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A birdfeeder, bird table, or tray feeder is a device placed outdoors to supply bird food to (bird feeding). The success of a bird feeder in attracting birds depends upon its placement and the kinds of foods offered, as different species have different preferences.
Most bird feeders supply or bird food, such as millet, sunflower (oil and striped), safflower, nyjer seed, and rapeseed to seed-eating birds.
Bird feeders often are used for birdwatching and many people keep trained on feeders where birds often congregate, with some even living just near the bird feeder.
Seed feeders are mainly squirrel proof, tube-like or hopper. Due to the need of keeping squirrels away from the bird food, manufacturers have created different defense mechanisms that may deter squirrels from getting close to the seed. Some seed feeders come with weight sensitive technology which shuts off the access to the seed ports whenever a heavy weight is detected (as most squirrels are heavier than birds). Birds can still feed as they weigh less and the ports remain open under their weight. Other seed feeders are designed to be mounted on poles as it is believed that squirrels reach seed feeders more easily from trees than from poles. The simplest type of squirrel proof feeder is a tube-like feeder surrounded by a metal cage. These feeders also offer protection from larger and more aggressive birds. Tube seed feeders are primarily made of clear plastic tubes with plastic or metal caps, bases and perches. Hopper bird feeders look like a house and attract a wide range of birds such as finches, cardinals, blue jays, sparrows and titmice.
Hummingbird feeders usually have red accents or red glass to help attract hummingbirds. The sugar mixture is sometimes colored with red food coloring to attract birds, though this is not necessary if the feeder itself is red, and may actually be harmful to the birds. tend to grow in hummingbird feeders and spoil the solution, so they must be refreshed frequently and kept very clean to avoid harm to the birds. See the article on for more details. Ants and other insects are also attracted to hummingbird nectar. Smearing petroleum jelly on the stem or cap of the feeder (away from the perch or flower part where the bird may come into contact with it) may prevent the ants from crawling to the feeder. When placing a hummingbird feeder, the feeder is best suited 15 to 20 feet from windows; 10 to 15 feet from the nearest cover, like shrubs or bushes; and in an open area that receives partial sun, so that hummingbirds can move from nectar source to nectar source.
Hummingbird top-fill feeders are popular among bird lovers because they are easy to fill and clean and also because they do not need to be turned upright which means that there are less chances that the nectar is spilled. The sports bottle top-fill hummingbird feeders have the design of a sports bottle, with a mechanism that works similarly to such a bottle. With this type of feeder, one has to push down the plastic container in order to close the nectar reservoir and then to unscrew the cap and pour the nectar. After the cap is replaced, the body of the nectar reservoir can be pulled up. This type of bird feeder has the advantage that the feeder does not need to be turned upside down to be refilled and which results in less nectar wasted by spilling. The traditional top-fill hummingbird feeders are one of the most popular types. There is also a plunger type of top-filling hummingbird feeder which comes with a small plunger in the container that creates the vacuum seal when the lid is tightened and the nectar will start flowing only when the lid is sealed correctly to the feeding ports.
The bottom-fill hummingbird feeders include a traditional bottom-fill feeder and several variations of it. The traditional ones are filled from an opening at the bottom of the nectar container but many manufacturers have come up with improved variations of the traditional style of feeder, to make feeding birds easier and with less nectar wasted. Some bottom-fill feeders come with a funnel-like opening at the bottom of the container, through which the feeder is filled. Other bottom-filled hummingbird feeders can be attached to one's window to provide a close-up of the birds.
Tucker subsequently developed early automatic hummingbird feeders, which were partially adapted from drinking apparatuses used for farm-raised chickens and featured spherical containers at the top with narrow necks leading down to a perching area that could feed eight hummingbirds simultaneously. Also during the 1920s, Margaret L. Bodine successfully experimented with feeding hummingbirds using two-inch-long bottles made of brightly colored materials and filled with sugar water that she left among clematis flowers. Inspired at least partially by Bodine's work, Edith Webster similarly experimented with feeders and herself tasted nectar from various flowers to better replicate the sweetness level preferred by hummingbirds for her sugar water solution, arriving at two parts water to one part sugar as the optimal ratio. Webster's husband, Lawrence, created cylindrical hummingbird feeders made of clear glass with two red-colored glass feeding ports at the base, and while none were sold, he made dozens for the Websters' garden.
Hummingbird feeders began appearing for sale in the early 1930s. In 1932, W. R. Sullivan invented a feeder designed to prevent other birds or insects from drinking from it, which he produced and sold locally around Kerrville, Texas. Most of the early commercial hummingbird feeders used bottles or vials full of sugar water that was dispensed via various imitation flower designs, as had their noncommercial antecedents. Prominent examples of hummingbird feeders sold between the 1930s and 1950s were those designed and built by H. R. Davis, Robert Morgan, Winthrop Packard, and the Tucker Sanctuary.
Since the start of commercialization, hummingbird feeders have largely evolved into designs of two distinct types: "vacuums", which are inverted cylinders with feeding ports at the bottom, and "saucers", which resemble two bowls or dishes fixed together in a top-to-bottom orientation, with feeding ports on the top side. Droll Yankees marketed one of the first prominent saucer-type feeders, the LF ("Little Feeder"), while numerous small companies sold vacuum-type feeders into the 1970s.
Oriole feeders usually have nectar containers made of glass or plastic, which are designed to attract the orioles. Oriole feeders should be cleaned at least once a week and even more often when the are higher. Oriole feeders also come in top fill, bottom fill and dish-like designs.
Providing a varied array of tastes and feeding venues will result in less competition for food and dining spots for birds, just as well-planned and maintained gardens provide many plants which supply different types of seeds and nectars. A shallow bird bath can attract as many birds as a feeder but it must be safe from cats, kept clean, and refreshed frequently with clean water to avoid mosquitoes. The birdbath should be placed where a frightened bird can fly up easily to an overhanging limb or resting place if disturbed or attacked.
The placement of a bird feeder can also prevent squirrels from accessing the seed. In addition, baffles can be used that prevent squirrels from gaining their footing above feeders. Below feeders, baffles can prevent squirrels from climbing any further; however, squirrels are very agile and acrobatic and often find a way to overcome devices of any nature. A Squirrel-Proof Bird Feeder Hadidian, John, Phd, Humane Society of the United States, Winter 2001, accessed September 3, 2009
Depending on the feeder design and the type of feed used, species such as the house sparrow can dominate the use of the feeder. As a result, the house sparrow population can become inflated locally where feeders are used. In North America, where the house sparrow is an invasive species, competition from house sparrows can exclude the indigenous from available nest sites as well as attack indigenous birds.
The use of bird feeders has been claimed to cause many other environmental problems; some of these were highlighted in a 2002 front-page article in The Wall Street Journal,Sterba, James B. Crying Fowl: Feeding Wild Birds May Harm Them and Environment, Wall Street Journal, December 27, 2002. which provoked responses nationwide from bird enthusiasts and scientists who refuted the article's arguments.
Prior to the publication of the Wall Street Journal article, Canadian ornithologist Jason Rogers also wrote about the environmental problems associated with the use of bird feeders in the journal Alberta Naturalist.Rogers, J. 2002. Birdfeeding: Another viewpoint. Alberta Naturalist 31: 1-11. In this article, Rogers explains how the use of bird feeders is inherently fraught with negative impacts and risks such as fostering dependency, altering natural distribution, density, and migration patterns, interfering with ecological processes, causing malnutrition, facilitating the spread of disease, and increasing the risk of death from cats, pesticides, hitting windows, and other causes.
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