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glass bird feeder is built to last
Although wood is good for birdhouses, it’s not always best for feeders because squirrels chew wood! Over time wood will weather, sometimes nicely-sometimes not depending on the quality. Wood is porous and therefore harbors bacteria and mold… not good for birds. Copper, glass, or recycled plastic provides a slick surface that’s more resistant to bacteria, much easier to clean and way better for the birds.A stained glass bird feeder like this hopper model allows for various seed mixes. It won’t ever fade, warp or rust, and it’s chew-proof by squirrels. Handcrafted in the USA, it’s available in about eight different colors, and features a hand hammered copper roof.
What’s the best kind feeder to get when starting out? It’s simply got to be the one you will maintain. Basic black oil sunflower is a popular seed that many species enjoy. If you don’t care for the hulls or mess below feeders – opt for sunflower hearts or a “no-waste” mix. These cost a little more, but every morsel is consumed, no messy ground waste below feeders! Cheap seed with fillers (like milo and millet) will end up on the ground, and in damp or humid conditions, creates another breeding ground for bacteria and mold. Ground feeding birds like cardinals, towhees and juncos will sift through this junk looking for a bite to eat. Yuck!
If the only feeder you’re up to maintaining is a simple bowl, that’s okay too. Just keep it clean and keep food fresh… and they wi
ll come! And don’t forget to add a water source, a shallow bowl or plant saucer with fresh water creates a refuge on hot summer days! -
a whopper of hopper bird feeders
This past winter it seemed like spring was taking forever. Ease up – too much bird food, we’re going through this stuff like water! Once it warms up the birds will eat less, right? Wrong! It seems we’re going through just as much seed now as we did in when it was cold? Sure a few unwelcome grackles and starlings put a dent in the supply, but omg… seems like bumper crops of cardinals, and chickadees, and titmice, and woodpeckers, and nuthatches, and finches, and well, you get the picture.Last summer the drought was to blame for vanishing natural food sources, but we’ve had rain galore in the Southeast. Something I’d never witnessed last year: a male cardinal feeding his fledgeling from the hopper bird feeder onto the ground, back to the feeder, and back to the baby below. It was a pretty cool sight, but also sad in a way. He would’ve been teaching that baby how to forage and find food in the wild… had it all not shriveled up 🙁
That’s why it gets me in the gut sometimes when folks say “I don’t feed the birds in summer”. It’s got to be up there with turning the birdbath over for winter. Wild birds are wild indeed, if a food source disappears, they’ll move on to find another. Just seems once you’ve attracted them with feeders or bird baths, it should be a consistent source. Call me the crazy bird lady!
Oh yeah, and the whopper of Hopper Bird Feeders? This durable cedar model with ample perching space offers two different seed mixes for maximum bird attraction! A large seven quart capacity and two removable seed trays makes it easy to clean and fill. Great quality, made in the USA makes it last too!
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what a season for hopper bird feeders!
Busy feeders this season… that would be an understatement! Oh how I wish we were in the birdseed business because it’s been an amazingly active season for seed feeders.Now there’s a pretty good smorgasbord going on in our yard, with suet, peanuts, mealworms, even the squirrels get theirs as all bird feeders have baffles to keep them at bay. But sunflower hearts, cardinal and finch mix? Omg… going through this seed like water, and spending more on seed than groceries!
Winter’s been a bit longer and colder than last year, but this is supposed to be spring right? Wrong – central IL just saw 5 inches of the white stuff today. Bluebirds who have started laying eggs will loose the clutch if incubation has not yet begun.
Large Hopper Bird Feeders are being filled at the rate of ridiculousness, and positively, squirrels aren’t raiding them! Big double hoppers like this are being emptied twice a week, we’ve never seen birds so ravenous. Raging hormones and gearing up for nesting couldn’t possibly be the cause? More birds? Maybe they’ve told all their friends of a great new restaurant? But it’s not just our yard, reports from our local feed store say it’s been a fantastic seed-selling season, more so than any other they can recall.
This kind of seed’s not cheap either. Past droughts and fuel costs have caused most birdseed to skyrocket in cost. While searching Craigslist recently a person was bartering with food stamps. Hmmm… wonder if anyone would take food stamps as payment for bird seed?
The good news is migratory birds are on their way, nectar costs just pennies to make (so easy too), and well, fruit and jelly are nothing compared to the money being spent on on seed 🙂
Birding Tips, Information & News
