Information about Bird Feeder

A birdfeeder, bird feeder, or bird table is a device placed out-of-doors to supply bird food to birds. The success of a bird feeder in attracting birds depends upon its placement and the kinds of seeds offered, as different species have different preferences.

The most familiar feeders supply seeds such as millet, sunflower, safflower, thistle (niger or nyjer), and rapeseed or canola seed to seed-eating birds.

Bird feeders often are used for home birdwatching and many people keep webcams trained on feeders where birds often congregate.

Types of feeders

Seed Feeders are the most common type. These can vary in design from tubes to hoppers and trays. Sunflower seed or mixed seed are popular for use in these feeders and will attract many songbirds such as cardinals, finches, and chickadees. While most are designed to dispense sunflower-sized foods there are specialty "Finch Feeders" with smaller openings to dispense the tiny Guisotia abbisinica type of thistle seed, which is a favorite of smaller finches.

Hummingbird feeders, rather than dispensing seed, supply liquid nourishment to hummingbirds in the form of a sugar solution. Unfortunately, this mixture often is colored red "to attract the birds", but this is unnecessary and the food coloring may be detrimental to the health of the birds.[1] Hummingbird feeders also must be refreshed frequently and kept very clean to avoid harm to the birds, see the article on hummingbirds for more details. Although these birds will find a feeder without any color, if color is going to be used as an attractant, it is better to purchase feeders that have coloring in the materials of the feeder, rather than to use dye in the mixture.

Oriole feeders, which are traditionally colored orange, also supply such artificial nectar and are designed to serve New World orioles, which have an unusually shaped beak and tongue. These orioles and some other birds also will come to fruit foods, such as grape jelly, or half an orange on a peg.

A suet feeder is typically a metal cage-like construction with a plastic coating that contains a cake or block of suet to feed woodpeckers, flickers, nuthatches, and many other species of insect eaters.

Providing a varied array of tastes and feeding venues will result in less competition for food and dining spots, just as a well planned garden will provide many plants that supply different types of seeds and nectar. A very shallow, gradually deepening birdbath that is safe from cats, kept clean, and refreshed frequently with clean water to avoid mosquitoes can attract as many birds as a feeder. Although a clear area around it that is free of hiding locations for cats should be provided, the birdbath should be placed where a frightened bird can fly up easily to an overhanging limb or resting place if disturbed or attacked.

Squirrels

Squirrels may also help themselves to the contents of bird feeders, often not merely feeding, but carrying away the food to their hoard. There are various anti-squirrel devices available to thwart attempts by squirrels to raid bird feeders. Several manufacturers produce feeders with perches that collapse under the weight of anything heavier than a bird, or that use battery power to shock an intruder lightly or spin the perching area to fling it off.

Sometimes the placement of a separate and isolated squirrel feeder is the best way to keep squirrels away from bird feeders. Squirrel feeders typically offer a whole dried cob of corn, often at the top of a rotating stick to add a bit of amusement to their antics.

Seasonal use

While bird feeders are thought of by some as winter projects, urban and some suburban areas can benefit from bird feeders year-round. Winter feeders can be used during severe weather to provide food for birds who are caught in a snowstorm and find natural food with greater difficulty.

Negative impacts

Despite a widespread belief to the contrary, the use of bird feeders does not have a positive impact on bird populations and biodiversity. For example, depending on the feeder design and the type of feed used, species such as the House Sparrow can dominate the use of the feeder. As a result, House Sparrow numbers can become inflated locally where feeders are used. In North America, where the House Sparrow is an introduced species, competition from House Sparrows can exclude the indigenous bluebirds from available nest sites.

The use of bird feeders causes many other environmental problems that have been outlined in newspaper and journal articles. On December 27, 2002, The Wall Street Journal published a front-page article entitled, Crying Fowl: Feeding Wild Birds May Harm Them and Environment. Prior to the publication of this article, Canadian ornithologist, Jason Rogers wrote extensively about the environmental problems associated with the use of bird feeders in the journal, Alberta Naturalist.

See also

• Bird bath
• Birdfeeding
• Birdwatching
• Conservation ecology
• Drought
• Garden
• Pesticide

External links

• WBU birdfeeder cam
• Bird Feeder Plans and Precautions against Disease, Window Collisions and Cats
• Online Plans For Building a Bird Feeder
• Free bird feeder plans
• Types of Wild Bird Feeders