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Backyard birders are always looking for a leg up to attract more birds. We don’t know everything about what goes into attracting birds, and there are still some mysteries about what colors are best, but we know enough to start leading us in the right direction — or at least make an educated guess on what color feeder, birdhouse or birdbath to employ in the pursuit of seeing more birds.

Key Takeaways

• Birds’ color perception: Birds do not see colors the same way humans do. They can perceive ultraviolet wavelengths in addition to the long, medium, and short wavelengths visible to humans. This enables birds to see colors like UV+red, UV+green, UV+yellow, and UV+purple, which humans cannot see.
• Color preferences: Different birds have varying color preferences which can influence the colors of feeders and birdhouses. Hummingbirds are attracted to red, pink, yellow, and orange, while bluebirds and blue jays are often thought to be drawn to blue. However, studies suggest that green and black might also be attractive to certain bird species like European robins. How that translates to North American birds may vary.
• Food over color: Despite potential color preferences, the type of food offered is ultimately more crucial in attracting birds. The contents of the feeder, such as nectar for hummingbirds or peanuts for blue jays, play a more significant role in drawing birds to a backyard than the color of the feeder itself.

Do Birds See Color Like We Do?

First off, do birds even see colors the same way that humans do? In short, no. It’s believed that they can see colors that even humans cannot, and how they view certain colors isn’t going to look exactly as we do.

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Research has shown that birds can see long, medium, and short wavelengths like humans, but they can also see ultraviolet wavelengths, giving them the ability to see colors that humans can’t.

According to research from Princeton University, humans can see only one non-spectral color, purple, but birds can see five — purple, UV+red, UV+green, UV+yellow, and UV+purple.

This changes how birds see the world, but it also makes it a challenge for us to really know how they see the things that we see.

Still, we have some ideas about which colors are most likely to attract birds.

Red

The first color that comes to mind is for a very specific type of bird, but one that birdwatchers across the Americas dream of attracting in large numbers: hummingbirds.

There’s a reason that hummingbird food has historically been dyed red, although that practice is fading away over concerns that the dye may cause health issues for hummingbirds. Feeders are usually red and yellow anyway, making red dye unnecessary.

Hummingbirds are known to prefer the colors red, pink, yellow, and orange, although it’s not unusual to see them visiting purple, blue, or white flowers. At the end of the day, it’s all about what flowers have the highest nectar content and can keep their little wings going for as long as possible.

Many of these flowers are often pink or red, such as honeysuckle, columbine, or cardinal flower.

Blue

Bluebird feeders are frequently blue, as these popular insect and mealworm eaters are often thought of as attracted to the color blue, as are blue jays sometimes, though it doesn’t take quite as much work to attract blue jays to a feeder.

Often thought of as bully birds, a feeder full of in-shell peanuts should do the trick if you’re looking to attract jays.

One study from the University of Hull in the United Kingdom also showed that a blue feeder was “quite liked” by starlings in their native land.

Also thought of as non-native feeder hogs in North America, you won’t have to do much to attract starlings. In fact, you’ll probably prefer that you don’t attract them at all. It’s more popular for birders to research ways to decrease the number of starlings at their feeders.

Green

In the study from Hull, green and silver were the two most popular feeder colors, but who knows how that translates to North American birds?

Green, purple, and blue are more high-energy wavelengths, while red and orange are lower energy, but as discussed earlier, red and orange are popular with hummingbirds, and finch feeders often have yellow parts, including ports and trays, so we wouldn’t say to avoid these colors.

It’s more about what’s inside the feeder than the outside, after all.

and … Black?

It may seem out of the ordinary, but black also proved popular in the aforementioned study from researchers at the University of Hull, which showed that European robins (not closely related to the American robin) preferred feeders with black ports and lids.

It’s All About the Food

More than color, attracting birds to your feeders is about food. It’s what’s inside a sliced orange or grape jelly that attracts an oriole, not the orange or purple color. And if the perfect colored feeder was filled with seeds instead of mealworms, it’s probably not on a bluebird’s must-visit list.

Learn more about what to feed backyard birds with our helpful guide, which you can find here.

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