Fresh Life Mag: How to Find the Right Bird Feeders to Attract Birds to Your Yard

How to Find the Right Bird Feeders to Attract Birds to Your Yard How to Find the Right Bird Feeders to Attract Birds to Your Yard
By Sue J Butler

Summary: ‘‘ It is easy to attract birds to your yard. You just need a bird feeder or two and soon you will be drawing birds to your yard. Selecting the right type of feeder is going to save you lots of time, so read on to find out what to look for in a bird feeder ‘‘

I am convinced that most people have somewhat of a fascination with birds. We all try to peek into that Robin's nest to check on the eggs she has laid. Bird watching does not need to involve hiking miles into the woods or plains to find a rare bird. You can watch birds from the comfort of your yard, garden, deck or living room. All your need to attract the birds is a bird feeder or two that are strategically placed.
There are literally thousands of bird feeders on the market. Some are extremely expensive and some are pretty cheap. There are a couple of things to think about when considering a bird feeder.
The first is squirrels. I can almost hear you saying, "huh?" But squirrels are a primary consideration when you are thinking about a bird feeder. Squirrels just love birdseed. They will destroy a bird feeder in their attempts to access the seed. They will clean out a good-sized bird feeder in a day or two.
If you are hanging a bird feeder from a tree, you need to hang it 6 to 8 feet from the trunk of the tree. You also need to have a squirrel baffle that hangs above the bird feeder to prevent the squirrel from an aerial attack.
If you are placing your feeder on a post, you need a baffle on the post high enough that the squirrels cannot jump from the ground to reach above the baffle. The post must be placed well away from trees.
You can find either type of baffle in wild bird stores or online.
If you do not want to mess with all of these baffles, you can purchase a finch feeder. Finches eat birdseed called thistle. The great thing about thistle is that squirrels do not like it. I hang finch feeder on hangers off my deck. I can sit in the living room and watch all the finches at the feeders in the afternoon. They are really fun to watch and worth all of the effort.
Cleaning the bird feeders is the second issue. Once you have the squirrel issue resolved you need to think about the type of feeder that you want to purchase. Look at the feeder carefully and think about how you will clean it. Bird feeders need to be cleaned twice a year or more often if the seed has gotten mildewed.
I have come to appreciate the potential challenges of cleaning bird feeders. I have learned this lesson the hard way and freely share it with you to save you frustration.
Before you purchase your feeder, look at it carefully. Can you access the bottom of the feeder to clean that mildewed birdseed out without obtaining a degree in engineering? Some feeders are pretty easy to clean and there are brushes that you can purchase to clean out tube feeders. Those brushes do not help in cleaning out that icky seed that has turned into a solid mass so access to the base is important.
Bird feeders should be cleaned in a light bleach solution and allowed to dry thoroughly before putting seed into them again. There are commercial bird feed cleaners on the market, but I think that a few ounces of bleach in a couple of gallons of hot water will do the job for you.
I know that this sounds like a lot of work and not too much fun, but it is a lot more fun that struggling through mistakes in placing feeders and struggling with cleaning bird feeders that are hard to clean. In fact I have a feeder sitting next to the sink in my basement even as I write this article. I have this faint hope that by its proximity it will simply get clean by itself! It has been down there for several months! Those easy to clean feeders are back to work within a day or two.
Birdfeeders are an easy way to attract wild birds into your yard. You need to consider where you are going to place your feeders to keep the squirrels at bay. You also need to consider how the feeders are constructed so that you are able to clean them twice a year. For years I thought that I had not been very successful in attracting birds to my very large yard. I was wrong. The birds were there, but my feeders were not placed in spots that I could sit and watch. That problem has been fixed and I now enjoy watching the birds from a couple of placed in my yard.