Where to Put Bird Feeders in the Garden

If you're lucky enough to have a few different types of areas in your garden, then you might be wondering where to put bird feeders.

Well, that's a perfectly understandable question with a perfectly understandable answer. So, without further ado, let's discuss placing bird feeders throughout your garden.

Bird feeder

A bird feeder is, and always will be, one of the best ways to attract birds to your garden. A healthy, commonly filled bird feeding station will allow you to ensure that birds visit on a regular basis.

Birds will always seek out food and drink for themselves and their young. To that end, bird feeders will enable them to live in your garden or, at the very least, live nearby.

Garden birds will typically eat from bird feeders very heartily, especially in the UK.

Attract birds

Attracting birds to your garden is a goal that a wide variety of different gardeners and birdwatchers throughout the UK have.

They make for a bright, colourful, and delightful addition to any garden, with their personalities often coming out after they've visited your feeding station a few times.

Bird food is a great way to attract our feathered friends, and tracking down the good stuff depends upon what birds visit you. In your garden, your local birds will typically be the small, fat birds that do well in urban areas, such as robins, blue tits, and house sparrows.

To feed birds such as those in your garden, we would recommend using a mixture of seeds and mealworms.

This style of mixture can be bought from any number of different retailers and contains enough protein and nutrients for them to be totally full and happy with their meal. A sated bird is one that is sure to come back to a feeding station at a later date.

Hang bird feeders

Hanging feeders are quite common, especially when you're dealing with gardens that might not have a great range of places to put a freestanding feeder.

A bird feeding pole is a simple thing, of course, that can be situated right in the centre of your garden if needs be. That isn't quite what we're talking about here - we're speaking about hang feeders.

These are typically transparent cylinders that are used to display the seeds and nuts within to any hungry birds that might be nearby.

These commonly have a small metal hook or arch over the top of them that can be used to hang them - and if they don't you can invest in an S Hook that will help you hang them from trees or hooks. These are ideal for small birds since their weight is small enough to allow them to easily perch and munch.

Where is the best location for a bird feeder?

The best location for a bird feeder is typically a spot where birds can feel safe, yet squirrels cannot get to the bird food.

Typically, this is close to, though not pressed against, some shrubbery. This spot allows birds to have a level of natural cover and natural shelter on at least one side. This makes them feel less exposed, and so more comfortable sitting in that spot for a long time.

Make sure not to press bird feeders right up against shrubbery, though.

That would provide something similar to, essentially, scaffolding for a squirrel to climb in order to get to bird feeding stations and pinch as much bird food as they might like.

Can you put a bird feeder close to the house?

Yes, you can put bird feeders close to the house, though birds might not come to them organically.

Instead, we would recommend placing a bird feeder near the house if there are already birds nearby.

Whether ground feeders or passing birds, these pre-existing birds are likely to veer off course for a snack if they spot a new food source.

Window feeders

Window bird feeders are a great example of ways that you can keep a bird feeder very close to your house. They typically have small suction cups on them which can be used to attach them to a window, with a small piece of plastic or metal that would allow birds to stand and munch happily.

Should I put a bird feeder next to birdhouse?

You certainly can do this, though we wouldn't recommend it. Putting a bird feeder next to a bird house could make the whole area feel a little crowded with birds to any birds roosting in the bird house itself. To ensure that you don't upset any birds in the house, keep your bird feeder and bird house quite far apart from one another.

Do birds remember feeder locations?

Yes, birds certainly do remember feeder locations! Between nesting seasons, different birds will typically find a spot within their local area to nest and mate.

One of the main reasons for this is that they already know where every feeding tray, hanging feeder and the local park is nearby.

This is one of the reasons why birds will always return to the same areas within parks and other locations - they'll remember where people might sit at benches, feeding birds happily. They'll then return to get fed again and again.

How high should a bird feeder be off the ground?

A bird feeder should generally be between four and six feet in height. Anywhere in that region should work fine for a bird feeder in your garden, though evaluating on a case-by-case basis is ideal.

The things to avoid, really, are ground-feeding birds and neighbourhood cats. They both pose a threat to smaller birds, though for different reasons.

Selecting a higher place to hang your bird feeder will allow the garden birds to feed safely away from cats while placing seeds on the ground in a different spot will prevent ground-dwelling birds from stealing food from their smaller cousins.

Is it possible to hang bird feeders in trees?

Yes, it is possible to place bird feeders in trees. This can actually be ideal in some cases, for instance, if there's a nest in a tree or a nearby tree - birds will feel inclined to go under the canopy as it will allow them to feel a little safer.

The main disadvantage to doing this is that there would be some level of risk of nearby squirrels creeping along tree branches to steal seeds and nuts from the birds that you're feeding.

If you don't mind this, then it can be a great place to put a bird feeder. If you'd like to avoid it, though, then a tree could be one of the worst places for a bird feeder to go.

Help birds feel safe near trees or shrubs

Placing a bird table or bird feeding station near a tree or a shrub will help birds to feel safe, as it essentially cuts off a direction from which they could be attacked by a larger bird or a local cat.

You might notice that small birds could eat with their backs to the tree or shrub that you've placed the feeder next to - that's because they know they're safe in that direction.

You can use this information to your advantage, and place bird feeders strategically to make birds feel happy and safe.

Don't put bird feeders too close to trees

Putting bird feeders too close to trees can present a real threat. Aside from just squirrels stealing food from bird feeders, a tree can also present a hiding place for a cat or two among the branches.

This can lead to a level of danger for any feeding birds, since the cats could reach down to swipe at them with little effort, leading to their death.

 

We hope that this article has given you a little insight on placing bird feeders - they're a simple thing, but the placement is key for their success in your garden!