How to Keep Rats Away from Bird Feeders

Bird feeders are a brilliant way to bring wildlife into your garden, offering birds a reliable food source all year round. Whether you enjoy watching garden favourites like robins and blue tits or want to support our feathered friends through the colder months, feeding them can make a real difference.

However, bird feeders don’t just attract birds. If not managed carefully, they can also draw in unwanted visitors like rats, which are often attracted by spilt seed and easy access to food. In this guide, we’ll explore why bird feeders attract rats and share easy, wildlife-friendly tips to help keep them away

Why do Bird Feeders attract Rats?

Bird feeders are pretty irresistible to rats, and this is because bird feeders provide a consistent and accessible food source. When bird seed is spilt, rats will eat it off the floor.

Certain types of seeds, like sunflower seeds, are high in fat and protein, so they are more likely to attract rodents.

Keeping Rats away from your bird feeder

Keeping the bird feeding area clean

Rats are more likely to come to the garden at night, so keeping the feeding area regularly clean can make a big difference. At the end of the day, sweep the area around the feeder or bird table and put wild bird food out at the beginning of the day; this way, it will be gone by the evening. Rats are much more likely to be tempted by food left on the floor, so reducing spillages helps deter them.

Location of bird feeders

Rats don’t like open areas where they may be caught. If you place feeders in the middle of the garden, they have to expose themselves to predators, which makes the space less appealing to them and helps deter rats. A feeding pole in the middle of the garden is often the best way to discourage unwanted visitors.

Feeder with a seed tray

A feeder with a seed tray can be a simple but effective solution. The tray sits beneath the feeder to catch any dropped food from above, helping to stop rats from accessing food that would otherwise fall to the ground. You could also look into rodent proof bird feeders or other deterrents, like a squirrel baffle, that sits around the bird feeding pole.

Store bird food properly

If you are storing bird food somewhere rats may be able to access, use a galvanised metal bin that rats cannot chew through. Proper storage is key to preventing rodents from being attracted to your garden in the first place.

Plant your deterrents near where you feed birds

You can also try natural rat deterrents. Around or near the feeder, plant mint, as rats don’t like the smell of it. This is an easy, wildlife-friendly way to help keep your feeding area less appealing to them.

Benefits of Rat free environment for birds

• Rats can spread diseases that are harmful to birds, contaminating food with droppings and urine. Keeping the area rat-free helps protect the health of the birds visiting your garden.

• Rats gnaw and chew, and they can damage bird feeders. Preventing them from accessing feeding stations helps your equipment last longer and keeps feeding areas safer.

• Rats can eat a lot of bird feed, so by keeping them out, you help ensure there is plenty of food available for the local bird populations you’re trying to support.