Poecile atricapillus (Black-capped) / Poecile carolinensis (Carolina)

Dear, sweet chickadee, how we love you so. There is nothing not to love about this reliably cheerful, friendly and inquisitive little bird. They'll make you grin with their swooping flight patterns and joyful chirps and squeaks. Year-round residents who don't migrate, don't complain about the cold, and show up at your feeder with the same cheerful energy in January as in June. What’s not to love about that.

Seeds They Love

Black oil sunflower seeds, sunflower chips, and safflower, which are all the seeds at the heart of every Wallis Johns blend. Chickadees aren’t fussy, but they are discerning. They know good seed when they find it.

Feeder to Use

Tube feeders and platform feeders both work beautifully. They're also one of the birds most likely to eat directly from your hand if you're patient enough to try. And it is worth trying.

When You'll See Them

Year-round across most of Canada and the northern and central United States. They don't migrate, they stay, they sing, and they’re reliably cheerful (which can’t help but cheer you up) even in the coldest months. When you see (and hear) a chickadee in January, it feels like a small act of defiance against winter.

Native Plants They Love

Birch trees, native oaks, and native conifers. Chickadees love to forage in bark crevices for insects and larvae, and they cache seeds for winter in the crevices of tree bark. Serviceberry and dogwood are also favourites.

Myth & Lore

In Cherokee mythology, the chickadee is a truth-teller, a bird associated with honesty, knowledge, and the revealing of hidden dangers. In one legend, when warriors faced an enemy whose weakness no one could find, it was the chickadee who landed on the vulnerable spot and revealed the truth. Across many Plains Indian nations, seeing or hearing a chickadee, especially in a dream, is considered a sign of good luck and good news to come. In Anishinaabe tradition, the chickadee's call is ceremony itself. A way of being alive. The Celts counted the chickadee among the nine sacred songbirds, associated with the divine gift of creative expression.

Did You Know?

A flock of chickadees is called a banditry. And the number of "dee" sounds at the end of their chickadee-dee-dee call is not random, the more "dees," the greater the threat nearby. They are, in a very real sense, narrating the world around them (researchers have confirmed this).

Spinus tristis

These beautiful, acrobatic little songsters will brighten your yard any time of year, and they often bring lots of their friends with them. They tend to come and go for no obvious reason, but keep your feeders full, they’ll be back. In summer the male is electric yellow with black wings, the kind of yellow that makes you do a double-take. In winter he fades to olive. Come spring, the transformation begins again. It's the same bird, wearing different clothes for different seasons. A useful reminder, perhaps, that change is not loss.

Seeds They Love

Sunflower chips above almost everything else. Goldfinches are strict vegetarians, one of the very few birds that feed their young on seed rather than insects. Every Wallis Johns blend contains the sunflower seeds they love, black oil sunflower seeds and sunflower chips

Feeder to Use

Tube feeders work beautifully. They're acrobatic enough to feed upside down, which they do regularly and with apparent enjoyment. Platform feeders work too. They're not difficult to please, but they are very discerning, they simply won’t tolerate old seeds or filler seeds. So, just give them good seed, and they’ll reward you in sight and sound. 

When You'll See Them

Year-round across most of their range, though their bright yellow plumage and sociable flocking behaviour makes them most spectacular in spring and summer. They're one of the latest nesters in North America, waiting until late summer when thistle and other seed plants are in full production before raising young.

Native Plants They Love

Native thistles, coneflowers (Echinacea), and black-eyed Susans. Goldfinches are among the best reasons to leave seed heads standing through winter rather than cutting them back. They'll work through them methodically and gratefully.

Myth & Lore

In Christian art, the goldfinch appeared in close to 500 Renaissance paintings alongside the Madonna and child. A legend held that a goldfinch, overcome with compassion, tried to remove the crown of thorns from Christ's head and was stained with blood, which is why the European goldfinch has a crimson patch, or so the story goes. In ancient Egyptian symbolism the goldfinch represented the human soul. In Greek mythology it was associated with Apollo - vitality, creativity, divine light. In Native American tradition, the goldfinch is tied to joy, renewal, and positive energy. Its bright yellow feathers were seen as a reflection of the sun itself. In Irish Celtic folklore the goldfinch was known as "laser chilled”, the flame of the forest, and was associated with happiness, healing, and good luck. 

Did You Know?

A collective noun for goldfinches is a charm. As in, a charm of goldfinches. When they arrive at your feeder in numbers, which they do, because they are intensely social, the effect is precisely that. Charming.

Haemorhous mexicanus 

Once the cheerful house finches discover your feeder, they're likely to bring a flock of friends with them next time. They have a delightful twittering song. The male's rosy red head and breast, deeper and richer in well-fed birds, is one of the most reliably cheerful sights at a winter feeder. The female is streaked brown and perfectly beautiful in her own quieter way. They travel in chatty, sociable groups and bring a wonderful and charming warmth and noise to a backyard.

Seeds They Love

Sunflower chips and black oil sunflower seeds are their favourite, both are at the heart of every Wallis Johns blend. They also love safflower. House finches are enthusiastic, committed feeders. When they find good seed, they stay. As with all finches, they have a very discerning palate, they won’t stick around of the food you offer is stale or full of fillers like corn, and milo.

Feeder to Use

Tube feeders are ideal, house finches are comfortable perching and feeding for extended periods. Platform feeders work well too. They tend to linger, which makes them excellent backyard birds for anyone who actually wants to sit and watch, which we wholeheartedly encourage you to do.

When You'll See Them

Year-round across most of North America. Originally native to the western United States and Mexico, house finches were released on Long Island, New York in the 1940s and have since spread across the entire continent, one of the more remarkable stories of avian adaptability in recent history. Wherever you are, they're probably there too.

Native Plants They Love

Native berry-producing shrubs like serviceberry, elderberry, and native dogwood as well as native coneflowers and sunflowers left standing through winter. House finches are seed specialists and will work through seed heads methodically and gratefully.

Myth & Lore

In Native American folklore, the finch represents joy, happiness, and freedom, its cheerful song believed to carry good fortune and positive energy. In Greek mythology, finches were associated with Aphrodite, goddess of love, for their grace and their tendency to form devoted pairs. The house finch's adaptability, its journey from the American west to every corner of the continent, has made it a modern symbol of resilience and renewal. A bird that found its way, against all odds, and made itself at home. The male's red colouring deepens with the quality of his diet, which is a living, breathing advertisement for the value of good food, and good offering good birdseed for them.

Did You Know?

The intensity of the male house finch's red colouring is directly determined by the carotenoids in the food he eats. A well-fed male is a deeply rosy red. A poorly-fed male is pale and washed out. Female house finches actively prefer the reddest males, which makes your Wallis Johns feeder, in a very real sense, a beauty enhancer for the neighbourhood's most eligible bachelors.

Cardinalis cardinalis

He's a shy, loyal fella. First you'll hear him, a glorious sound you'll afterwards never want to be without, then when you spot him, you'll know you've just been graced by something special. He (and his mate for life) prefers eating off the ground under the safety of a large tree, but he’ll also venture to platform and tube feeders. He (and his mate) doesn’t migrate, he stays all year. In winter, when everything else is grey and quiet, his brilliant and bright red plumage is truly a site to behold. 

Seeds They Love

Safflower and black oil sunflower seeds is his favourite, cardinals have strong, thick beaks designed for cracking seeds, which is why they tend to prefer whole sunflower seeds over chips. Both of these are staples in Wallis Johns blends.

Feeder to Use

Platform feeders are his favourite, he likes space to land and look around before committing. Cardinals are ground feeders too, so seed scattered below your feeder will bring them in just as reliably, they like to feel safe before they eat.

When You'll See Them

They’re year-round residents throughout their range, are non-migratory and deeply loyal to their territory. Once cardinals find your feeder, they tend to stay. The male's red plumage is most vivid in winter, and it’s a stunning flash of colour against bare branches and snow, it’s a site that never gets old.

Native Plants They Love

Native dogwood, serviceberry, and wild grape,  cardinals love berry-producing shrubs and will forage through them all winter. Dense native shrubs also provide the cover and safety they need before venturing to the feeder.

Myth & Lore

The belief has traveled quietly through generations across North America, crossing cultures, faiths, and traditions: when a cardinal appears, an angel is near. Its specific origin is unclear, it seems to have emerged from the deep human instinct that birds carry messages between worlds. Countless people have written about seeing a cardinal in the days after losing someone they love, and feeling, inexplicably, comforted. The Choctaw people called the cardinal the "redbird" and saw it as a matchmaker, responsible for bringing couples together. In Cherokee tradition, the cardinal signals important messages and changes in one's life path. The word cardinal itself comes from the Latin cardinalis - "serving as a hinge” - a bridge between worlds. We make no claims about what birds know, but many, ourselves included, do notice that cardinals seem to show up in the moments when you need something beautiful to look at, and perhaps a sign. 

Did You Know?

The Northern Cardinal is the state bird of seven US states, more than any other bird in North America. During courtship, the male feeds the female seed, beak to beak, in a gesture that naturalists have described as a kiss (we think you’ll think so too). They mate for life.

Cardinalis cardinalis

She's a beauty, spectacularly so. She and her mate (for life) prefer eating off the ground under the safety of a large tree, but she'll also venture to platform and tube feeders. She’s a warm brown colour with rose-red highlights in her wings, tail, and crest, perhaps not the striking declaration of beauty her mate makes, but something quieter and more considered - and equally as beautiful. She sings a lot, and she sings from the nest while she incubates, which is unusual for a female songbird in North America. She is, in every sense, worth your full attention and quite a marvel to behold.

Seeds They Love

Safflower and black oil sunflower seeds are her favourite, the same as her mate, they’re never far apart and they forage together. Both of her favourite seeds are central to Wallis Johns blends. She tends to feed low, beneath the feeder or on a platform, scanning carefully before she commits. Once she decides a space is safe, she stays.

Feeder to Use

Platform feeders and ground feeding beneath the feeder. She likes space and she likes cover nearby, a feeder positioned close to dense shrubs gives her the safety she needs to feel comfortable. Once a female cardinal finds your feeder, she tends to return to it reliably, season after season. 

When You'll See Them

Year-round, alongside her mate. Northern Cardinals don't migrate. They stay through every season, and the female's warm brown plumage against winter snow is its own quiet gift, less startling than the male's red plumage, but no less beautiful.

Native Plants They Love

Native dogwood, serviceberry, and wild grape, the female cardinal forages through dense native shrubs for berries and builds her nest within them. Dense native plantings near the feeder give her both food and the cover she needs to feel safe. She is the one who builds the nest and chooses the site. He follows her.

Myth & Lore

The male cardinal catches the eye. The female carries a different kind of meaning. In spiritual tradition, the female cardinal is associated with intuition, hidden wisdom, and steady endurance, a power that doesn't announce itself. Her brown colour connects her to the earth, to stability, to the quiet work of nurturing. Where the male is seen as outward, protective, bold, the female is understood as inward, discerning, sustaining. In some traditions, seeing a female cardinal is specifically understood as a sign of good news arriving, of bright days ahead, of dreams becoming possible. One poem describes her this way: "She is brown and rose, like pears in October... Where she stays she vanishes, so when she sings / It comes at once from nowhere and all sides... More subtle than her mate could ever be." She shares the full weight of cardinal symbolism, the messenger from loved ones who have passed, the angel who is near, but she carries it differently. Quietly. While singing.

Did You Know?

The female Northern Cardinal is one of the few female songbirds in North America who sings from the nest while incubating eggs, which is genuinely unusual. Ornithologists believe she may be communicating with her mate about food needs and conditions at the nest.

Passerina cyanea

What a treat if you spot this stunning, brilliant blue bird passing through your yard during migration months. They'll sing for you from dusk till dawn. The male in breeding plumage is not blue in the way most things are blue, he is the blue of a clear sky at noon, so saturated it seems lit from within. Standing in your yard watching one at your feeder is the kind of moment that stops you mid-whatever-you-were-doing. The female is warm brown, understated, and quietly beautiful in her own way. She is also the one building the nest, incubating the eggs, and raising the young, so there’s that.

Seeds They Love

Black oil sunflower seeds and sunflower chips are their preferences at the feeder, small, oil-rich seeds that suit their bills. White proso millet also works. They're not regular feeder birds in the way that chickadees and goldfinches are, which makes seeing one at your feeder feel genuinely lucky.

Feeder to Use

Tube feeders with smaller ports or platform feeders. They tend to be shy at first, so offer good seed, stay still, and give them time to build confidence. The wait is worth it.

When You'll See Them

Spring and summer across the eastern United States into the Great Plains, they breed across this range and migrate to Central America and the Caribbean in winter. During spring and fall migration they may appear briefly in gardens well outside their breeding range, stopping to refuel on their journey. A migrant indigo bunting at your feeder is one of those unexpected gifts that reminds you why you keep the feeder full year-round.

Native Plants They Love

Native berry-producing shrubs, elderberry, serviceberry, and native dogwood, are important food sources during migration. Dense native vegetation also provides the low cover where females nest. A garden with native structure gives passing migrants a reason to stop and stay awhile.

Myth & Lore

The Indigo Bunting navigates its migration at night, using the stars, specifically, the rotation of the constellations around the North Star, to find its way. This was discovered in the 1960s through landmark experiments by ornithologist Stephen Emlen, who showed that young buntings imprint on the pattern of the night sky to determine which direction is north. It is one of the most beautiful facts in ornithology: a bird the size of your fist, carrying a star map in its head, crossing hundreds of miles of darkness by following the rotation of the heavens. In Native American tradition the indigo bunting was associated with the arrival of good news and the fulfilment of wishes. In Greek and Celtic traditions, its brilliant blue was connected to spiritual insight and inner wisdom — the colour of the sky, of water, of the threshold between worlds. The Romans saw it as a symbol of reasoning and intellect. The colour indigo, across many traditions, is associated with the third eye, with perception beyond the ordinary, with seeing what others miss. A bird that navigates by starlight seems to have earned that. 

Did You Know?

The male Indigo Bunting's colour is not actually blue in the way a painted wall is blue. There is no blue pigment in his feathers, the colour is structural, produced by the microscopic structure of the feathers diffracting light. In poor or flat lighting, the male looks dark, almost black. In full sunlight, he becomes that impossible, electric blue. The light makes him. Which is its own kind of poetry.

Coccothraustes vespertinus

They're not likely to visit your feeders every year, but they're worth the wait, and they tend to travel in large flocks, so when you do see them it's a pretty stunning sight to behold. The male is a bold, graphic bird, deep yellow body, black head with that wide yellow eyebrow stripe, black and white wings that flash in flight. The female is quieter, silvery-grey with just enough yellow to make you look twice. When a flock of Evening Grosbeaks arrives at your feeder, it's an event. They eat with an enthusiasm that's almost industrial. And then, as suddenly as they came, they're gone.

Seeds They Love

Black oil sunflower seeds are their absolute favourite, and their bills are designed for seeds like this. They crack seeds with a force that makes a sound you can actually hear across the garden (you really can). All of the Wallis Johns Blends contain the sunflower seeds they love. When a flock finds your feeder, stock up.

Feeder to Use

Large platform feeders or large hopper feeders. Evening Grosbeaks are substantial birds and need space. They tend to arrive in numbers and can monopolize smaller feeders entirely. A large, well-stocked platform feeder is the right offering for a flock of this size.

When You'll See Them

Irruptive visitors, like the Pine Siskin and Red-breasted Nuthatch, they move southward in winter when food is scarce in their boreal forest home, and some years they appear in large numbers across southern Canada and the northern United States. In years when the northern cone and berry crop is good, they may not come at all. In lean years, they arrive at feeders in dramatic, noisy, beautiful numbers. Their visits are gifts you can’t schedule, but do pencil in stopping to enjoy them when they arrive.

Native Plants They Love

Native ash, maple, and box elder trees. Evening Grosbeaks are famous for their love of box elder seeds and will seek them out actively. Native berry-producing trees, particularly native cherries and crabapples, also draw them. A mature native tree near your feeder is the strongest invitation you can make.

Myth & Lore

In many Native American traditions, grosbeaks were understood as messengers, birds that carried communications from the spirit world and brought news of what lay ahead. The grosbeak's powerful bill, capable of cracking even the hardest seeds, was understood as a symbol of the ability to get to the truth of things, to break through the outer shell and find the nourishment inside. In Chinese tradition, grosbeaks were seen as guardians of fortune, associated with wealth and abundance. In African folklore, their vibrant colours were understood as a symbol of unity and the acceptance of diversity. The Evening Grosbeak specifically, arriving in unpredictable irruptions from the north, has been associated across traditions with unexpected gifts, good news arriving when it wasn't anticipated, abundance appearing in lean times. One writer, watching a flock arrive at her feeder during a difficult winter, described them as "perhaps what those flashy yellow-and-black birds are telling us — we're in the middle, the very epicenter, of a miracle." That feels about right. 

Did You Know?

The Evening Grosbeak has lost more than fifty percent of its population since the 1970s, one of the steepest declines of any North American songbird. The reasons are complex: loss of boreal forest, changes in cone crop availability, reduced insect populations. When one arrives at your feeder, it is carrying that history with it. Feed them well.

Pheucticus ludovicianus

It's most likely that you'll only see her during migration months, but the songs she and her mate sing to each other as they take turns incubating their nest is the sweetest of outdoor operas. She is streaked brown, easily overlooked until you know what you're looking for, and then she's unmistakable: large for a songbird, with that strong grosbeak bill, a bold white eyebrow stripe, and the warm yellow wash on her underparts. She is a substantial bird with a substantial presence. She also sings, unusually for a female songbird in North America, and her song is softer and more complex than her mate's. She sings on the nest. She sings while she incubates. She is, by any measure, remarkable.

Seeds They Love

Black oil sunflower seeds and sunflower chips are their preference, the thick grosbeak bill is designed for exactly this kind of oil-rich seed. Both are in every Wallis Johns blend. They also eat insects, berries, and will forage widely during migration.

Feeder to Use

Platform feeders. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is a larger bird and prefers space to land and eat. They're not regular feeder visitors in the way that chickadees and goldfinches are, which makes seeing one at your feeder feel genuinely lucky. Keep the platform well stocked during migration windows.

When You'll See Them

Spring and fall migration, primarily, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks breed in the deciduous forests of eastern North America and winter in Central and South America. During migration they stop to refuel, and a well-stocked feeder in the right location can become a reliable migration stop. May is the peak spring migration window across much of their range.

Native Plants They Love

Native berry-producing shrubs and trees, serviceberry, elderberry, and native cherries are particularly important during migration. Dense native vegetation also provides the cover they need as they move through unfamiliar territory. A garden with native structure gives passing migrants a reason to stop and a place to rest.

Myth & Lore

The Rose-breasted Grosbeak carries the full weight of grosbeak symbolism, the messenger bird, the bringer of good news from the spirit world, the bird associated with communication and the carrying of sacred sound. In Native American traditions, grosbeaks were understood as totem animals with the power to guide and protect. The female Rose-breasted Grosbeak specifically carries a particular resonance: she is the singing nesting bird, the one who tends the eggs while singing, the one who is easy to miss and yet is doing everything. Across many traditions, the birds that do their essential work quietly, without display, without the dramatic plumage that announces them, are understood as carrying a particularly powerful kind of wisdom. She is brown. She is singing on the nest. She is worth every bit of your attention. 

Did You Know?

Both parents of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak incubate the eggs, which is unusual, and the male sings quietly while on the nest. Naturalists who first documented this called it one of the most remarkable parenting behaviours they had observed. The male, bright and conspicuous, sits on the nest in full daylight, apparently unbothered by the exposure. Devotion, it turns out, requires a certain amount of courage.

Pheucticus ludovicianus

Even if you only see him when he's passing through during migration, it's worth it. Early twentieth-century naturalists reportedly said that their song is "so entrancingly beautiful that words cannot describe it." He’s black and white with that rose-red triangle on his breast, a geometric perfection of colour that looks almost designed rather than evolved. He sings like he has years of musical training. He sings on the nest. He sings in flight. He sings to his mate as she sings back to him from the nest. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is one of those birds where you understand immediately why humans have been paying attention to birds for as long as there have been humans.

Seeds They Love

Black oil sunflower seeds and sunflower chips above everything else, both are found in Wallis Johns blends. The grosbeak bill is one of the most powerful seed-cracking implements in the bird world, capable of opening seeds that defeat smaller bills entirely. They also love safflower (also in Wallis Johns blends) and will eat insects and berries during migration.

Feeder to Use

Platform feeders. They need space, and they reward the space you give them. Position the feeder where you can see it clearly from the house. When a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak lands on your platform feeder in the May sunshine, you’ll want to be able to see every detail.

When You'll See Them

Spring and fall migration, primarily, they breed in the deciduous forests of eastern North America and winter in Central and South America. May is the peak for spring arrivals and a well-stocked feeder in the right location can make you a reliable migration stop for one of the most beautiful birds on the continent.

Native Plants They Love

Native serviceberry and elderberry for berries during migration, native cherry for both fruit and insects. Dense native vegetation provides the cover they need while moving through unfamiliar territory. A garden with native trees and shrubs is the difference between a grosbeak stopping to refuel and a grosbeak passing by.

Myth & Lore

The rose-red triangle on the male's breast has been understood across traditions as a symbol of the heart, of love, passion, and emotional courage. In Native American traditions, the grosbeak's brilliant colours were associated with messages from the sun, with the daughter-of-the-sun stories that connected coloured birds to light and heat and the life-giving power of warmth. The grosbeak's name comes from the French gros bec (thick beak) a name given by early European naturalists who recognized this bird's most distinctive physical feature. That massive bill, capable of cracking the hardest seeds, has been understood symbolically as the ability to get to the nourishment inside difficult things, to persist through the outer shell and find what sustains you. In Chinese tradition, grosbeaks were guardians of fortune. In Celtic tradition, coloured singing birds were messengers between worlds. And early twentieth-century naturalists, hearing the song for the first time, simply ran out of words.

Did You Know?

The male Rose-breasted Grosbeak sits on the nest in broad daylight, which is remarkable for a bird this conspicuous. He is black and white with a rose-red chest. He’s not hiding. He’s incubating eggs while being entirely visible to any predator that passes by. Ornithologists have noted his apparent calm in this situation. It seems less like obliviousness and more like a considered decision. Some things are worth the exposure.

Sitta carolinensis

We dare you to hear their song and not grin. They're a bit bigger than the red-breasted nuthatches, but just as energetic, quirky and delightful. You'll often see them at your feeders alongside chickadees and titmice, cuteness overload when that happens. They move along tree trunks with a characteristic confidence, head down, entirely unbothered by gravity or by you watching them.

Seeds They Love

Black oil sunflower seeds and sunflower chips, both of which are central to Wallis Johns blends, are their great favourites. They also love suet. A nuthatch will take a seed, fly to a nearby tree, wedge it into a bark crevice, and hammer it open with their sharp bill. Efficient, methodical, very satisfying to watch.

Feeder to Use

Platform feeders and tube feeders both work well. They're also excellent candidates for suet feeders. They tend to visit quickly and decisively, they take a seed and go. Take a seed, go. They don't linger. This makes them excellent neighbours at a busy feeder.

When You'll See Them

Year-round residents throughout most of their range, they don't migrate. They're one of the birds most likely to join mixed flocks with chickadees and downy woodpeckers in winter, which is why a good feeder often delivers several species at once. Once they find your feeder, they return reliably.

Native Plants They Love

Native oaks, hickories, and conifers. Nuthatches forage for insects and larvae in bark crevices all year round, which means mature native trees are as important to them as the feeder. Serviceberry and native cherry are also favourites for the berries they produce in season.

Myth & Lore

The Miwok people of California considered the nuthatch a medicine bird, a creature associated with healing and the wisdom of the natural world. The Navajo saw the nuthatch as a symbol of old age, longevity, and the deep knowledge that comes with it. In Cherokee tradition the nuthatch was called tsulie’na, meaning “deaf”, because of its extraordinary fearlessness around humans. It simply doesn't flinch. Ornithologists suspect this calm is less obliviousness than confidence, of a bird that knows its own ground and sees no reason to be alarmed. The nuthatch's habit of moving headfirst down a tree trunk, seeing the world from an angle no other bird chooses, has been understood as a symbol of perspective, of the willingness to look at things differently. To see what others miss because they're only looking one way. We reckon there’s a nugget of wisdom to glean there.  

Did You Know?

The white-breasted nuthatch is one of the few birds that travels headfirst down tree trunks rather than hopping downward tail-first like a woodpecker. This unique angle gives them access to insects hidden in bark crevices that other birds, approaching from below, simply cannot see. They have literally evolved a different point of view.

Sitta canadensis

These tiny, quirky and friendly little birds are a joy to watch as they scurry down a tree trunk, top to bottom. They're quick, but seeing them at your feeder is a delight. It's not uncommon for them to eat seed right out of your hand. Smaller and bolder than their white-breasted cousins, and with that warm rusty-orange wash on their underparts that gives them their name and their particular charm. When they show up, they make their presence known immediately, a nasal sort of honking call that's completely distinctive once you've heard it. We dare you not to grin when you do hear it. 

Seeds They Love

Sunflower chips and black oil sunflower seeds, both are in every Wallis Johns blend. Like the white-breasted nuthatch, they cache seed in bark crevices, but the red-breasted nuthatch smears sticky conifer resin around the entrance to its nest hole, possibly to deter predators. A bird with very specific opinions about home security.

Feeder to Use

Tube feeders, platform feeders are best. They’re small enough to use feeders that larger birds can't access, which gives them a certain advantage in the pecking order. They're also among the most likely backyard birds to feed from a human hand, be patient, still, and you may find one lands on your palm.

When You'll See Them

Their appearance at your feeder is somewhat unpredictable, in some years they're common, in others scarce, depending on the cone crop in the boreal forests where they breed. In years when the cone crop fails, they irrupt southward in large numbers. When the red-breasted nuthatches arrive at your feeder in numbers, it means the northern forests have had a lean year. A reminder that what happens far away affects what shows up in your backyard.

Native Plants They Love

Native conifers above all, spruce, fir, hemlock, and pine, both for the seeds and for the insects found in their bark. In backyard settings, native berry-producing shrubs provide supplemental food during irruption years when they've moved far from their usual boreal habitat.

Myth & Lore

The red-breasted nuthatch shares the nuthatch's broader symbolic tradition, the Miwok medicine bird, the Navajo symbol of old age and wisdom, the Cherokee's tsulie'na, the fearless one. But the red-breasted nuthatch carries an additional layer of meaning through its irruptive nature, its unpredictable arrivals in years of scarcity. Many birders treat a red-breasted nuthatch in winter as a small gift, an unexpected visitor from the north arriving with news of a world beyond the backyard. There is something in that worth sitting with.  

Did You Know?

The red-breasted nuthatch smears sticky pine resin around the entrance of its nest hole, possibly to deter predators, possibly to trap insects, possibly for reasons ornithologists still debate. It is one of the only North American birds known to use tools in nest construction. Small bird. Large ingenuity.

Dryobates pubescens

These adorable little acrobats, they’re only a bit bigger than a nuthatch, often join flocks of chickadees and nuthatches. It's pure delight when you see all three of them at your feeder. The downy is the smallest woodpecker in North America and arguably the most charming. The male has a small red patch at the back of his head, a detail that rewards close attention. They move along branches and trunks with complete confidence, tapping steadily, entirely absorbed in what they're doing, apparently unconcerned with anything else.

Seeds They Love

Sunflower chips and black oil sunflower seeds from your feeder, these help give them the high-energy fat that fuels their industrious pecking. They'll also forage for insects in the bark of trees at your feeder station year-round.

Feeder to Use

Downies are specifically designed by evolution to cling vertically and feed. Tube feeders work great for this, and they're small enough to use most standard feeders comfortably. They tend to visit quietly and leave quickly, which makes each visit feel like a small event.

When You'll See Them

Year-round residents across most of North America. They don't migrate, they don't make a fuss, they just show up reliably and get on with it. In winter they're particularly welcome, a flash of black and white and that small red patch moving methodically along a bare branch is one of the season's genuinely good things.

Native Plants They Love

Dead and dying native trees. Downies are specialists in finding insects and larvae in decaying wood, which is why leaving dead branches and standing dead trees in your garden is one of the best things you can do for woodpeckers. Native berry-producing shrubs also provide supplemental food. A slightly untidy garden is a woodpecker's idea of paradise.

Myth & Lore

In many Native American traditions, the woodpecker is a sacred messenger, its steady drumming compared to the sound of the drum that connects the physical world to the spiritual realm. The Lakota Sioux named April the "moon of the sap-filling woodpecker," honouring the bird's role in marking the turning of the seasons. The Pueblo peoples understood the downy's pecking as a signal of seasonal change, a clock built from beak and bark. In Cherokee tradition, the woodpecker's hollowed cavities were seen as places of shelter and protection, safe havens carved from the living tree. Prairie tribes held a belief that the woodpecker won the title of protector of humankind over the turkey, because of its ability to create sheltering homes from the forest itself. In Celtic tradition the woodpecker was associated with sacred oak trees, believed to carry messages between the human world and the world beyond. The drumming, persistent, rhythmic, purposeful, was understood as a form of truth-telling. Say it clearly. Say it again. Keep saying it until it lands.

Did You Know?

The downy woodpecker's skull is specially adapted to absorb the impact of thousands of pecks per day, a natural shock-absorber that has been studied by engineers designing helmets and protective equipment. A bird that has been pecking at trees for millions of years turns out to know something about impact protection that humans are still learning.

Melospiza melodia

This is the most familiar of the North American sparrows, their song filling a backyard will take you back to those care-free days as a kid playing in the backyard, and its accompanying soundtrack. Small, streaked, and quietly beautiful, the Song Sparrow doesn't announce itself with dramatic colour. It announces itself with its voice. And that voice, once you know it, you hear everywhere. Summer mornings. Suburban gardens. The Song Sparrow is the background soundtrack of an ordinary day being better than you realized.

Seeds They Love

Millet, sunflower chips, and black oil sunflower seeds, all these seeds are in the Wallis Johns blends. Song Sparrows are primarily ground feeders, foraging through fallen seed with methodical patience and a certain cheerful thoroughness.

Feeder to Use

Ground feeding beneath the feeder, or low platform feeders. They're comfortable foraging alongside juncos, tree sparrows, and other ground-feeding birds. Scatter seed and they'll find it.

When You'll See Them

Year-round across much of North America, though populations in the north move south in winter. They're among the most widespread and adaptable sparrows on the continent, present in nearly every habitat from tundra to desert edge. Wherever you are, a Song Sparrow is probably nearby. Just listen. 

Native Plants They Love

Native grasses, sedges, and native shrubs with dense low cover. Song Sparrows nest close to or on the ground and love the shelter of native plantings. Berry-producing shrubs, goldenrod, and native asters all attract them. An untidy garden edge is a Song Sparrow paradise.

Myth & Lore

In Greek mythology, the sparrow was sacred to Aphrodite and associated with love, passion, and loyalty. In ancient Egypt, sparrows were symbols of the soul and were sometimes kept as spiritual companions. In Christian tradition, the sparrow appears in Matthew as one of God's most humble creatures, watched over and valued despite its smallness, a reminder that nothing is too ordinary to matter. The gospel hymn His Eye Is On The Sparrow has been sung in African American churches for over a century, covered by Mahalia Jackson and Whitney Houston among others, its message simple and enduring: no one is forgotten. The Song Sparrow carries that whole tradition in its ordinary, unremarkable, perfectly beautiful voice. It has been singing in backyards since before any of us were here. It will be singing long after. 

Did You Know?

The Song Sparrow has one of the most variable songs of any North American bird, every individual has its own unique song, and males learn their songs from nearby adults, creating regional dialects that differ from one valley to the next. A Song Sparrow in Ontario sounds noticeably different from one in California. Same species. Completely different song.

Spizelloides arborea

These little cuties and their sweet song are regulars at feeders all winter long. Despite their name, they prefer to forage on the ground and on seed heads in the winter, but also happily visit hopper and tube feeders. They arrive from their breeding grounds in the Arctic tundra, a journey of thousands of miles, and spend the winter in your backyard as if it were perfectly natural. Which, for them, it is. Quietly cheerful, deeply reliable, one of the most welcome signs that winter has properly arrived.

Seeds They Love

White proso millet is perhaps their favourite, it's the seed that brings them in more reliably than almost anything else. They also love sunflower chips and will work through fallen seed beneath feeders with cheerful efficiency. Their tiny bills are designed for small seeds and they use them with extraordinary precision.

Feeder to Use

Ground feeding and low platform feeders primarily. American Tree Sparrows are natural ground foragers. They'll also use hopper feeders and tube feeders when millet is available. Scatter seed and they'll reward you with their company all winter.

When You'll See Them

Winter visitors across most of the continental United States and southern Canada, they breed in the Arctic and subarctic and move south as winter arrives. Their appearance at your feeder in October or November is one of the more reliable seasonal signals in backyard birding. They leave in spring as quietly as they arrived, heading back north. Until you meet again. 

Native Plants They Love

Native grasses and native seed-producing plants left standing through winter. American Tree Sparrows are specialists in foraging through snow-covered vegetation for seeds that other birds can't access. Native goldenrod, asters, and native grasses give them a natural larder to supplement the feeder.

Myth & Lore

The American Tree Sparrow carries the broader sparrow tradition, one of the most symbolically rich and cross-cultural birds in human history. Across Native American traditions, sparrows were messengers and bringers of good news. In Chinese culture, the sparrow heralds happiness and the arrival of spring. In Japanese tradition, the sparrow represents trust and loyalty. The American Tree Sparrow, specifically, is a bird of the in-between season, arriving with the first cold, departing with the last snow. It is the bird of the threshold. The bird of the patient, necessary, unexpectedly beautiful winter months. In a garden that has gone quiet, these small visitors from the Arctic are a reminder that something is always happening somewhere, even when it seems like nothing is. 

Did You Know?

Despite being called the American Tree Sparrow, this bird nests on or near the ground, not in trees. The name is a holdover from early European naturalists who thought it resembled the Eurasian Tree Sparrow back home. It has almost nothing in common with the Eurasian Tree Sparrow. This is not the sparrow's fault.

Passer domesticus

These little songsters can overwhelm, but, we think, you just need to learn how to live with them, the reliable sounds and sight of them are worth it. Leaving seed heads on plants, especially native ones, should help keep the balance, and seed in your feeders. The House Sparrow is one of the most widely distributed birds on earth, found on every continent except Antarctica, and has been living alongside humans for ten thousand years. There is something to be said for a bird that has chosen our company so consistently and for so long.

Seeds They Love

White proso millet and sunflower chips above everything else, both are in the Wallis Johns blends. House sparrows are not picky. They are enthusiastic, social, and committed feeders who will make full use of whatever good seed you offer.

Feeder to Use

Platform feeders, hopper feeders, and ground feeding, house sparrows are adaptable and will use almost any feeder configuration. Managing their numbers at the feeder is best achieved through native plantings nearby, which give them natural food sources and spread their attention across the garden.

When You'll See Them

Year-round, everywhere. The House Sparrow is a non-migratory permanent resident wherever it has established itself, which is most of the world. They were introduced to North America in the 1850s and have been here ever since, entirely at home and entirely committed.

Native Plants They Love

Dense native shrubs for nesting and cover, native seed-producing plants for foraging. Leaving seed heads standing through winter gives house sparrows natural foraging options that help distribute their activity more evenly across the garden and away from your feeder.

Myth & Lore

 The house sparrow has been living alongside humans longer than almost any other bird, archaeological evidence suggests they began associating with human settlements as agriculture developed in the Middle East, roughly ten thousand years ago. They followed humans as we spread across the world. They are, in a genuine sense, our oldest avian companion. In ancient Egypt, sparrows were considered sacred and were sometimes placed in tombs to guide the soul on its journey. In ancient Greece they were sacred to Aphrodite. In Christian tradition they represent the value of the smallest and most overlooked, no sparrow falls without God's notice. The gospel hymn His Eye Is On The Sparrow reminds us that nothing ordinary is without worth. The house sparrow, so it seems, has been watching over us for ten thousand years. That feels like it deserves some credit.

Did You Know?

The House Sparrow was deliberately introduced to North America in Brooklyn, New York in 1851, apparently to control insect pests. It did not stay in Brooklyn. Within fifty years it had spread across the continent. It is now one of the most abundant birds on earth. A reminder, perhaps, that once something decides it belongs somewhere, it's very difficult to persuade it otherwise.

Spinus pinus

Is it a sparrow? Is it a finch? Is it a… ? If a shimmer of yellow catches your eye and you're trying to figure out what you're looking at, it might just be a Pine Siskin. They're elusive little birds, there one month (or year) and not the next, enjoy them when you can. Heavily streaked brown with flashes of yellow in the wings and tail that catch the light at exactly the right moment, the Pine Siskin is a bird that rewards attention. You have to look. And when you find one, you feel like you've found something pretty special.

Seeds They Love

Black oil sunflower seeds and sunflower chips are their most favourite, these are oil-rich seeds that suit their slender bills and energy needs perfectly. Both black oil sunflower seeds and sunflower chips are in Wallis Johns blends, they also love our straight sunflower chips. They'll also forage for seeds in native conifers and seed-producing plants.

Feeder to Use

Tube feeders work great. Pine Siskins are acrobatic feeders, comfortable hanging upside down, swinging on feeders, working seeds from difficult angles with a rather cheerful persistence.

When You'll See Them

It’s unpredictable, and that's precisely what makes them exciting. Pine Siskins are irruptive birds, moving in large numbers in years when the cone crop in their boreal forest home fails. In a good year for northern cones, you may not see them. In a lean year for cones, they may flood southward in large, chattering flocks. When they arrive, they tend to arrive all at once. Their appearance at your feeder is genuinely one of the great surprises of backyard birding.

Native Plants They Love

Native conifers above all, spruce, fir, hemlock, and pine. In backyard settings, native birch and alder provide seeds they love. Native thistles and coneflowers left standing through winter also attract them. A garden with vertical structure and seed-producing plants is a Pine Siskin kind of garden.

Myth & Lore

In Native American folklore, the finch family, which includes the Pine Siskin, represents joy, endurance, and the carrying of good news. The siskin's irruptive nature, its mysterious arrivals and departures, has led to its association across various traditions with transformation and adaptability, a bird that appears when circumstances change and disappears again when the world has shifted. In some traditions, the sudden appearance of a flock of small finches was understood as a sign that something was shifting in the world beyond the visible. The Pine Siskin, with its flash of yellow and its chattering arrival on cold winter mornings, embodies that sense of an unexpected gift. It comes when you aren't expecting it. It reminds you to just be in the moment, that moment.

Did You Know?

The Pine Siskin has a remarkable metabolic adaptation for cold weather, it can increase its metabolic rate up to five times its normal level to generate heat on cold nights. It also caches food more actively than most finches, stockpiling seed against the possibility of shortage. A very small bird with very serious winter survival strategies.

Zenaida macroura

We can't imagine being without the soothing, comforting sounds of these peaceful birds. They seem to reassure that everything will be ok, that it all works out in the end. No matter the day or the troubles, their song remains the same. Thankfully. They're large, gentle ground feeders who arrive in pairs or small groups, moving with that slow, unhurried deliberateness that makes them feel ancient somehow. We like to think of them as the Yoda of the yard. They don't fight. They don't push. They somehow seem wise. They just arrive, eat, and stay awhile.

Seeds They Love

Safflower and sunflower chips are particular favourites, though mourning doves are generous in their tastes and will eat most premium seeds, including white proso millet. They forage primarily on the ground, so fallen seed beneath the feeder suits them perfectly.

Feeder to Use

Platform feeders and ground feeding beneath the feeder. They need space, mourning doves are larger than most feeder birds and don't do well on small tube feeders. Scatter seed on the ground or use a wide, low platform and they'll reward you with their company.

When You'll See Them

Year-round residents throughout most of North America. One of the most abundant and widespread birds on the continent, and yet their call never stops being soothing. They nest multiple times per season, often raising two to three broods a year.

Native Plants They Love

Native grasses, sunflowers, and coneflowers. Mourning doves are seed specialists and will forage through native plantings all season. Leaving seed heads standing through winter gives them a natural food source beyond the feeder.

Myth & Lore

The dove as a symbol of peace is one of the oldest and most universal symbols in human history. The Hebrew Bible, the Quran, the Gospels, Noah’s dove returning with an olive branch, the Holy Spirit descending like a dove, the Prophet protected by a dove nesting at the cave entrance. Greek mythology associated the dove with Aphrodite, goddess of love. The Blackfoot people carried dove feathers as protection in battle. The Cherokee saw the dove as a messenger between the living and the spirit world. The United Nations uses the dove and olive branch as its symbol of peace. Picasso painted doves. Doves are released at weddings and funerals across dozens of cultures as a symbol of love, release, and the journey of the soul. The mourning dove carries all of that, quietly and without fuss, in your backyard.

Did You Know?

Mourning doves mate for life. During courtship the male bows repeatedly to the female and feeds her beak to beak. Both parents incubate the eggs and both feed the young on something called crop milk, a nutrient-rich secretion produced only in pigeons and doves. Devoted parents, both of them.

Junco hyemalis

These elegant little snowbirds tend to make their first appearance close to the first snowfall. The beautiful silver and dark grey streaks they make as they fly about are a welcome and peaceful sight. When the juncos appear, you know winter is here, or soon to be. They breed in the boreal forests of Canada and the northern United States and move south as winter comes, not because they can't handle the cold, but because they follow the food. They're hardy, reliable, and arrive in cheerful flocks that animate the quiet grey of a November garden.

Seeds They Love

Sunflower chips and millet are their favourites, both found in Wallis Johns blends. They forage with characteristic patience and thoroughness, working methodically through whatever has fallen to the ground.

Feeder to Use

Tube feeders work, as do platform or ground feeders, you can also scatter seed on the ground where they love to forage away for it. They'll work alongside sparrows and other ground-feeding birds with good humour and minimal drama.

When You'll See Them

Winter visitors across most of the United States and southern Canada, arriving in late autumn and departing in early spring. Year-round residents in some mountain regions and along the Pacific Coast. Their arrival is one of the most reliable seasonal signals in North American birding, when the juncos appear, the first snow is not far behind.

Native Plants They Love

Native grasses, goldenrod, and native asters, juncos are ground foragers who work through seed heads and leaf litter all winter. Leaving garden beds uncut through the cold months gives them a natural larder to supplement the feeder, we highly recommend this approach.

Myth & Lore

The dark-eyed junco's two-tone colouring, dark slate above, white below, has been understood in many traditions as a symbol of duality and balance. The threshold between light and shadow, between seasons, between what has been and what is coming. In Native American traditions the junco is a messenger bird, associated with good tidings, hope, and regeneration. Its arrival during winter, when the natural world has quieted and food is scarce, was understood as reassurance and that abundance returns. That the hard season passes. That spring will come because it always does. The junco's name comes from Juncaceae, a family of wetland grasses that have served practical human purposes for centuries, rushes used for light, for baskets, for insulation across medieval Europe, for floor mats in Ireland and Japan. A humble name for a humble bird that shows up reliably when you need it.

Did You Know?

Juncos travel in flocks of ten to thirty birds, and within those flocks there is a strict social hierarchy, the same individuals dominant, the same individuals deferential, all winter long. They're also remarkably site-faithful: banding studies show that juncos return to the same wintering grounds, often the same backyard, year after year.

Baeolophus bicolor

These absolutely adorable wee birds are regulars at backyard bird feeders, especially in the winter. Bold, curious, and possessed of a personality several sizes too large for their body, the Tufted Titmouse is one of those birds that makes you feel noticed. They look directly at you. They assess you. They make their decision about your trustworthiness and proceed accordingly. Their peter-peter-peter call is one of the clearest and most distinctive in the eastern woods, and once learned, impossible to un-hear.

Seeds They Love

Sunflower chips and black oil sunflower seeds are their favourites, both are in Wallis Johns blends. They also love suet. Like the chickadee and nuthatch, they cache seeds in bark crevices and return to them later, a kind of distributed pantry built over the course of a winter day.

Feeder to Use

Platform feeders and tube feeders both work well. They visit quickly and decisively, take a seed, disappear, return. Their pattern is very efficient and slightly comedic. They’re also comfortable foraging through brush near the feeder.

When You'll See Them

Year-round residents across the eastern United States, they don't migrate, they endure, and with characteristic good cheer. They're most visible and active at feeders in winter, when natural food sources are reduced and your feeder becomes an important part of their survival strategy.

Native Plants They Love

Native oaks for the insects and larvae in the bark, native berry-producing shrubs for supplemental food, and native conifers for shelter in winter. Mature native trees near the feeder give the titmouse the full habitat it needs, feeder plus forage plus cover.

Myth & Lore

In most Plains Indian traditions, the titmouse is regarded the same way as the chickadee, a symbol of good luck, a bird whose appearance in a dream or vision is considered fortuitous. The two species are closely related and often travel together, and many traditions do not sharply distinguish between them. In Cherokee mythology, however, the titmouse is given a strikingly different role, cast as a contrast to the honest chickadee. In the legend of Spear Finger, the titmouse gave the warriors wrong information about where to aim, while the chickadee revealed the truth. From then on, in Cherokee tradition, the titmouse became associated with misdirection, while the chickadee remained the truth-teller. It is a good story about two birds that look similar but are not the same, and about the difficulty of telling truth from its imitation. The titmouse, for its part, seems unbothered by any of this. It has a feeder to get to. 

Did You Know?

The Tufted Titmouse has been expanding its range northward over the past several decades — it was rarely seen in Canada a generation ago and is now a regular winter visitor across southern Ontario. Climate change is reshaping which birds appear where, and the titmouse is one of the clearest examples. If you're seeing them somewhere they didn't used to be, you're watching natural history happen in real time.

Cyanocitta cristata

The thing about having a peanut-free yard is that it's a little less attractive to these handsome, but a little bossy, birds. Not so unattractive that one or two won't grace you with their beauty, but unattractive enough that they don't overstay their welcome. One or two blue jays is a delight. A dozen is a different matter entirely. They are intelligent, bold, theatrical, and genuinely beautiful. And genuinely bossy. They arrive like they own the place, because in their minds, they do.

Seeds They Love

Blue jays love peanuts above almost everything else, which is precisely why a peanut-free yard sees fewer of them. They also enjoy black oil sunflower seeds. Our peanut-free blends will attract the occasional jay, particularly in winter when food is scarce, without turning your feeder into a (bossy) blue jay convention.

Feeder to Use

Platform feeders, blue jays need space to land and manoeuvre. They're large birds with large personalities and tend to dominate smaller feeders when they arrive. If you want occasional jays without them monopolizing the feeder, a tube feeder with smaller ports will naturally limit their access.

When You'll See Them

Year-round residents across eastern North America, though some populations do migrate. In autumn you may see blue jays moving in loose flocks, a surprisingly understated migration for such a dramatic bird. In winter they're reliable visitors, particularly to feeders that offer larger seeds.

Native Plants They Love

Native oaks above all else, blue jays are one of the primary dispersers of acorns across North America, carrying them extraordinary distances and caching them in the ground. Many of the oak trees standing today exist because a blue jay forgot where it buried an acorn. They also love native berry-producing shrubs.

Myth & Lore

In Chinook and Coast Salish tradition, the blue jay replaced the raven as the great trickster figure, clever, mischievous, fond of pranks, and not entirely to be trusted. In one Chinook legend, Blue Jay visits the land of the dead and, unable to resist, rearranges the bones of the departed as a prank. He is both foolish and helpful, often in the same story. In Celtic tradition, pale-coloured jays were believed to house the souls of Druids, forever planting their sacred seeds, the great oaks, across the landscape. The blue jay's habit of caching acorns, which germinate into trees the jay will never see, makes this legend feel less like mythology and more like natural history. In Norse mythology, the god Od, who’s associated with wishes and love, held the jay sacred. The Sioux saw the blue jay as a symbol of double vision, the ability to see more clearly than those around you, to perceive what others miss.

Did You Know?

Blue jays are accomplished mimics, they can reproduce the calls of hawks so accurately that other birds flee. Ornithologists debate whether they do this deliberately to clear a feeder, or whether it's simply play. Given what we know about blue jays, both seem entirely plausible.