Hanging Wild Bird Feeders

In many areas, the bird food that attracts the greatest variety of birds are black-oil sunflower seeds. Black-oil sunflower seeds are slightly smaller than their common gray-striped cousins, and their hulls are thinner and easier to open. A tube feeder filled with black-oil sunflower seeds is a good combination for attracting birds to your bird feeder.

Tube style bird feeders are easy to fill and maintain, and they are also easy to hang. Some feeder models hang from hooks, cables or chains. Most of the popular models hang from a sturdy wire bail that is secured near the top of the feeder. The bail pivots to side, allowing easy access to the top of the feeder for filling with fresh birdseed.

Hanging a variety of different feeders, in different places around your yard and at different heights, increases the number and types of birds that will visit your yard. Some bird species are territorial, and placing feeders in different locations helps to reduce competition at the feeding stations.

Birds need to feel secure before they will visit a bird feeder. Look around your yard to locate places to hang the wild bird feeders near the safety of shrubs, bushes and trees, while also selecting sites where you can watch the feeding birds and access the feeders safely for refilling and cleaning.

Be aware that cover can also conceal predators, so take care to ensure that the bird feeders are not located in areas where cats and other predators can hide and ambush birds as they visit your feeders. Locate your bird feeders close enough to trees and bushes so that the visiting birds will feel secure and can watch for predators, but not so close that the neighbor's cat can reach the feeders by leaping from a concealed spot under a bush.

Running a cable between two trees makes it easy to hang several feeders in close proximity, with each bird feeder offering different types of birdseed. Anchor the cable high enough for the bird feeders to hang down within easy reach for cleaning and refilling.

Drill a small pilot hole in one tree at the desired height. Screw an eye bolt into the hole. Attach one end of the cable to the eye hole; I used a solid copper electrical wire that I threaded through the eye bolt and then wrapped it several times around itself to secure it.

Stretch the cable across to the second tree. Pull the cable tight, and use a level to determine the proper height and location for anchoring the other end of the cable. Drill a pilot hole, screw in another eye bolt and then attached the cable securely.

Determine where along the cable to hang the bird feeders. I used another section of copper wire to form a drop wire for hanging the bird feeders at a convenient height. Wrap one end of the copper wire several times around the cable, and attach the other end to an "S" hook. Hang the wild bird feeder from the "S" hook. The connection to the cable is secure, yet allows for easily moving the bird feeder along the length of the cable for spacing.

Wrought iron and decorative metal brackets are available in many different sizes and styles, and these attach easily to trees and poles for hanging wild bird feeders.

Rather than screwing the bracket directly into a tree, mount a small backer board to the tree and then attach the bracket to back board.

Cast iron brackets are sturdy and hold the feeder securely, but after a few years of exposure to the elements they may begin to chip and rust. Clean the metal with a little sandpaper or a wire brush, then cover with a couple of coats of spray paint, and the metal bracket is ready for several more years of service.
.
.

Hanging a wild bird feeder near a window allows for great views of feeding birds. Choose a bracket that can be mounted horizontally (essentially upside) from the underside of the eves. Many of the wrought iron style brackets can be adapted for this use, including the brackets in the accompanying photo, and the overhanging roof protects the bird feeders from the rain and snow. Hanging wild bird feeders from eves also makes it very difficult for squirrels to reach the feeders.

Hang a cable from the bracket, and attach at quick release karabiner to the other end. Karabiners are inexpensive and readily available at hardware stores. They securely hold the bird feeder in place yet make it easy to remove the feeder for cleaning and refilling with birdseed.

.

If you feed them, they will come. Here's a short list of the common birds in North America, and the type of wild birdseed that attracts them. Fill up the feeders and ring the dinner bell!

Sunflower seeds:
The black oil sunflower seeds have a thinner shell than the gray striped variety, making it easier for the birds to open.
Attracts: nuthatches, chickadees, cardinals, jays, woodpeckers, titmice, finches, sparrows, and grosbeaks.

Safflower seeds:
Birds like safflower seeds, but squirrels tend to leave them alone.
Attracts: nuthatches, cardinals, titmice, finches, sparrows, and grosbeaks.

Thistle (nyger seed):
This small seed requires a specialized feeder.
Attracts: nuthatches, chickadees, cardinals, jays, woodpeckers, titmice, finches, sparrows, and grosbeaks. Flocks of goldfinches will crowd around a thistle-filled feeder.

Suet
Sold in square cakes, a commercially prepared suet cake often includes nuts, berries and other little tasty bits.
Attracts: nuthatches, chickadees, jays, woodpeckers and titmice.

Cracked corn:
Spread cracked corn on the ground or offer in tray feeders.
Attracts: sparrows, jay and mourning doves. Wild turkeys, quail, deer, chipmunks and squirrels (including flying squirrels) will also visit a wildlife feeder filled with cracked corn.

Nectar:
Attracts: hummingbirds and orioles will drink liquid nectar from specially designed feeders. Orioles also like jelly.

Mealworms:
Attracts: Bluebirds love mealworms. Available live or freeze dried, offer mealworms on a tray feeder or in specially designed bluebird feeders. Ring a bell when filling the feeder, and bluebirds will learn quickly that dinner is served.

Suet feeders attract woodpeckers, nuthatches and other clinging birds, and this simple design adds functionality to the basic wire cages used to hold suet cakes. Refilling the feeder with fresh suet cakes is easy and takes just a few moments.

Depending on your preference, attach the wire suet cages to either one side or to both sides of the feeder plank. The extension below the wire cage acts a tail prop for larger woodpeckers while feeding, and the short cable attached to the top plate makes it easy to hang the suet feeder from a branch or decorative bracket.

Here's how to make a feeder plank for hanging suet feeders.

Things You Need:

Cut two pieces of pine, cedar or redwood into the following dimensions:

Top plate: 2 ½" W x 7 ½" L

Feeder plank: 5 ½" W x 12" LDrill two holes, 3/16 inches in diameter, approximately ½ inch from each end of the top plate. The cables ends thread through these holes to hang the suet feeder.

Sand all of the edges to break the hard corners and remove any tear outs from the cutting process. Mill a decorative edge along the top plate with a router bit. Use the same bit to mill decorative edges down both sides of the feeder plank, and along the bottom edge. Do not mill the top edge of the feeder plank.

Attach the top plate to the top edge of the feeder plank, using weather resistant nails or screws.

Position a wire suet feeder cage to the feeder plank, leaving enough space at the top to open the cage for filling with suet cakes. Use two short screws and over-sized washers to secure the suet cage to the feeder plank.

Thread the ends of a short length of cable through both holes in the top plate. Tie each end with a simple overhand knot, and the suet feeder is ready to hang in the garden.
.

For over 35 years, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) has encouraged homeowners, schools, corporations and municipalities to incorporate the needs of the local wildlife into their landscape design.

So far, the NWF has recognized the efforts of nearly 140,000 individuals and organizations who plant native shrubs and plants for food, cover and places for raising their young, provide include a source of drinking water, and add nesting boxes for cavity nesting birds.

Please visit the NWF website for additonal information on their offical Certified Wildlife Habitat program
.

Feeding Orioles: How To Make an Oriole Feeder
Invite these beautiful birds to your yard with an Oriole Feeder Orioles feed on fruits and insects rather than seeds, and they will not show much interest i...

How to Make a Bluebird Feeder
Bluebirds feed on insects rather than seeds, and they are especially fond of mealworms. This specially designed bluebird feeder is easy to make, and the blue...

Attracting Bluebirds into Your Garden
Bird watchers and gardeners try to attract bluebirds into their yards, both for their beauty and for the beneficial role they play by eating many different t...

Storing Wild Bird Seed
Offering different types of bird feeders and filling them with a various sorts of wild bird seed helps to attract a wide variety of bird species to your back...

Feeding Wild Birds in Winter
Feeding Wild Birds in winter provides an alternate food source during the time of year when natural foods are scarce and harder to find. Depending on where y...

Feeding Backyard Birds
Attracting and feeding wild birds is easy if your yard offers four essential ingredients: food, water, cover and nesting sites. Hanging birds feeders filled...

Create a Backyard Wildlife Habitat
Attracting wildlife to your backyard is a fun and rewarding experience, and can enhance the enjoyment of any yard. Whether you live in the city, on a small s...

Our Small Garden Pond
Building a small garden pond for keeping koi and goldfish is a fun and rewarding DIY project. Most guides for creating water gardens and backyard ponds recom...

Make a Butterfly House for the Garden
Making garden butterfly houses is an easy weekend project that requires just a few pieces of wood and some common hand tools. Make butterfly boxes from cedar...

How to Build a Bat House
Bat House Bats are one of the best natural defenses against mosquitoes and other flying pests, with each bat devouring over 1000 flying insects every evening...

Birdhouse Plans and Nesting Boxes
Every woodworker likes free project plans, and every woodworker that enjoys building wooden birdhouses likes free birdhouse plans. Over time, I created seve...