What do you feed the birds?

[Fishboy]

Assuming you have a feeder, I'd like to ask what you use. I want to attract birds to my garden for all the right reasons, but I've had so much trouble with the seeds that the birds drop on the ground sprouting and growing. I don't have the luxury of space to isolate the feeder in the yard, so I've tried several seed types to meet both the birds needs and mine. Flax seed seems to be the best since the larger birds don't care for the taste. Problem is, it sprouts like the others, so while I'm attracting the right birds I still have the sprouting problem. I've just finished a large bag of shelled sunflower seeds and thought all my problems would be solved. Unfortunately, the seeds dropped on the ground attracted rats and other vermine.

So, what do YOU put out for the birds?

Mahalo nui loa,
Brian and Mary
Lynnwood, WA\Discovery Harbour