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| Feeder Type: |
House/ Hopper |
| Favorable Features: |
Holds large amount of seed, a cover (or roof) to protect seed; seeds
are dispensed and exposed as needed; large (undesirable) birds may have
limited usage; used by large variety and numbers of birds; some houses
offer suet holders which will add more variety of birds coming to one
feeder; feeders with squirrel proof perches are helpful |
| Unfavorable Features: |
Adequate drainage difficult unless bottom tray is a screen; wooden
hopper, especially those nailed or stapled (should be held together with
weather-proof screws) have limited life span; may be difficult to
observe birds |
| Fill It Up: |
Seed mixes, sunflower seeds |
| Birds: |
Birds that fit on the available perches; sparrows, finches,
chickadees, tufted titmice, cowbirds, grosbeaks |
| Find It Here: |
Hanging from tree branches and hooks ; mounted on poles and deck
railing; devote a feeder with a rather large landing and sitting area
which can be placed away from feeders devoted to the smaller birds; can hang
additional feeding tray under house feeder that has just perches |
| Final Thoughts: |
Early on we had a birdhouse shaped like a lantern.
It looked pretty and the small birds enjoyed it, but so did the
squirrels. The lid was easily removed by the little furry guys.
What made it a two person job to fill it was the finial on the bottom,
which did not allow it to sit flat. After moving it several times in our
new yard and suffering through a rough winter and a wet spring,
the feeder started to fall apart (aided by our black bear visitor). |
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Feeder Type:
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Platform/Tray/ Shallow dish/ Flat surfaces/ Fly-through (with cover)
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| Favorable Features: |
Easy to observe birds feeding; fast and simple to fill and clean; fly-throughs
with covers protect birds and seeds; threatened birds can fly off in any
direction; many birds can feed at once; could be low cost to no cost |
| Unfavorable Features: |
Larger birds may scare off little birds; needs good drainage; open
to squirrels and other critters |
| Fill It Up: |
Any type food: seeds, suet cakes, seed blocks, peanuts, fruit |
| Birds: |
Almost any bird or critter |
| Find It Here: |
Mounted on post, hanging, placed near ground or on the ground; can
be mounted under hopper feeder to catch the seeds for another layer of
feeding; easily placed under shelter |
| Final Thoughts: |
Every yard could use this type of feeder.
Last winter we even used one as a place to put half eaten seed blocks
and suet cakes. We put some of flat trays under brush piles for
protection. Hanging them under regular feeders seems to be a favorite
place for the birds who don't want to wait for an available perch. |
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Feeder Type:
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Broadcast by Hand |
| Favorable Features: |
No feeder to take apart and clean; no additional cost; many
birds feed on ground |
| Unfavorable Features: |
Messy; need to rake and scoop old seed; track seeds indoors on shoes |
| Fill It Up: |
Corn and large seed mixes, safflower, peanuts |
| Birds: |
Cardinals, mourning doves, juncos, towhees, blue jays, brown
thrasher, chickadees, finches, sparrows, crows, red winged blackbirds,
cowbirds, catbirds, starlings, wrens (essentially any of our
birds, except woodpeckers, nuthatches, hawks and hummingbirds) |
| Find It Here: |
On the ground in sheltered areas and low stumps |
| Final Thoughts: |
At first we let the ground feeder birds clean up under
bird feeders. As we tried to entice cardinals, we added safflower seed
by scattering on the ground. Around that same time, we were determined
to discourage the larger and pushier, various black birds from under the
small seed feeders. We started to broadcast the corn mixes further away.
Success! We got our cardinals and the small song birds had a
little more breathing room. |
| Feeder Type: |
 Board and Nails |
| Favorable Features: |
Inexpensive; fun project; can be placed anywhere |
| Unfavorable Features: |
Possibility of bird, creature or human injury |
| Fill It Up: |
Fruit segments (apple, orange, bunch of grapes); muffins; bagel
(spread with peanut butter) |
| Birds: |
Baltimore orioles, thrush family (robins, bluebirds) |
| Find It Here: |
Placed on flat surface (tree stump, window sill, ground; nailed to
post or building; hung on hook |
| Final Thoughts: |
We haven't had a lot of luck with this. Our birds
don't seem to care for fruit segments or baked goods. The board itself
doesn't appear to be the problem. |
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Feeder Type: |
Nectar/ with Perch/ with Troughs for Jelly and Fruit Segments |
| Favorable Features: |
Hummingbird Feeder: Red with openings resembling flowers, single
center hanger with nectar in saucer
like
( horizontal flying saucer) covered container (for maximum viewing by
humans)
Oriole Feeder: Orange with troughs for jelly and orange segments or
dried fruit and blueberries; must have perches or rings to sit on. |
| Unfavorable Features: |
May be hard to open without spilling contents; some feeders leaked
badly; some feeders are not as insect (ants and bees) proof as others |
| Fill It Up: |
Commercial nectar (no red coloring); home made: boil 1 part white
table sugar to 4 parts water a few minutes, cool, in clean feeder
put
only as much as might be used in a few days, store rest in refrigerator;
clean feeder before refilling |
| Birds: |
Hummingbirds, orioles, house finches, robins and woodpeckers |
| Find It Here: |
Place away from seed feeders and near bubbly water source; place any
additional nectar feeders out of sight of each other (hummingbirds
fiercely guard their food source from each other) |
| Final Thoughts: |
We have tried several hummingbird feeders and
recommend saucer style with perches. Although we have purchased
the orange oriole feeder with troughs, we have to wait until spring to
try it. |
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Feeder Type: |
Tube/ with Bottom Tray |
| Favorable Features: |
Conserves food; protects seed from the elements; can see contents
for refilling; metal fittings help prevent access from squirrels; can be
filled with variety of seeds; bottom tray helps to further conserve seed and more
birds can feed at a time |
| Unfavorable Features: |
May have limited access with only two perches; may not come
completely
apart for full cleaning; limited capacity of seeds; screw tops may
be difficult to reassemble at each refill |
| Fill It Up: |
Almost any small to medium seeds |
| Birds: |
Small to medium birds that fit on perches |
| Find It Here: |
Can hang from hooks or trees; some come with threaded bottoms to
mount on posts |
| Final Thoughts: |
We have found that tube feeders with metal
fittings, and a bottom tray that can completely be disassembled for
cleaning are the best. |
| Feeder Type: |
Net Sacks Single/Multiple |
| Favorable Features: |
Low cost; tiny seed makes them slow to empty; easy for birds to
cling to |
| Unfavorable Features: |
Seed is expensive; messy under feeders; somewhat difficult to refill
( I use a large mouthed glass funnel originally used for filling Mason
jars when canning) |
| Fill It Up: |
Nyjer seed; loose netting could hold suet or fruit |
| Birds: |
Goldfinches, house and purple finches, pine siskins, redpolls,
sometimes juncos, sparrows and mourning doves |
| Find It Here: |
Hang from hooks; put in areas easy to clean underneath |
| Final Thoughts: |
Our first sack of nyjer brought goldfinches almost
immediately. It was as if they were watching us from the trees ( they do
that now when we do feeder filling duty). They keep multiplying and
never seem to leave us |
| Feeder Type: |
Wire Cages/Cling Only/Cling with Ring Perches/Wire
Tubes |
| Favorable Features: |
More birds can feed at a time (not confined to a perch), those with
trays save seed and can feed even more birds at a time; lifting lids
easier to fill (although hook and eye closure may freeze in place in
winter) |
| Unfavorable Features: |
Exposes seeds to the elements; encourages crowding of birds; not at
all squirrel-proof as advertised |
| Fill It Up: |
Fine wire-use nyjer seeds; coarser wire-use sunflower seeds |
| Birds: |
Goldfinch and other finches, pine siskin, chickadee, white breasted
nuthatch, red winged blackbirds, cowbirds, tufted titmice |
| Find It Here: |
Mostly hanging on hooks or trees |
| Final Thoughts: |
We like to use the kind without screw on lids and
with a bottom tray; birds seem attracted to these feeders |
| Feeder Type: |
Suet Cages/Upside Down/Log with Plugs/ Double
sided/with Tail Prop/4 Cake House Cage/Double Round |
| Favorable Features: |
Multiple cages seem to open easier than inexpensive single ones;
most use coated wires that repel rust and can be cleaned; those with
tail props are ideal for larger woodpeckers; |
| Unfavorable Features: |
Wooden parts not easy to clean; some have lids squirrels can easily
remove; double round cage difficult to clean and fill; wooden ones
attached to sides of hopper feeders are messy and easily splintered |
| Fill It Up: |
Suet cakes and suet plugs; can make own suet product |
| Birds: |
Downy and hairy woodpeckers, tufted titmice, blue jays, chickadees,
white and breasted nuthatches, catbirds, red bellied woodpecker,
Northern flickers,
grosbeaks |
| Find It Here: |
Most hang from hooks and trees; some will mount to sides of pole
systems |
| Final Thoughts: |
We (birds and food folks) love the feeders made
with durable, recycled materials; would like to see a large feeder made
to mount solidly for very large woodpeckers (reluctant to nail to tree) |
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Feeder Type: |
Solid Seed Shapes/Mount in Cage |
| Favorable Features: |
Most efficient use of seeds with little waste; no messy feeder to
clean; can add fun, seasonal
shapes to backyard |
| Unfavorable Features: |
Often falls off holder when nearly eaten; the ones that fit in wire
suet cages avoid this problem |
| Fill It Up: |
Already self contained |
| Birds: |
Downy and hairy woodpeckers, tufted titmice, blue jays, chickadees,
white breasted nuthatches,wrens |
| Find It Here: |
Can hang or sit anywhere |
| Final Thoughts: |
The birds occasionally enjoy eating from these
solid blocks and seem to visit them for a change of pace and the
challenge of digging out a seed or nut. They offer great photo
opportunities, because they pose longer while working at separating the treat.
 Dinner
bell- a post with a cover and seed tray on bottom; specially made round
rings (stackable and short for varying flavors or taller cylinders)
which have a center hole to insert the post; addresses previous
unfavorable feature |
| Feeder Type: |
Nugget Holders/Tube/Wire Tube in a Cage/Woodpecker Box/Foldable
Plastic Feeder |
| Favorable Features: |
Woodpecker box (lid lifts off) and foldable plastic and chrome mesh
are easy to fill |
| Unfavorable Features: |
The wire tube in a protective (didn't keep out large birds or
squirrels) cage and chrome tubes did not come apart for easy cleaning
and parts of the feeder rusted; the green coated wire tubes have perches
with removable, easy to loose pieces and hangers that are awkward to
replace for every refilling |
| Fill It Up: |
Peanut nuggets |
| Birds: |
Downy and hairy woodpeckers, tufted titmice, blue jays, chickadees,
white breasted nuthatches |
| Find It Here: |
All hanging from trees or poles |
| Final Thoughts: |
We did repurpose the wire cage one as a decorative
accessory (after much cleaning and scrubbing).
The woodpecker box was ordered online. It was described with a picture
as having many feeding holes for woodpecker beaks and two acrylic sides
to view nuggets. The sides with the holes had ridges routed for
woodpecker traction and were long enough to support their tails. We were
sent a feeder with less holes and no ridges (however the sides were left
rough). The real difference was the see-through sides on this one
were really two layers of wire mesh. This left the nuggets open to
the elements, but also open to the birds for feeding (an advantage after
all). Another good feature to the box sent us, is the pitched roof
instead of flat roof of the smoother, fancier box I really ordered.
On another bright side, although it was not the feeder ordered, it is
being used by the birds and it was delivered before Christmas. |
| Feeder Type: |
Peanut Holders/Peanut Butter Products Dispensers |
| Favorable Features: |
Spreading the peanut butter products is very easy task |
| Unfavorable Features: |
Loading the wreath peanut holder is somewhat of a challenge (must
refill often), but worth the effort |
| Fill It Up: |
Whole peanuts put in wreath; peanut butter and a product called Bark
Butter |
| Birds: |
Downy and hairy woodpeckers, tufted titmice, blue jays, chickadees,
white breasted nuthatches |
| Find It Here: |
Holders can be hung anywhere; peanut products can be smeared on
posts, stumps and trees (not recommended due to potential damage to
bark) or placed in log or post drilled about 1-2 inches across and .5 to
1 inch deep or roll pinecones in mixture and then in birdseed and hang
(decorate holiday tree for birds |
| Final Thoughts: |
Because our red and gray squirrels also love these
treats, we offer some peanuts on the ground to discourage feeder raids.
This has met with only marginal success. |
| Feeder Type: |
Window Mount Feeders |
| Favorable Features: |
Close view of birds eating; helps prevent birds from flying into
windows |
| Unfavorable Features: |
Still a little difficult to take photos through the plastic; must
fill often. |
| Fill It Up: |
Small amounts of seed |
| Birds: |
Smaller birds (chickadees, tufted titmice, goldfinches, house finches);
some are made for hummingbirds with nectar |
| Find It Here: |
Windows that have good bird visibility and some outside protection
from predators |
| Final Thoughts: |
The cats, grandgirls and the Food Folks have had a
good time watching birds and squirrels up close. |
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Feeder Type: |
 Small
Open Tray |
| Favorable Features: |
Can easily fill by pouring out worms from original container; can be
placed anywhere |
| Unfavorable Features: |
None |
| Fill It Up: |
Mealworms (larvae of meal beetles also called darkling beetles);
can feed live (store in refrigerator), dried or roasted; could
also use dish for cherries and berries, shelled nuts or even water |
| Birds: |
Bluebirds, purple martins, robins, wrens, yellow-rumped warblers,
and catbirds |
| Find It Here: |
Hang or place on flat surface anywhere |
| Final Thoughts: |
Late last summer was our first and only (so far)
attempt at offering mealworms. It seems we were much too late for the
bluebirds in our backyard and no one else was interested. This spring
we'll try it at nesting time and closer to the bird houses. |
...more at
preferred foods and
feeders
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