Comment by yareally

American robins come to my bird feeder quite often, but it's really for the peanuts (protein) and berries. The seeds themselves are deshelled, so they do occasionally take a sunflower chip. Shelless seeds have the side effect of attracting birds that don't normally visit feeders.

It's kind of cute: I'll see my resident robin observing the other local birds at the feeder and decide that he/she needs to get in on that too. They're smarter than they appear.

You're are correct though in that I've never need them take a seed that has a shell. I'm not sure their beaks are made to crack them open.

Birds like cardinals, chickadees, titmice and nuthatches do find insects for their young (protein), but primarily eat seeds the rest of the year. I'll still see them come to the feeder when they have babies, but it's for the high protein seeds like sunflower and also peanut pieces.

Funny enough, some birds, such as American goldfinches, don't feed their offspring insects at all to discourage brood parasites like cowbirds. Cowbird nestlings need insect protein to survive and if a cowbird lays eggs in a goldfinch nest, that bird is doomed.

If you really want to watch them up close, look for a feeder with a camera. If you're lucky you'll get some great video of them deciding what to eat and what to feed their young.