• Most birds can't resist black-oil sunflower seeds.Michael Hitoshi/Digital Vision/Getty Images
  
  Fill the bird feeder with black sunflowers seeds and watch birds flock to it. Experienced backyard bird watchers recognize that when feeding mixed birdseed, the black sunflower seeds are the seed of choice for most feathered friends. Birds especially like black-oil sunflower seeds, rich in protein and oil. As New Hampshire Outdoors put it, sunflower seeds attract birds "like a magnet." Because squirrels also have a yen for sunflower seeds, try a hanging feeder for best results or squirrel-proof platform feeders.
  
  

Cardinal

• The bright red male cardinal and his brownish hen stand out in the winter landscape, and they'll also stand out at the bird feeder if black-oil sunflower seeds are on the menu. As backyards with shrubs and wooded areas are prime cardinal habitat, they are familiar sights at bird feeders.
  
  

Chickadees

• Chickadees prefer a tube feeder filled with black-oil sunflower seeds to a platform feeder. Small birds with black caps, they might be the first ones at the feeder when the sunflowers arrive. Most species of chickadee don't migrate, so they are present all winter for feeding. They tend to take one seed at a time, fly away and consume it, then come back for more. Vocal birds, they'll announce their food finds to their mates. Their songs sound like they are singing "chick-a-dee."
  
  

Chickens

• Keeping backyard chickens is increasingly popular in towns and cities that permit it. Chickens love black-oil sunflower seeds, scarfing them up like treats. According to Backyard Chickens, including some black-oil sunflower seeds along with regular commercial chicken feed rations "helps hens lay eggs and grow healthy feathers."
  
  

Blue Jays

• Another brightly-colored bird with a distinctive crest, blue jays like black-oil sunflower seeds, but may drive smaller birds away from feeders. Found over much of North America, blue jays are quite noisy.
  
  

Finches

• Finches of various hues, including the purple and the golden types, eat black-oil sunflower seeds. As sociable birds, whole flocks may descend upon feeder containing the seeds.