Bird Feeders?

Hi everybody,

I am a bird lover and really want to get a bird feeder for my front yard. My family is against it because there are many cats in the neighborhood and they feel like it would be inviting danger to the birds.

For those of you who have bird feeders, what type do you have and where did you buy it?

Re: Bird Feeders?

My mom has a finch feeder that she got at Target. They eat upside down, and other types of birds (and squirrels) have difficulty eating from it. Although, some bigger birds have figured out to shake the food out and eat off the grass

They have seen some cats stalking the birds feeding from the ground..

Re: Bird Feeders?

Cats usually catch mourning doves because they are pretty slow. Mourning doves will eat just about anything but I don't think they like thistle which is what goes in the feeder above. The goldfinches should be here soon, they like thistle but they leave late summer/early fall.

Re: Bird Feeders?

I usually get our bird stuff from Lowes.

I have one regular tube style feeder like above, but it takes regular feed and not thistle so the holes are larger.

In another location I have another cage feeder that has larger holes in the mesh and that's for black oil sunflower seed.

I wanted to get a Suet feeder this weekend, but I'm out of locations to hang it for the time being.

We also have a squirrel feeder - a spring line that you screw dried corn on the cob on, so they jump on it to eat and it makes them bounce all around. The squirrels will sometimes eat out of black oil sunflower seed feeder too.

Never had a cat issue...but sometimes the black birds and mourning doves will come and jeopardize the area. If that happens I stop feeding for a few days to a week and they will go away.

We also have a bird bath and tried a bird house, but the house ended up turning into just a place for wasps to live and being that DH is allergic to bees/wasps I had to take that down. Right now the birds are nesting on the top of the light at my front door - not good.

ETA: I've learned not to invest in expensive bird feeders. In the beginning I went and got the prettiest feeders (ie. expensive ones) and then after them being out in the rain, shaken to the ground and therefore dented, and sometimes the feed molding inside of it if there is a lot of rain, I would just end up throwing it away. So now I get a less expensive model. (Plastic tube feeder above is 7 dollars - the copper version is 25+). I'm a lot less upset throwing away 7 bucks once a year and not having to deal with scraping it out, etc. The birds don't care how the food is delivered, as long as it is delivered. For the 'cutsey' items in my garden I invest in other permanent things, and not bird feeders.

Message edited 4/12/2010 3:21:34 PM.