10 Types of Bird Feeders You Need in Your Backyard
Updated: Nov. 29, 2023
You can never have enough feeders. Learn about the types of bird feeders available, and make plans to add a new bird feeder to your yard.
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Suet Feeder
You can find many different types of suet feeders. This style of feeder has the suet cage attached to a vertical wooden platform, giving woodpeckers a place to prop with their tails. A suet bird feeder will also attract nuthatches, chickadees, wrens and jays. Here’s how to make your own suet.
Check out the best sunflower seed bird feeders for your yard
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Peanut Feeder
Peanut feeders are usually shaped like a tube, which can be filled with out-of-shell or in-shell peanuts. Here’s how to make a DIY peanut bird feeder. But you can also find them in round, wreath shapes. These types of bird feeders have large holes, so the birds (and sometimes squirrels) have to work to get peanuts out. Blue jays, nuthatches, tufted titmice and woodpeckers particularly love peanut feeders. Want to see birds up close? Try a window bird feeder!
Oriole Fruit Feeder
To attract orioles, tanagers, grosbeaks and catbirds, look for fruit feeders that hold oranges, grape jelly and apples. These are great feeders to experiment with, especially in spring and fall, when you’ll see the most migrants. Don’t miss the best-selling bird feeders of 2022.
Sugar Water Feeder
Sugar water feeders are typically found in a few standard shapes, including glass bottle, tube and round dish. Whatever shape you choose, this type of bird feeder will be a magnet for those glorious little flyers we call hummingbirds. Here’s how to make your own sugar water. Also look for orange-colored oriole feeders.
Tube Bird Feeder
Fill tube feeders with sunflower seed or safflower seed to attract many birds, including Northern cardinals, tufted titmice, house finches, chickadees, and grosbeaks. To deter squirrels and bully birds like grackles, look for weight-sensitive tube feeders that close off seed access.
Nyjer Finch Feeder
Often a tube shaped, nyjer feeders hold the special tiny black thistle seed that American goldfinches love. Some types of nyjer bird feeders are a simple mesh sock, while others are made with metal mesh or solid plastic. You can even get nyjer feeders that are several feet long, holding dozens of goldfinches at a time. Check out more of the best finch feeders to serve thistle seed.
Tray or Platform Feeder
Tray or platform feeders can either hang from a hook or sit on your deck or the ground. In both cases, the feeding surface is completely open, so birds have plenty of space to land and eat. Tray feeders are often used to attract larger birds like mourning doves and ground-feeding birds like dark-eyed juncos. Look for feeders with holes or mesh on the bottom to allow for drainage. Love cardinals? We found the best cardinal bird feeders and birdseed.
Hopper Bird Feeder
The classic hopper feeder is usually covered with a roof and enclosed on all four sides. It’s common to find these types of bird feeders in the shape of a house or a barn. Sometimes you can even find hopper feeders with suet cake holders on either end. While they typically don’t deter squirrels, hopper feeders do protect seed from rain and snow. Larger birds such as woodpeckers, grosbeaks and mourning doves frequently visit them.
Find out how (and how often) to clean bird feeders.
Log Feeder
If you want a thrifty, DIY project, take an old log and drill a few holes in the side. These holes are perfect for stuffing full of suet or peanut butter for the birds. Plus, the log feeder gives woodpeckers, blue jays and nuthatches a built-in perch.Â
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Mealworm Bluebird Feeder
To attract bluebirds and other insect-eating birds like thrushes and wrens, offer live mealworms in bluebird feeder. Try a small glass dish or a domed feeder. Here’s our guide to feeding mealworms.
Originally Published: May 18, 2022
