Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Let’s talk bird feeders

It’s that time of year to start feeding our feathered friends. I’m thinking of buying a couple new ones. Who makes a good weatherproof one, with a easy flow of bird food. I hate having to grab the ladder every time the feeder gets jammed up, or gummed up because of moisture

I hang mine under my roof eave to keep it out of the rain. And I wired a Frisbee to the bottom of it to catch all the seed the birds pull out and don't eat.

BTW, avoid the cheap feeds with lots of red sorghum (milo) which no bird I've seen will eat. Milo are BB-size red balls - and comprise a lot of cheap box store feeds. Get premium feeds with black sunflower, cracked corn, chunked peanuts, and white millet. Or make up you own LINK

That’s exactly correct, most of the milo will not be eaten. I buy mostly black oil sunflowers and mix a few other ingredients.

Here's mine. 😂

Get a bear proof one.

And get a rat proof one by mounting a frisbee at the bottom or a pot saucer to prevent rats being attracted. We had that problem but we solved it.

Ours hang at a long pole of about five+ meters at crossbars so that we can take a long pole with a hook at it's tip to reach the feeders and refill them. I can reach it also from the ground. Pot saucers are also placed above each feeder to prevent rain and snow.

Droll Yankees feeders. I have several that are 15 years+ old.

www.nature-niche.com offers a variety of good quality feeders, some squirrel proof. Also feeder posts and other accessories. Nice selection of bird seed mixes but shipping 40 lb bags of seed probably not feasible. Located in Midland, MI. 2004 W. Wackerly St. Midland, MI 48640, +1 (989) 423-1477.

I make rain shields from LARGE stainless steel mixing bowls sourced from estate and garage sales. Upside down, drill a No. 10 screw clearance hole in the exact middle of the bottom. Eye screw thru the hole to a threaded rod coupler and a hook screw into the bottom of the coupler. Commercially made shields are available from Nature Niche.

I have a 10 foot eave I hang mine under and I put a larger piece of circular thin plywood under it for the larger birds to perch on. The doves really appreciate that.

It's not weatherproof but the one they prefer the most is flat and very large called a tray feeder. 6'x4' 1x2 frame with pet resistant window screen bottom. They ignore the rest of the feeders when it's up. There'll be over a hundred birds on it at once. I hung mine on a fence. Clean it with a jet nozzle on the garden hose from underneath about twice a month.

I feed mostly cracked corn and millet here. Mostly on a flat platform feeder with tiny holes in the pan to let the rain drain off. The birds love it

OMG! What a nice pair of Great Tits!

OK, maybe Blue Tits.

I wish they all could be California Gulls.

Meanwhile, I myself don’t feed birds hardly at all, I just look at them for free.

^^^ This ^^^

Over the years we've learned almost all those commercial wild bird feed 'mixes' are simply a waste of money as the birds only eat the sunflower seed, corn and peanuts and either bypass all the rest (which is simply cheap 'filler') to rot or kick it out on the ground and sprout. We feed black oil sunflower seeds only in feeders, thistle seed in netting 'socks' , suet in suet feeders, whole ear corn (wood peckers, bluejays really like the corn), peanuts in the shell in a special peanut feeder and chunky peanut butter smeared on corn cobs (little Downy woodpeckers love the peanut butter). I also scatter a little shelled corn and sunflower seed around on the ground for the ground feeding birds like doves.

Our feeders aren't hung higher than I can reach so it's no issue to take them down to clean them as needed. We also keep a 1-1/2 gallon shallow bowl of fresh water in the feeder area and add to it and clean it as needed.

The 'cage' type feeders with outside 'perches' are the only ones I've found that usually don't clog-up with seed hulls, bird droppings, etc., and dry out pretty quick after rain. In below freezing temps they all will freeze up when wet (snow/rain) though.

Squirrel Busters are good well made feeders I’ve had some of mine a long time.Good company to deal with after the bears tore mine down they sent the parts to fix them up for free.I pull mine up with a rope and pulley but the bear figured how to get them.

I’m in complete agreement with avoiding the cheap bird food mixes. Yo end up with most of the cheap schitt piling up on the ground and making a mess. I usually just go wi straight sunflower seeds. I’ve also decided to quit waging war on the squirrels. Having adapted, somewhat, to Southern deer hunting, I now own an automatic feeder. I’m thinking that, after deer season, I might put it out in the yard and set it up to feed birds.

Let's call them by what they really are -
squirrel feeders. 🐿️

Start with a 10lb hanging chicken feeder. Remove the handle and run a rope from the bottom up through the hole in the top (not shown in the pic). Get a wide, cheap plastic serving bowl (the wider the better), drill a hole in the center, and invert it over the feeder with the rope coming through the hole. .

I've always worried about the spillage attracting mice. Otherwise I would have one.

Lowe’s has a good selection of bird feeders.

my yard birds, domestic and wild, eat the heck out of the red milo.

Then again, I don't free feed them.

All Season Feeders here in Bexar County