Feeder Types

One of my favourite tube feeders is the "Big Tube" with a quick clean base, by Aspects.

There are several types of bird feeders, some are better than others for achieving your goals, some will attract certain species while discouraging others, here is a description of the various types of feeders, the pros and cons and in some cases I may go out on a limb and give my favourite or least favourite models.

The first type of feeder that most people try is technically called a fly-thru feeder, but most of us call it a pop bottle with 2 holes. There are variations of this design, from large wooden structures to 1 liter bottles, but they all do about the same thing, birds fly in, grab a seed and fly out the other side. There are even several that will attach to the window with suction cups. The smaller the opening, the smaller the birds that will be attracted. For the most part these feeders work well, the main problem being the birds that like to hang around in the feeder to eat, they tend to leave their droppings on the seed. If you check them often and make sure there is adequate drainage, they’re fine.

The next type of feeder we usually build or buy is a hopper feeder, I’m sure everyone is familiar with the most common form of this feeder--wooden ends and plexiglass sides make up the seed reservoir, small openings along the bottom allow the seed to run into a trough that refills as the birds eat. Some of these feeders are better than others, if there is a large flat bottom in the hopper, the seed stays in the middle where the birds can’t reach it, the squirrels can’t reach it either but they will quickly enlarge the openings in the plexiglass sides to gain access to the seed. If you’re making or buying one of these, the sides should be slanted inward to lessen the area at the bottom, a good feeder also has an inverted V in the bottom to deflect the seed towards the openings if they can reach all the seed, critter modifications are unnecessary. If you have a flat bottomed hopper a piece of 2x2 can be ripped on a 45 degree angle and attached to the bottom of the hopper so it will deflect the seed to the openings. The best of these feeders have a bottom of either perforated steel or wire mesh for drainage. Some manufacturers attach suet cages to each of the wooden ends, I don’t like this because the suet cage backs on the hopper feeder causing mold and stains and because it concentrates too many birds on the feeder. For less money than the suet option on the hopper, you can get 2 suet cages and hang them at a distance from the seed feeder, spreading out the activity allowing the seed eaters to eat in peace.

There are various shapes and sizes of plastic hopper feeders as well, the too common gazebo feeder is a type of hopper...central seed reserve that dispenses at the bottom, in this case it is all around the octagon, but still a hopper. The good thing about a hopper feeder is it will attract just about everything, the bad thing about a hopper feeder is that it will attract just about everything. They are OK to get a feel for feeding but the majority of people will quickly move on to some other type of feeder, or if they don’t mind pigeons, black birds and jays, at least add a different type to give small birds a chance. Some people opt for placing the feeder inside a cage.

A platform feeder can be something as simple as a piece of plywood nailed to the top of a fence post, in most Maritime locations you’ll have to put a ridge around the outside to keep the seed from blowing off. A platform feeder with black oil sunflower and millet will draw just about everything that comes to feeders, but again you’ll quickly run into problems with larger birds taking over. If you live in the city or if there are pigeons in the area I wouldn’t recommend even starting with a platform feeder unless you have it inside a cage. What seems to work the best is a smallish platform on short legs, inside a cage about the size of a lobster trap, made of 2x2 inch mesh wire. Make sure the feeder is small enough that the pigeons can’t stand outside the cage and reach the seed. This set up makes it easy to access, you lift the cage off, dump the remaining seed hulls out of the feeder, refill the tray and replace the cage. You have to get to them soon after a snow fall so they don’t freeze in, but it usually isn’t a problem. When squirrels are active though, you may want to limit the seed to millet (squirrels don’t like it), it’s quite impossible to keep squirrels out of a ground platform feeder (unless you use electric shock training).

I like to make a platform out of window screen, this provides the best drainage so the seed won’t spoil as quick in wet weather. You simply sandwich a piece of screen between two equal sized frames and pole mount or add legs. You can make a roof over platform feeders, but some birds are initially leery of going under the roof, however after a snow fall these will be the only platform feeders open for business.

Tube feeders are available in sunflower/mixed seed or nyjer seed models, the best types are made of a flexible polycarbonate, they are extra tough and won’t break in the cold weather or break down in UV light like the hard plastic varieties. The best tube feeders also have the inverted V seed deflector in the bottom and now there are several varieties that have quick clean bases. I like these because you can take the bottom off in the yard, with no tools, and dump out the dust and dirt in the seed that settles to the bottom to rot. Most people are shocked at the price of these feeders, but if you compare it to some of the hopper feeders, they are usually double the cost of the plastic and less than the cost of the best wooden hoppers. The big difference is, the best tube feeders have a lifetime warranty that even covers squirrel damage, so instead of buying a new feeder every couple years, months or weeks (depending on your squirrels, mine offer “same day service”), these will be the last feeders you’ll ever buy. I can honestly say I’ve never had a customer come back saying, “I wished I’d gone with the cheaper feeder.” Although I’ve had many who wished they’d bought the best first. My favourite manufacturers are Aspects, Droll Yankees and Brome (Squirrel Buster) because they give me a supply of parts so you don’t have to send them back for repair and since they almost never break, I don’t have to work very hard.