Birds can be as finicky as people about what they eat. So the varieties of birds you attract to your yard will be determined primarily by the kind of seed you offer.

"Watch a feeder filled with a seed mix and you'll see the birds methodically drop or kick out most of the seeds to get to their favorite -- sunflower," the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says in a bird-feeding fact sheet. "Birds will also kick out artificial 'berry' pellets, processed seed flavored and colored to look like 'real' fruit."

The most effective way to attract a large variety of birds is to put out separate feeders for each food, the agency says. Here is a Fish and Wildlife Service guide matching birds with their favorite foods:

* Cracked corn: ducks, geese, quail, mourning doves

* Nyjer: finches, pine siskins, chickadees, dark-eyed juncos, redpolls, doves and sparrows

* Nectar: hummingbirds, cardinals, thrushes, orioles, tanagers, finches

* Fruit: orioles, mockingbirds, cedar waxwings, tanagers, bluebirds, jays, cardinals, thrushes

* Peanuts: woodpeckers, chickadees and titmice

* Millet: doves, blackbirds, sparrows, juncos, towhees

If you want to feed only doves, cardinals and white-throated sparrows, then switch from black oil sunflower to safflower seed, the agency says.

When is the best time to feed? Many people say all year if you enjoy the sights and sounds of birds.

"Birds can benefit from an additional food source in winter, but the really good time to feed is spring going into summer," said Elaine Cole, president of Cole's Wild Bird Products Co. in Kennesaw, Ga. "They've got a lot of chicks just coming out [of the nest], and the adults will bring them to the feeders. There's still a lot of migration going on, too.

"Many natural foods haven't matured yet, and a lot of insects aren't out in force," Cole said. "So feeding birds at that time works well for them."

-- Wire report