A field guide for your own backyard
Know the birds at your window
Friendly, plain-English guides to attracting, feeding, and identifying the birds in your backyard — starting with the Northeast United States.
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Four guides that answer the questions almost everyone starts with.
Northeast Backyard Birds
Meet the 15 birds you're most likely to see at a Northeast feeder — how to tell them apart and what each one likes to eat.
Read the regional guide →Best Bird Food
Sunflower, safflower, nyjer, suet — which food brings in which birds? One simple chart instead of a store aisle full of guesses.
See the food chart →How to Attract Cardinals
The red bird everyone wants at the window. What cardinals eat, the feeders they'll actually land on, and the cover they need.
Bring in the cardinals →Squirrel-Proof Feeding
Squirrels are clever, but you can outsmart them. Baffles, feeder placement, and the one seed they genuinely dislike.
Outsmart the squirrels →More guides
What to Feed Birds in Winter
The foods that carry birds through a Northeast cold snap, why fat matters most, and the kitchen scraps to never put out.
Get ready for winter →How to Attract Woodpeckers
Suet, peanuts, and a tree to brace against — plus the two-second test for telling a Downy from a Hairy.
Bring in the woodpeckers →Dark-eyed Juncos
The little gray "snowbirds" hopping under your feeder: when they arrive, and the ground-level setup they love.
Welcome the snowbirds →Homemade Suet Recipe
A 15-minute no-melt suet the woodpeckers love — and the cool-weather rule most recipes leave out.
Make a batch →Why Aren't Birds Coming?
A calm, step-by-step checklist for the empty feeder — from stale seed to a hawk on patrol.
Diagnose your feeder →Where to Hang a Bird Feeder
How high, how far from the window, how close to cover — the few numbers that decide whether birds use it.
Find the right spot →How to Clean a Bird Feeder
How often, with what, and the simple routine that keeps your visitors healthy.
Clean it the right way →How to Attract Chickadees
The bold little regulars of every Northeast feeder — and how, with patience, one might eat from your hand.
Meet the chickadees →How to Attract Goldfinches
Nyjer, sunflower hearts, and the freshness rule most people miss.
Bring in the goldfinches →Prefer paper? Our free printable bird guide puts the 15 most common Northeast feeder birds, a seed cheat sheet, and a month-by-month calendar on eight pages.
Birding, without the hiking boots
The birds come to you
You don't need a trail, a spotting scope, or a 5 a.m. alarm. With the right food in the right feeder, the show comes to your kitchen window.
Every season, someone new
Juncos ride in with the first cold snap; hummingbirds are back by early May. The cast changes all year — your window seat stays the same.
Easier than you think
One feeder and one kind of seed — black-oil sunflower — will bring in most of the birds in our guides. Start small; the birds don't mind.
Get the free guide: Backyard Birds of the Northeast
Eight printable pages: the 15 most common backyard birds of the region with the field marks that tell them apart, the food and feeder each one prefers, a seed cheat sheet, a month-by-month feeder calendar, and a checklist to pin by the window.
Download the Free GuideAbout this site
My Window Birds is a small editorial project for people who love watching birds from home. We read the field guides and the research, compare notes across trusted sources, and lay out what works in plain English — all in one place, so you don't have to dig for it.