of Iowa some years – see below)

What’s the Best Bird Seed for Redpolls?

They particularly like Nyjer seed and also sunflower chips

My Top Amazon Bird Seed Recommendation for Redpolls:

Wild Delight Special Finch Food

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Redpolls?

A tube feeder is best (but any feeder will likely work)

Other tips?

An erratic migrating bird from Canada. You may see large groups some winters and none at all other years. It all depends on their food supply and migration route.

Dark-Eyed Junco

junco, snowbird, dark-eyed-2099270.jpg
The Dark-Eyed Junco is also known as a “snow bird” due to its prevalence in the winter months

The Range of Dark Eyed Juncos

Yellow – Summer Breeding Range, Green – Year-Round Range, Blue – Wintering Non-Breeding Range

A range map of the Dark Eyed Junco

What’s the Best Bird Seed for Juncos?

Millet (best bet), hulled sunflower seed, cracked corn, peanut hearts

My Top Amazon Bird Seed Recommendation for Juncos:

Backyard White Millet

What Kind of Bird Feeder is Best for Juncos?

A ground feeder (leftover seed knocked down from hanging feeders will also suffice)

Downy/Hairy Woodpecker

nature, bird, woodpecker-4573036.jpg
A Downy Woodpecker visits my suet feeder every day

What Time of Year?

Year-round (everywhere and abundant in Iowa)

What Kind of Food do They Like?

Suet (top choice – especially peanut flavored), will also eat sunflower seeds on occasion

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers?

Suet feeders of all types (they aren’t picky).

My Top Amazon Bird Feeder Pick For Downy and Hair Woodpeckers:

Wildlife Sciences Suet Plug Feeder

Other tips?

Once you attract a Downy or Hairy Woodpecker to your feeders, they’ll likely be back every single day. I’ve had a pair of Downy Woodpeckers visiting my feeders for about a year now. They show up like clockwork.

Related Content: The Ultimate Guide to Attract Woodpeckers to Your Bird Feeders

Eastern Bluebird

An Eastern Bluebird sitting on a wooden shed.

What Time of Year?

Yellow – Summer Breeding Range, Green – Year-Round Range, Purple – Wintering Range
Credit: rbrausse, Wikipedia

What’s the Best Food for Bluebirds?

Live mealworms

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Bluebirds?

A platform or ground feeder.

Other tips?

Getting live mealworms and putting them on a sturdy feeder is your best bet to drawing one of these awesome birds to your feeder in the warm months. Eastern Bluebirds are also highly likely to take up residence in nest boxes if you have space. You’ll probably have the best luck with that approach if you live in a more remote area.

Evening Grosbeak

bird, evening grosbeak, bright colors-1118482.jpg

The Range of Evening Grosbeaks

Green – Year-round Range, Yellow – Wintering Range
Credit – Wikipedia Commons

What’s the Best Food for Evening Grosbeaks?

Sunflower seeds

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Evening Grosbeaks?

A hopper or platform feeder (they are heavy finches)

Other tips?

Irregular migrants and not likely to visit your feeders consistently every year. If they do, they will often appear in large flocks and eat a lot of sunflower seeds. That’s not a bad problem to have. These birds look awesome!

Goldfinch

american goldfinch, finch, bird-5283115.jpg
I’ve had the most success with sunflower chips in a tube feeder for Goldfinches

The Range of the American Goldfinch

Orange – Summer Breeding Range, Purple – Year-Round Range, Blue – Winter Range

The range of the American Goldfinch.

What’s the Best Bird Seed for Goldfinches?

Sunflower chips (my top choice) and nyjer seed

My Top Online Bird Seed Recommendation for Goldfinches:

Valley Farms Sunflower Hearts Wild Bird Food – 15 lbs

What kind of bird feeder suits them?

Just about any kind, but tube feeders are best. You can also use a sock feeder filled with nyjer seed for Goldfinches.

Other tips?

If you have the means to do so, plant native thistle plants as an organic way to attract Goldfinches to your yard!

Related: 4 Tips for Attracting American Goldfinches to your Yard

Gray Catbird

A Gray Catbird standing in a bush.

The Range of the Gray Catbird

Orange: Summer breeding, Yellow: Spring migration, Purple: Year-Round, Blue: Wintering Range

The range of the Gray Catbird.

What’s the Best Bird Feed and Feeder for Catbirds?

Catbirds can be drawn to feeders with fruit or grape jelly. If you have a Baltimore Oriole feeder out in the spring and summer, you may also have Gray Catbirds stopping by.

Other Tips?

The Cornell Bird Lab says you should plant shrubs in your yard near young deciduous trees to attract Catbirds. You can also plant native plants with fruit to naturally draw them to your home.

House Finch

A red and brown House Finch sitting on a hopper bird feeder.
House finches are often the first bird to try a new feeder.

What Time of Year?

Year-round everywhere in Iowa.

What’s the Best Bird Seed for House Finches?

Sunflower seed (top choice), safflower seed, nyjer seed

My Top Amazon Bird Seed Recommendation for House Finches:

Meadow Ridge Farms Black Oil Sunflower Seed

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for House Finches?

Just about anything

Other tips?

House finches are often the first birds to find a new feeder (they were my first birds to visit). I’ve randomly found that they also go bananas for grape jelly in my Oriole feeder in the spring.

Indigo Bunting

A bright blue Indigo Bunting sitting on a tree branch in the forest.
Indigo Buntings can bring some bright blue to your bird feeders.

Range of Indigo Bunting

Yellow: Summer Range, Green: Migrating Range, Blue: Winter Range
Image Credit: Wikipedia Commons

A map showing the range of the Indigo Bunting.

What’s the Best Bird Seed for Indigo Bunting?

White millet (best choice), hulled sunflower seed, nyjer seed

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Indigo Bunting?

They enjoy eating from the ground, or on small tube feeders

Other tips?

This can be a challenging bird to attract (at least it has been for me). Your best bet is to have your feeders stocked in the spring with white millet and catch them during their migration.


Mourning Dove

Two Mourning Dove birds sitting on a tree branch during the winter.
You might remember Mourning Doves and their noteworthy “coo” hooting sounds from your childhood summers.

The Range of Mourning Doves

Orange: Summer Breeding Range, Purple: Year-Round Range, Blue: Non Breeding Winter Range – Image Source: Wikipedia Creative Commons

The range map of Mourning Doves.

What’s the Best Bird Seed for Mourning Doves?

White millet (best choice), sunflower seeds, corn

My Top Amazon Bird Seed Recommendation for Mourning Doves:

Backyard White Millet

What kind of bird feeder suits them?

A large platform or ground feeder

Other tips?

Unless you have a large and steady platform feeder, sprinkling millet on the ground is perfect for Mourning Doves. They’re big birds and need a sturdy place to sit.

Northern Cardinal

A bright red male Northern Cardinal eating bird seed at a feeder.
What’s the best bird seed for Cardinals? Black-oil sunflower seeds!

What Time of Year?

Year-round everywhere in Iowa.

What’s the Best Bird Seed for Cardinals?

Sunflower seeds (top choice – black oil sunflower), safflower seed, millet, peanuts. There are Cardinal bird seed blends with both sunflower and safflower seeds.

My Top Amazon Bird Seed Recommendation for Cardinals:

Meadow Ridge Farms Black Oil Sunflower Seed

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Cardinals?

A large platform or ground feeder are the best bird feeders for Cardinals. They will visit most feeders as long as they can support their weight. Cardinals are larger songbirds (7 to 9 inches long).

Other tips?

Have your feeders in a quiet spot with bushes or trees nearby. Cardinals are shy birds and will want to scout out feeders and have a safe place to hide if they feel threatened. In the winter, when they aren’t competing for mates, you have a good chance of attracting several Cardinals at sunrise and sunset.

For more detail, check out my story with 5+ tips for attracting Cardinals to your yard!

Northern Flicker

A Northern Flicker sitting on a tree branch.
Northern Flickers love eating ants! If you have an ant hill in your yard, try leaving it as a potential food source for them.

What Time of Year?

Year-round everywhere in Iowa.

What kind of food do Northern Flickers like?

A rare visitor to feeders (but often use bird baths). Will eat sunflowers, peanuts and suet on occasion

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Northern Flickers?

A suet or ground feeder

Other tips?

Northern Flickers will use large nest boxes if you have space for one in your yard.

Range of Northern Flickers

Orange: Breeding, Purple: Year-Round, Blue: Non-Breeding

The range map for Northern Flickers.

Pileated Woodpecker

A Pileated Woodpecker perched on a dead tree.
Tip one: Live in a remote area with a lot of trees. Tip two: Offer suet in a big feeder

What Time of Year?

Year-round (BUT primarily in Eastern Iowa, near the border of Illinois and Wisconsin).

The range map for Pileated Woodpeckers.

What’s the Best Food for Pileated Woodpeckers?

Suet (top choice)

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Pileated Woodpeckers?

A large suet cage or platform.

Other tips?

Pileated Woodpeckers are HUGE. So, you’ll want to get a suet feeder that’s big enough to support them. Some suet feeders come with large platforms underneath, giving the bird room to balance using its tail.

Pine Grosbeak

A Pine Grosbeak sitting on the top of a tree during the winter.
Pine Grosbeak are another visitor from Canada.

What Time of Year?

Winter in primarily the Northern half of Iowa

What’s the Best Bird Seed for Pine Grosbeaks?

Sunflower seeds (best choice) and suet

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Pine Grosbeaks?

Large tube, platform and hopper feeders

Other tips?

According to The Cornell Bird Lab, Pine Grosbeaks may also be seen eating grit near roads by forests.

Pine Siskin

pine siskin, bird, perched-5964294.jpg
Pine Siskin love hulled sunflower seed and nyjer seed.

What Time of Year?

Everywhere in the Winter

Purple: Year-Round, Blue: Winter, Orange: Summer
Source: Cephas, Wikipedia

The range map of Pine Siskins.

What’s the Best Bird Seed for Pine Siskins?

Nyjer seed, hulled sunflower seeds, suet (maybe)

My Top Amazon Bird Seed Recommendation for Pine Siskins:

Wild Delight Special Finch Food

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Pine Siskins?

Nearly anything! The Pine Siskin that visits me often loves the large tube feeder I have with a finch blend.

Other tips?

This is another erratic bird based off its food supply and migration. The Cornell Bird Lab says: “Flocks of tiny Pine Siskins may monopolize your thistle feeder one winter and be absent the next.”

Purple Finch

female, purple finch, avian-2487548.jpg
Pictured: A female Purple Finch.

What Time of Year?

Winter – nearly everywhere across Iowa

Pink: Summer, Orange: Winter, Green: Year-Round

The range map for Purple Finches.
Orange: Wintering range
Green: Year-Round
Pink: Summer range
Image Credit: Nk, Wikipedia

What’s the Best Bird Seed for Purple Finches?

Sunflower seed (top choice), safflower seed, nyjer

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Purple Finches?

Just about anything.

Other tidbits?

Purple Finches are more rare than the similar looking House Finches. Male Purple Finches have a red cap versus a brown cap for House Finches.

Red Bellied Woodpecker

red-bellied woodpecker, bird, animal-6816788.jpg
Red Bellied Woodpeckers are fairly common in Iowa. They love suet and sunflower seeds.

What Time of Year?

Year-round everywhere in Iowa.

What’s the Best Food for Red Bellied Woodpeckers?

Suet (best choice), sunflower seeds, peanuts

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Red Bellied Woodpeckers?

A sturdy suet feeder or platform feeder.

Other tips?

You’ll have luck attracting a Red Bellied Woodpecker if you live near any sort of wooded area and offer a suet feeder. They’re also fond of sunflower seeds on occasion and will even take hummingbird nectar in the summer.

Red Breasted Nuthatch

red-breasted nuthatch, bird, log-5801909.jpg
Nuthatches will creep up, down and sideways on trees and bird feeders.

What Time of Year?

Winter in all of Iowa.

Purple: Year-Round, Blue: Non-breeding
Credit: Cephas, Wikipedia

The range map for Red-Breasted Nuthatches.

What’s the Best Food for Red Breasted Nuthatches?

Peanuts, suet and sunflower seeds

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Red Breasted Nuthatches?

Almost anything

Other tips?

Offer an assortment of seeds on a variety of feeders to attract nuthatches. They will often sample several seeds before picking their favorite and fly off.

Robin

robin, bird, perched-6879486.jpg
Many Robins migrate south in the winter, but some stay year-round.

What Time of Year?

Year-round (more common in the spring through fall), everywhere in Iowa.

What’s the Best Food for Robins?

Fruits (apples, oranges, berries, raisins), mealworms

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Robins?

Food on the ground or a large platform feeder. Robins are hard to draw to feeders. The ground is your best best!

Other tips?

I haven’t had luck bringing a robin directly to my feeders. However, they’re familiar visitors in the surrounding area looking for worms and berries in trees. Try putting out diced fruit like apples in the springtime and you can get lucky.

Rose Breasted Grosbeak

A Rose-Breasted Grosbeak perched on a tree.
Rose-Breasted Grosbeak are a favorite summertime visitor for many in Iowa.

What Time of Year?

Everywhere in Iowa during the spring and summer. Your best shot at them at a feeder is during the spring migration, but they may stick around and nest nearby if you consistently put out food and have spots for them to stay!

What’s the Best Bird Seed for Rose Breasted Grosbeaks?

Sunflower (top choice), safflower

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Rose Breasted Grosbeaks?

A large platform, hopper or tube feeder

Other tips?

They’re likely to visit feeders in the late spring during migration when they need extra energy. Have native berry plants and shrubs in your yard for another chance to attract these birds.

The Range of Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

Yellow: Breeding-Range, Orange: Migration-Only, Blue: Winter-Range

Ruby Throated Hummingbird

A Ruby Throated Hummingbird sitting on a nectar bird feeder.
Ruby Throated Hummingbirds are the only common hummingbird visitor in Iowa (and the Eastern United States, for that matter).

What Time of Year?

Late-spring through September (everywhere in Iowa)

What’s the Best Food for Hummingbirds?

Nectar, flowers in your yard. You can easily make your own hummingbird nectar from home by combining four parts water with one part table sugar. Here’s a short video showing you how below.

IMPORTANT: You absolutely must completely clean out your hummingbird feeders every other day at minimum. Clean them every day if it’s hot outside or if the feeders are in direct sunlight. The nectar easily starts growing bacteria and mold. This can harm or kill the hummingbird!

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Hummingbirds?

A nectar hummingbird feeder that has the color red or yellow. Both of those colors attract hummingbirds! I tend to pick red-colored feeders because yellow can also attract bees.

Here’s a link to a roundup of some of the best hummingbird feeders you can find online.

Other tips?

I’ve also had luck attracting hummingbirds by hanging up a native flower plant in the summer. I’ve also seen them be curious of my orange/jelly feeder for Orioles.

Related: How to Attract Hummingbirds to a Feeder in Just Three Steps

Range Map for Ruby Throated Hummingbirds

Orange: Summer, Yellow: Migration-Only, Blue: Winter-Range

The range map for Ruby Throated Hummingbirds.

Sparrows (Native)

A Chipping Sparrow at a bird feeder in the springtime.
A Chipping Sparrow visiting my “chair” platform feeder in the early spring.

*I’m lumping Song Sparrows and Chipping Sparrows, etc. here

What Time of Year?

Spring and summer – Everywhere in Iowa

What’s the Best Bird Seed for Sparrows?

Millet (top choice), sunflower seeds, cracked corn, milo

My Top Amazon Bird Seed Recommendation for Sparrows:

Backyard White Millet

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Sparrows?

Just about anything

Other tips?

Mix in some millet into your sunflower seeds to attract native sparrows in the spring. I’ve had Chipping Sparrows arrive at my feeders by late-March!

Scarlet Tanager

bird, scarlet tanager, ornithology-6928881.jpg
A rare bird to attract in the summer months if you’re lucky!

What Time of Year?

Summer – in Southern and Eastern Iowa. There’s a weird gap in their range in the North-Central part of the state.

What’s The Best Food for Scarlet Tanagers?

Suet, mealworms, oranges, raisins

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Scarlet Tanagers?

Fruit, suet or platform feeder

Other tips?

I haven’t been fortunate to have had a Scarlet Tanager visit my feeders. I’m told that you have the best shot at spotting one before or after storms in the late spring. Have your feeders stocked with a variety of suet and fruit. Good luck!

The Range Map For Scarlet Tanager

Orange: Summer, Yellow: Migration-Only, Blue: Winter-Range

The range map for Scarlet Tanager birds.

Tufted Titmouse

A Tufted Titmouse bird sitting on a wooden perch during the winter.
If you live in their range – Tufted Titmice are common guests at bird feeders!

What time of year?

Year-round across the southern and eastern parts of Iowa.

The range map for Tufted Titmice.
The range map for the Tufted Titmouse

What’s the Best Food for Titmice?

Sunflower (top choice), suet, peanuts, safflower seeds

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Titmice?

Just about anything

White Breasted Nuthatch

nuthatch, white-breasted nuthatch, bird-351395.jpg
The White Breasted Nuthatch

What Time of Year?

Year-round (everywhere in Iowa)

What’s the Best Bird Seed for White Breasted Nuthatches?

Peanut bits (top choice), sunflower, suet, safflower

My Top Amazon Bird Seed Recommendation for White Breasted Nuthatch:

Lyric Peanut Pieces Wild Bird Food

What kind of bird feeder suits them?

Just about anything

Other tips?

A common year-round visitor for me. Listen for their nasal call – I’ll often hear a nuthatch before it arrives on my feeders. They are acrobatic and will often hand upside down on my feeders.

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

A Yellow Bellied Sapsucker climbing up a tree.
As their name implies, Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers will drill holes into trees for sap.

What Time of Year?

Only during the spring migration (across Iowa)

What’s the Best food for Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers?

Suet

What’s the Best Bird Feeder for Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers?

A suet feeder

Other tips?

Rarely visit feeders but may drop by for some suet on occasion. As their name suggests, most of their diet is sap from maple or birch trees.

Related: The Definitive Bird Seed Power Rankings

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