Kathy Laurie

When natural food supplies decrease as temperatures drop, your bird feeders will become much more popular with birds. Winter is the time to stock up on the foods that birds will seek out, especially foods that offer the most calories. These high fat foods will give birds plenty of energy to build the fat reserves needed to survive the long, cold winter nights.

Hopper bird feeders have advantages over most other bird feeders. They are the most versatile and the easiest to maintain. Basically, a hopper bird feeder is shaped like a house and has a platform with a seed reservoir and a roof. It can be either hung or mounted on a pole. Seeds are stored in a holding bin, some with a quite large capacity, and fall down into a tray as birds eat them. The storage bin usually has a roof so seed is protected from the weather.

Squirrel feeders located away from a bird feeding station will attract squirrels so they ignore the bird feeders. Squirrels prefer corn and nuts to bird seed and squirrel feeders are designed to offer these treats.

Orioles are beautiful birds that are a delight to have visit backyards. They are nectar feeding birds so are not attracted to bird feeders that hold seed. They enjoy the same sugar water solution that is fed to hummingbirds. However, they require a perch to land on that is bigger than on a hummingbird feeder. Luckily, oriole bird feeders suit them perfectly.