Birdfeeders

The tube bird feeder is perfect for small birds. It is basically a long slender plastic tube filled with seeds. It has short perches which are difficult for big birds to land on and feeding holes big enough for a bird to pluck a seed out of. Tube feeders keep the seed well protected and dry, yet they are quite easy to fill and clean. They come in many sizes so it is easy to find one that suits the traffic in your yard and how often you are willing to fill it. Tube feeders are especially suited to hold sunflower seeds which is a favorite seed of most small birds, such as nuthatches, woodpeckers, titmice, pine siskins and finches. If you attach a tray to the bottom of the tube feeder, jays and other larger birds are more likely to visit.

There are, however, a couple of disadvantages to tube feeders. This type of feeder only appeals to certain types of birds, so the variety of visitors is limited. Also, fewer birds can eat at one time, limited by the number of feeding ports. Also, unless you watch carefully, the top feeding portals become useless as the level of seed drops. It is not a good idea to use a tube feeder for mixed seed because birds will toss aside less desirable seeds to get to the ones they like best. This will waste a great deal of seed.