subject: Best Bird Feeders [print this page] Best Bird Feeders Best Bird Feeders
According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, tens of millions of Americans feed wild birds in their backyards. And they spend several billion dollars each year on bird food and feeders. Like most products, bird feeders vary in quality and function, and beginners often rely on ads or merchants to make buying decisions.
Drawing on more than 30 years experience feeding backyard birds, Ive assembled a list of the Best of the Best feeders. All are high-quality feeders with substantial guarantees. And most important, birds use them. I know because I have them all in my backyard.
Best Tube Feeders: Aspects Seed Tube Feeders
Tube feeders are popular because theyre simple, easy to use, and birds are easy to see when using them. Aspects tubes with the new removable quick-clean base make cleaning a breeze. Just push two buttons and the base pulls right out. A few pulls on a stiff brush, and the tubes like new.
A birdfeeder, bird feeder, bird table, or tray feeder are devices placed outdoors to supply bird food to birds. The success of a bird feeder in attracting birds depends upon its placement and the kinds of foods offered, as different species have different preferences.
Most bird feeders supply seeds or bird food, such as Millet, Sunflower (Oil and Striped), Safflower, Niger seed, and rapeseed or canola seed to seed-eating birds.
Bird feeders often are used for bird watching 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. Black Oil Sunflower seed is especially popular with bird enthusiasts. The outer shell of Black Oil Sunflower seeds are thinner and easier to crack than other types of Sunflower seeds. In addition, the kernel is larger than striped or white sunflower seeds. Black Oil Sunflower seeds also contain a large amount of fat; therefore they are especially good to use in the winter. Most bird feeders are designed to dispense sunflower-sized foods, but there are specialty "finch feeders" with smaller openings to dispense the tiny Guizotia abyssinica (Niger 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. This mixture is often colored red to attract birds. Likewise, some Hummingbird feeders have red accents or red glass to help attract hummingbirds. Yeasts tend to grow in hummingbird feeders and spoil the solution, so they must be refreshed frequently and kept very clean to avoid harm to the birds. See the article on hummingbirds for more details. Ants and other insects are also attracted to hummingbird nectar. Smearing petroleum jelly on the feeder's may prevent the ants from crawling to the feeder, but the birds cannot clean the petroleum jelly from their feathers, so alternative methods should be found.
Hummingbird top fill feeders are popular among bird lovers because they are easy to fill and clean and also because they do not need to be turned upright which means that there are less chances that the nectar is spilled. The sports bottle top fill hummingbird feeders have the design of a sports bottle, with a mechanism that works similarly to such a bottle. With this type of feeder, one has to push down the plastic container in order to close the nectar reservoir and then to unscrew the cap and pour the nectar. After the cap is replaced, the body of the nectar reservoir can be pulled up. This type of bird feeder has the advantage that the feeder does not need to be turned upside down to be refilled and which results in less nectar wasted by spilling. The traditional top fill hummingbird feeders are ones of the most popular bird feeders. There is also a plunger type of top filling hummingbird feeder which comes with a small plunger in the container that creates the vacuum seal when the lid is tightened and the nectar will start flowing only when the lid is sealed correctly to the feeding ports.
The bottom fill hummingbird feeders include a traditional bottom fill feeder and several variations of it. The traditional ones are filled from an opening at the bottom of the nectar container but many manufacturers have come up with improved variations of the traditional style of feeder, to make feeding birds easier and with less nectar wasted. Some bottom fill feeders come with a funnel-like opening at the bottom of the container, through which the feeder is filled. Other bottom filled hummingbird feeders can be attached to one's window to provide a close-up of the birds.
