Which Bird Feeders do you Prefer?

I’ve been through a few bird feeder deviced and so far like this one best.
Squirrel Buster:

I also saw this one, thoughts?

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This only works if you have the space to do it of course, but because I am terrible about cleaning my bird feeders, so I have taken them down and relied on planting things birds can eat from my garden. Goldfinches love Echinacea, and hummingbirds love native honeysuckle.
We had an eye disease spreading among birds in the mid-Atlantic last year, and bird flu is going around this year. I have a hard time with keeping up with the recommended disinfection of feeders (and those suckers poop all over everything!).

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I have given up on feeders as well, but mostly because I heard a hawk might attack the birds feeding there!

I’d love to hear more!

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I have 4 droll yankee 6 port that are caged & serve medium sunflower kernels (small songbirds & downy or hairy wood peckers feed at these), 2 flatbeds with golden safflower (small songbirds & cardinals), 1 peanut that most of the year feeds woodpeckers & nuthatches (at this time of year grackles are a plague.)

I clean the feeders twice a month.

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Unfortunately, I’ve had that experience, even without feeders. The second time was just this week. I just keep thinking “the hawk’s gotta eat, too.” But I admit I was pretty sad. The mourning doves raise babies in my garden, and they are a favorite food of Cooper’s hawks it seems.
I have lots of shrubs and small trees, so the birds have some cover, but sometimes they are unlucky. I would not let that stop you from feeding birds. (I am just bad at the cleaning part.)

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I just buy the Pennington ones at Wal-Mart.
I have a cardinal that comes every evening at 6:30 pm on the dot. He fusses if something is not in the feeder.

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We feed sparrows, finches, thrushes, jays at two feeders. One, home made from a metal piepan nailed to a fence post with a roof “borrowed” from a roof vent and supported by three wooden stakes, and one kind of like this.
Screen Shot 2022-04-29 at 9.45.02 AM
We also have a blown glass hummingbird feeder and two extra-large finch socks. Our country birds are voracious!
All of these hang from tree limbs and we have no problem with squirrels, although we have at least a pair of resident squirrels.

had the weight-down types - the squirrels destroyed them.
these are all metal (except windows) which squirrels cannot chew through, but as you see, they know how to hang on with their hind feet, takes their weight off the bar that closes the seed trough . . . here the squirrel is hanging on the ice, but if there’s no ice they hang onto the wire hanging bail… clever critters they are…

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Good point. They seem to have plenty to eat around here, but water is an issue.

Mr. Bird’s Bugs, Nuts, and Fruit.

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I have now joined the world of bird feeding to keep Mr and Mrs Cardinal happy. I’ve always heard at least one chirping in the neighborhood and am thrilled they seem to have taken a liking to my yard this year. They happily perch in my cherry tree or my neighbor’s (too close) birch tree. I gave in and bought a feeder this weekend to give them some sunflower seeds. They seem friendly and don’t mind my being too close, but they’re not sure about my birdfeeder yet. We’re expecting rain tonight. I guess these seeds are ok if they get soaked by some of the rain?

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No. Wet seeds will grow molds, some of which will kill birds.

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I agree about the Brome feeders. They are pricey, but quickly pay for themselves in savings on fluffy-tailed burlary. I just wish the squirrels would remember that they are doomed to failure, and quit hanging from the sides, preventing the birds from alighting. I have three Brome models, all perfect, and their customer service is great. The cage dropped on my first one. When I phoned, the diagmosis was that the screw on the underside wasn’t secure and fell off. Once I said it would be hard to find under a foot of snow, they sent a free replacement part that arrived in two days. This is a superlative manufacturer!

As for the Sweetful model, my experience with feeders on which the cover rides up and down on the hanger wire is that squirrels will stand/hang on the bottom of the feeder and shove the top up with their snouts, then hoover up half the seeds in the tube. Most of the Amazon reviews are positive, but since hundreds of bogus positive reviews are cheap to buy, I pay the most attention to the bad reviews because those are more likely to be real. This feeder appears to have problems.

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Good to know! It looks like they ate most of the few seeds I put out as an experiment, and I wiped the bottom plate/tray dry this morning. Added a few fresh seeds, and noticed that both the cardinals (mr and mrs.) were watching me. I think I got them hooked! :smiley:

We aren’t allowed to have seed type feeders here in our community because the seed drops and the rats love them. Our feeder is for hummingbirds and we get them all day long. We’ve also had several nests built and babies hatched in our patio cover eaves.

FWIW - where we leaved before we had an open seed feeder and a relative made a protective wire mesh ‘shade’ for us that covered it just enough to let small birds in and crowd and most critters out.

Once the squirrels and rodents find out you will need to get a climb proof baffle (a dome or cone shaped thing you attach to either below or above the feeder). Also better to get a catch tray. If you get a feeder with a mesh cage make sure the holes are small enough for small birds only. Squirrels and rodents have no problem getting through the cage if the holes are not small.

I have had many, many bird feeders in 20 years but still have not won the battle against vermin. The bird shows in the gardens are worth it though.

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Classic squirrels! That’s what my daughter would say, although I have not personally witnessed all of those antics!

My seeds don’t last a day in the feeders so I’m not worried.
Niger feeders on the other hand are a different story and need to be cleaned regularly.

P.S.
I believe that suet cakes are okay, if they get wet because of all of the oils that help bind them together.

Re suet, Martha Stewart instructed viewers to render suet and make seed cakes for use year-round, because raw suet becomes rancid in hot weather. Chunks of raw suet are fine in winter, and the woodpecker family of birds is particularly drawn to it.

Cardinals are known to prefer safflower seeds, which are pricey. But other species refuse it, which makes safflower economical if you only want to feed cardinals. Not sure if squirrels eat it, though.