Maine Garden Ideas
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        • 4 Best Tomatoes for Short Seasons - Early Tomatoes
        • 5 Early Maturing Tomatoes for Short Season Gardening
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        • How to Make Sun-Dried Tomatoes at Home
        • How to Grow a Pomato Plant
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    • Hummingbirds >
      • DIY Hummingbird Feeders from Recycled Bottles
      • Annuals for Hummingbird Gardens
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    • About Birdseed
    • Choosing a Birdfeeder
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  • How to Marinate Roasted Vegetables

How to Choose the Best Bird Feeders

Choosing the right bird feeder is an important part of attracting an assortment of birds to your yard. The size and style of bird feeder you provide determines which birds are likely to visit. Follow these simple guidelines to entice colorful birds to your feeders.

Trying to decide which food is best? Check out this description of birdseed types and the chart of songbird food preferences.

Platform Feeders

Platform bird feeder
Platform and tray feeders are exactly what the name implies. These flat, open feeders offer birdseed on a tray or platform. These feeders can be hung or installed on a pole to allow a variety of birds to feed from the same feeder.

Hopper Feeders

hopper birdfeeder
Hopper feeders, sometimes referred to as house feeders, hold the birdseed in a bin called a hopper. Birdseed falls from the bottom of the hopper filling a tray. As birds eat, new seeds fall into the tray to replace the seed that has been eaten.

Tube Feeders

Tube bird feeder
Tube feeders are ideal for small birds, such as finches , chick-a-dees and nuthatches, as they discourage larger birds such as jays and crackles. Seed is kept reasonably dry inside the tube, but they do require some cleaning as snow and rain can get into the bottom ports and moisten the food.


Finch Feeders

Finch Feeder
These simple feeders are sometimes called finch feeders, as they are filled with thistle or nyjer seed and  attract a host of finches, pine siskins and redpolls. Because the seed in fine, squirrels are not a problem. However, squirrels will chew the perches and ports on plastic finch feeders. A finch sock pictured above is a type of finch feeder.

Window Feeders

Window bird feeder
Window feeders attach to the window (typically with suction cups) to give you a close up view of birds as they feed. These little feeders are ideal for allowing children to observe nature up close. Window feeders are also a great option for those who are bed ridden or who limited mobility and want to watch birds from the bed or a chair near the window.




Suet Feeders

Suet Feeder
Suet gives birds the energy they need during the cold winter months and attract woodpeckers and nuthatches. These feeders range from a simple wire cage  to more elaborate constructions designed with hungry birds in mind.





How to Choose Birdseed
About Hummingbirds
Copyright © 2014 Nannette Richford



  • Home
  • Garden Thyme Blog
  • Themes
    • Butterfly Gardens
    • Moon Gardens
    • Sensory Gardens
    • All About Fairies
  • Flowers
    • Annual Flowers >
      • Alyssum
      • Cosmos
      • Geraniums
      • Marigolds
      • Morning Glories
      • Nasturtiums
      • Petunias >
        • Reviving Petunias
      • Snapdragons
      • Sunflowers
      • Sweet Peas
      • Zinnias
    • Perennial Flowers >
      • Golden Glow (Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Hortensia’)
      • Lupines
      • Purple Coneflower (Echinacea Purpurea)
    • Maine Wildflowers
  • Veggies
    • Warm Season Vegetables >
      • About Beans >
        • Growing Beans
        • Growing Pole Beans
        • How to Make a Teepee Trellis
      • About Corn >
        • Growing Corn
        • What is Baby Corn, anyway?
        • Can you grow corn in containers?
      • Cucumbers >
        • Grow a cucumber in a bottle
        • Growing Pickling Cucumbers
        • Growing cucamelons (Mexican Gherkin)
        • Why do cucumbers blossom but fail to set fruit?
        • Trellising Cucumbers
        • Making Cucumber Relish
        • Powdery Mildew on Cucumbers
      • Melons
      • Peppers >
        • Growing Peppers
      • Squash >
        • Growing Zucchini
        • Spaghetti Squash
      • Tomatoes >
        • How to Harden Off Tomato Plants
        • How (and when) to Prune Tomatoes
        • Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salt) for Tomatoes
        • Blossom End Rot in Tomatoes
        • Growing Cherry Tomatoes in Hanging Baskets
        • 4 Best Tomatoes for Short Seasons - Early Tomatoes
        • 5 Early Maturing Tomatoes for Short Season Gardening
        • How to Ripen Green Tomatoes
        • How to Make Sun-Dried Tomatoes at Home
        • How to Grow a Pomato Plant
    • Cool Season Vegetables >
      • Cole Crops
      • Greens >
        • How to Grow Spinach
        • How to Grow Malabar Spinach
        • How to Grow Swiss Chard
        • Harvesting and Cooking Beet Greens
        • How to Grow Microgreens
      • Onions & Garlic >
        • How to Grow Garlic
        • How to Grow Onions
      • Peas >
        • Growing Garden (shelling) Peas
        • Growing Sugar Snap Peas
      • Potatoes >
        • How to Grow Potatoes in Containers
        • How to Grow Potatoes in Hay Bales
      • Root Crops >
        • Growing Beets
        • How to Grow Carrots
        • Turnips vs Rutabagas
  • Herbs
    • Growing Basil
    • Growing Chives
    • Growing Lavender
    • Herbal Tea Garden
    • How to Grow a Culinary Herb Garden
    • How to Grow Herbs in Sponges
    • Colonial Herb Garden - Classroom Project
    • Herbed Butter
    • Making Herbed Oils
  • Gardening Basics
    • Seed Starting Basics
    • Grafting Basics
    • Soil >
      • Starting a New Garden
      • How to Prepare Soil
      • How to Test Soil Drainage
      • What Type of Soil Do You Have
      • Soil Mix Recipe for Containers
      • How to Make Compost Tea
      • How to Use Mulch
  • Garden Pests
    • How to Control Japanese Beetles
    • How to Control Blister Beetles
    • How to Get Rid of Colorado Potato Beetles
  • Birds
    • Hummingbirds >
      • DIY Hummingbird Feeders from Recycled Bottles
      • Annuals for Hummingbird Gardens
      • Perennials for Hummingbird Gardens
    • About Birdseed
    • Choosing a Birdfeeder
  • Fiddleheads and Fairies
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • How to Marinate Roasted Vegetables