Bird Feeders - Kindness For Our Feathered Friend

A bird feeder is a small container shaped like a cylinder used to attract birds to your garden. They vary in shape but are often designed to be tall and slender to hang from a tree branch. The container is filled with birdseed and has a grill or small opening through which the bird can get the seeds. Most have small perches on which the birds can stand, but some simple use a wire mesh that the birds can easily grip. There small tray that fits underneath the feeder to catch errant seeds that you can purchase.

The color of the feeder, and the type of seeds placed in the container, are changed in order to attract different species of birds. The most common is millet or sunflower seedS but any can be used that apply to the diet of the local wildlife. This is useful to bird watchers who want to attract a variety of bird to their home for photography or study. Living food such as mealworms can be placed in some feeders, allowing birds with offspring to use the device.

One problem with bird feeders is that other garden animals will be attracted. Often, squirrels or even mice will steal the seed. Some companies produce separate feeders for mammals, and some employ inventive methods of deterring pests. Some feeders have perches that very lightly shock or fold downwards when an object heavier than a bird is placed on it, causing any interlopers to be cast aside.

Different types of birds sometimes have their own types of bird feeder. For insect eating birds you can get a feeder that contains a block of suet that can be slowly worked away on. For birds like hummingbirds, which feed off nectar, there are feeders that contain a liquid and sugar mixture than the birds can drink. Some species of birds like to feed at ground level, and so there are feeders built for this purpose also.

Choose The Best Bird Feeder

The most rewarding thing for many bird keepers is to have the best bird feeder. A bird feeder which you won't have to worry about or keep an eye on to keep away squirrels and other animals targeting the bird's seeds. One which will be able to attract as many birds to your garden as possible and one which will give a good viewing of how the birds are feeding and to know the level of the bird's seeds. To be able to attract and keep many birds in your garden you'll require a well designed bird feeder, one which will make the birds enjoy visiting your garden. The bird feeder should be able to hold a sizable amount of the bird's seeds. It should have many perches for the birds.

One of the special classic bird feeders is the wooden cedar wild bird feeders. These bird feeders are designed to add charm to your garden while at the same time making your favorite birds enjoy their meal. The feeders are designed to be the excellent choice feeders. They are designed in different sizes smaller ones being able to hold mealworms and small sized grains. They are designed for one to be able to add suit cakes at the sides.

These bird feeders are designed to keep off squirrels that are always a bother to bird keeping farmers. The feeders are designed in a way to enables one to add a squirrel baffle protection device. They have many different shapes to make your garden beautiful.

Squirrel Proof Bird Feeders - Get Rid of Squirrel in Your Feeder

There are two basic approaches to keeping squirrels out of your bird feeder. The first is to try to block them from getting to the feeder. There are two common types of feeders that do that.

Baffled Bird Feeder - By simply restricting access to the the food in the feeder, you frustrate them and they move off. The advantage to using a baffle is that it more or less separates the squirrel proof barrier from the feeder itself, so that the bird have free access to the bird seed, and any size bird can still use the feeder. This is often the more aesthetic approach. This is often done by pole mounting the feeder, and putting the baffle on the pole. Other types use a hanging arrangement and the baffle forms a roof over the feeder.

The disadvantage of this approach is that squirrels can leap about seven feet, and are incredibly agile climbers, so that they will often find a way to land on the actual feeder and bypass the baffling. With the top mounted feeder you may also find a squirrel smart enough to climb down and cause the feeder to swing, and while they may not gain access to the feeder itself they can cause the bird seeds to spill to the ground, where they can get all the seeds they want.

Caged Bird Feeders - Another very common solution is to use a caged feeder. These are easy to spot, the construction includes some type of cage around the actual feeder area. It's a fairly open mesh, and in fact a tube style caged feeder looks similar to an electronic bug zapper with the open mesh surrounding the tube.

Caged feeders are better at keeping the squirrels out of the feeder, but they can still get to it and scare off the birds that are trying to use the feeder. This is often the case when you are trying to attract smaller birds.

The second approach to getting rid of squirrels in your bird feeder is to move them out. The much more effective types of squirrel proof feeders are those that cause the squirrel to fall off or be thrown from the feeder. There are two types of those feeders as well, weight activated feeders and the battery powered or electronic motorized feeders. While this won't harm the squirrels they are fun to watch in action.

Squirrel Proof Birdfeeders- Do They Really Work

You have spent a lots of money on a feeder that claimed it was squirrel proof. However, the squirrels spend an entire day eating your bird seed. So, is there really a squirrel proof bird feeder you can trust? Probably the most asked questions are. Have you tried all those feeder that claim to be squirrel proof? Are the squirrels on the feeder all day long? Let me help you understand how these feeders are designed and what their purpose really is.

A properly designed squirrel proof bird feeder should thwart the average squirrel about 95% of the time. That means about 5% of the time the animals will successfully obtain a bird seed reward for their diligence. For most people, this is fine. However, some are not pleased with this result and, unfortunately, allow these small number of invaders spoil the marvelous hobby of backyard bird feeding. There are some people who literally flips out each time they even sees a squirrel.

When you provide free food for your birds, you are basically offering to any aspect of nature, including deer, fox, raccoons, and yes, squirrels. Learning to enjoy all of nature in it's glory simplifies this hobby tremendously. Birds have learned to live with squirrels and a successful backyard birder can too.

Many people use a humane trap and drive great distances to release these intruders into the wilds. There is one man I know who has trapped over 75 squirrels in the past two years and is still going strong. Oh well, it keeps him busy and he is having fun doing it. However, for most of us, living with a couple of squirrels is part of nature and we enjoy that as well.

There are a number of excellent feeders designed specifically to keep red, grey, and fox squirrels from monopolizing the bird seed. Each one can satisfy your desire to allow the birds to feed, but not the squirrels. Be sure to inform your local bird store about what squirrel proof bird feeder you choose. Let them know what critters you wish to deter and what birds you wish to attract.