The best way to provide food for birds is to have a healthy ecosystem.
The next best is to supplement with feeders. This also allows the opportunity for you to view the birds at a closer range,
and enjoy their beauty.
There are many types of bird feeders. You can purchase them, or build them yourself. Birds
have various ways they like to eat...such as foraging on the ground or eating off a platform. My suggestion for beginners
is to choose two or three types of feeders to cover the different feeding patterns.
One of the most popular feeders
is the tube feeder. You can hang these from a tree limb, arch or even mount it on a post. These are very
versatile, and can be filled with a variety of seeds to attract a wide variety of birds such as sparrows, grosbeaks, chickadees,
titmice, and finches.
Platform feeders are good for birds that like a stable footing, an example
would be a mourning dove. They normally like foraging on the ground, and do not like the hanging feeders in general. You can
place large seeds or nuts on these feeders. Tray feeders placed near the ground are most likely to attract ground-feeding
birds such as juncos, doves, jays, blackbirds, and sparrows.
Hopper feeders normally have a "roof"
and hold much more seed. Hopper feeders are attractive to most feeder birds, including finches, jays, cardinals, buntings,
grosbeaks, sparrows, chickadees, and titmice.
Sock feeders are made from a fine mesh (or pantyhose!)
and are used for smaller seed, such as nyger. These will attract many of the smaller birds, such as the finch family.
Suet feeders are often used more so in winter to provide birds with a high energy (read high calorie)
food source. Suet is animal fat. It can be mixed with seeds, dried fruit, nuts and more to make a irresistible treat for birds.
Suet feeders attract a variety of woodpeckers and nuthatches, as well as chickadees, titmice, jays, and starlings.
Window feeders are normally made of clear plastic and use suction cups to adhere to the window. This type
of feeder attracts finches, sparrows, chickadees, and titmice.
Thistle feeder is designed with
extra-small openings to dispense tiny thistle seeds, usually similar to a tube feeder. Thistle is also known as nyjer or niger
seed. These feeders attract a variety of small songbirds, especially finches and redpolls.
Hummingbird
feeders hold artificial nectar or sugar solution. The feeder is normally made of glass or plastic, and has ports
for feeding, normally covered with a guard to keep bees away. Hummingbirds are attracted by red, so most of the feeders you
see will have red ports.
There are also many specialized feeders. For orioles, it would hold jelly and fruit.
For blue birds, it looks like a cup, and holds meal worms.
SO many choices!!
Bird Food Recipes
