Bird Feeder Webhttps://birdfeederweb.com/Independent, in-depth guides to bird feeders, bird food, backyard species, squirrel-proofing and feeder hygiene, with original cost and preference analysis.en-usBird feeder materials: what survives sun, teeth, ice and bleachhttps://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/bird-feeder-materials/https://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/bird-feeder-materials/Polycarbonate, styrene, powder-coated steel, recycled poly lumber, cedar, glass and copper compared on UV, chewing, freeze-thaw, cleaning and service life.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Ground feeders: the highest-maintenance way to feed birds, and how to do it safelyhttps://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/ground-feeders/https://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/ground-feeders/Ground and low-tray feeding brings in juncos, sparrows, towhees and doves, and carries the highest disease and rodent risk of any style. The rules that keep it safe.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Hopper feeders: capacity, ledges and the jam nobody diagnoseshttps://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/hopper-feeders/https://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/hopper-feeders/How house and hopper feeders work, why a big hopper means stale seed, the ledge width that lets cardinals in, and how to diagnose a bridged seed jam.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000How to choose a bird feederhttps://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/how-to-choose-a-bird-feeder/https://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/how-to-choose-a-bird-feeder/Choose a feeder by working forwards from the birds you want, through food, design, mounting and the cleaning you will realistically do. With a decision table.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Bird Feeder Typeshttps://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/https://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/How feeder designs divide the bird community into perching, clinging, ground, nectar and fruit feeders, what each design is for, and which three cover a yard.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Hummingbird feeders: pressure, ports and the cleaning test that decides everythinghttps://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/hummingbird-feeders/https://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/hummingbird-feeders/How saucer and inverted-bottle nectar feeders differ mechanically, why one drips and the other does not, and the disassembly test that should decide which you buy.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Mealworm feeders: dish design, portions and keeping starlings outhttps://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/mealworm-feeders/https://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/mealworm-feeders/Shallow dish or caged bluebird feeder, live worms or dried, how many to put out, how to train a bluebird to the dish, and how to lock starlings out.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Nyjer and finch feeders: why they empty slowly and how that breaks themhttps://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/nyjer-finch-feeders/https://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/nyjer-finch-feeders/Nyjer tubes, mesh feeders and socks compared, why finch feeders go stale before they empty, how to diagnose abandoned finch feeders, and port slit sizing.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Oriole feeders: why most of them never get used, and the three weeks that decide ithttps://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/oriole-feeders/https://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/oriole-feeders/Wide-port nectar, jelly dishes and fruit spikes compared, plus the arrival and departure timing that explains why most oriole feeders sit untouched all summer.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Peanut feeders: mesh size, peanut quality and the squirrel problem you cannot design awayhttps://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/peanut-feeders/https://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/peanut-feeders/How wire mesh gauge decides which birds feed and how fast jays empty a feeder, what makes peanuts unsafe, and why in-shell peanuts are not the cheaper option.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Platform and tray feeders: the widest species list, at a pricehttps://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/platform-tray-feeders/https://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/platform-tray-feeders/A tray reaches more species than any other feeder and costs the most in disease risk and squirrels. Drainage, portion sizes, height and the daily sweep.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Poles, hooks and hangers: holding a feeder still and off the groundhttps://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/poles-hooks-and-hangers/https://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/poles-hooks-and-hangers/Pole diameter and wobble, ground sockets versus augers, frost heave, why shepherd hooks bend, multi-arm crowding, branch lines and deck rail mounts.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Squirrel-proof feeders: the three mechanisms and how each one failshttps://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/squirrel-proof-feeders/https://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/squirrel-proof-feeders/Wire cage, weight-activated shroud and spinning feeders compared honestly, including the failure mode of each, snow effects and a ten-year cost comparison.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Suet feeders: cages, tail props and the upside-down trickhttps://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/suet-feeders/https://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/suet-feeders/Which suet cage design to use, why a tail-prop extension changes woodpecker visits, how upside-down feeders exclude starlings, and why suet goes rancid.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Tube feeders: what they do well, and the four ways they failhttps://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/tube-feeders/https://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/tube-feeders/How tube feeders work, which birds use them, the port and perch details that decide your species list, and the four failure modes that ruin most of them.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Window feeders: the suction cup problem, and why glass-mounted feeders are safer than they soundhttps://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/window-feeders/https://birdfeederweb.com/feeders/window-feeders/Why window feeder suction cups let go and how to make them hold, the collision-risk case for mounting a feeder on glass, and which birds will actually use one.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000What bird seed really costs, per pound eaten and per caloriehttps://birdfeederweb.com/data/seed-cost-per-calorie/https://birdfeederweb.com/data/seed-cost-per-calorie/Shelf price hides hull weight and energy density. This is every common bird food ranked by cost per pound actually eaten and by calories delivered per dollar.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Every bird feeder design, scored on the same attributeshttps://birdfeederweb.com/data/feeder-comparison-table/https://birdfeederweb.com/data/feeder-comparison-table/Thirteen feeder designs compared on the foods they handle, squirrel resistance, weather protection, capacity and the species they reach.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Data and Original Analysishttps://birdfeederweb.com/data/https://birdfeederweb.com/data/Our reference tables for backyard bird feeding: the species-by-food preference matrix, cost per pound eaten, energy density, and every feeder design scored.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Methodology: how our numbers are builthttps://birdfeederweb.com/data/methodology/https://birdfeederweb.com/data/methodology/Every figure on this site, where it comes from, how derived values are calculated, which numbers are our estimates, and where the underlying evidence is weakest.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Bird food nutrition: fat, protein and energy density comparedhttps://birdfeederweb.com/data/bird-food-nutrition/https://birdfeederweb.com/data/bird-food-nutrition/Fat, protein and energy density for thirteen common bird foods, with what each nutrient actually does for a wild bird in winter, in migration and in the nesting season.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Bird food preference chart: 34 species against 13 foodshttps://birdfeederweb.com/data/bird-food-preference-chart/https://birdfeederweb.com/data/bird-food-preference-chart/A matrix of 34 common North American feeder birds scored against 13 foods, from top-tier favorite to not-a-feeder-food, with the data downloadable.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000About Bird Feeder Webhttps://birdfeederweb.com/about/https://birdfeederweb.com/about/What this site is, who it is for, how it is funded, and the constraints we work under: no products sold, no brands recommended, no affiliate links.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Contacthttps://birdfeederweb.com/contact/https://birdfeederweb.com/contact/How to report an error on Bird Feeder Web, suggest a topic, or send an observation from your own feeders, and what we cannot help with.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000Correctionshttps://birdfeederweb.com/corrections/https://birdfeederweb.com/corrections/Factual errors found on Bird Feeder Web, what was changed, and when. Corrections are logged rather than edited away silently.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000