Best feeders for small birds


Giving the smaller bird a chance to get on the feeders is an important part of feeding the birds.

It helps them to feed safely without being pushed out by Starlings, magpies, pigeons and other larger birds.

There are specific feeders on the market for small birds in the UK and we’ve compiled our top 3 small bird feeders.

These feeders are great for sparrows, tits, robins and other small birds. We personally use the top rated feeder in our garden (see some photos below).

Top 3 small bird feeders

No 1 – King fisher feeder

First in our list is one that I have sitting in my garden currently that attracts loads of birds all year round.

We get blue tits, sparrows, robins and occasional finches feeding on it.

Strangely we do occasionally get a woodpecker coming to feed on it – its tree climbing skills are used to hold on the side and get its long beak through the cage, its not a regular visitor though.

The feed keeps the starlings, magpies and wood pigeon off – these now patrol the ground looking for any feed thats been dropped or knocked out.

These are actually sold as a “Squirrel proof feeder” (which they also are) but the cage on the outside prevents larger birds too.

I currently have 2 of the nut ball feeders and change them through out the year.

cheap bird feeder

I got them in a pack of 3 from Amazon, you can get the exact ones via the button below*

Amazon-Buy-Now

 

I keep them filled with broken up round fat balls – it just makes it easier for the birds to break the balls up and I (usually the kids) fill 4-5 balls around once a week.

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The feeders have small birds on them all day long.

You can see our guide to bird tables here 🙂

 

No 2 – Roam wild pest off

This is a completely different idea to a small bird feeder which is spring loaded to keep heavier animals off. This is a really interesting design and looks like its perfect for feeding the song birds.

It’s described as blocking the following birds and animals feeding –

  1. Starlings
  2. Magpies
  3. Pigeons
  4. Doves
  5. Seagulls
  6. Squirrels
  7. Rats (eek)
  8. Crows

And able to be used by the following birds

  1. Robins
  2. All Tits
  3. Sparrows
  4. Finches
  5. Woodpeckers
  6. Nuthatch
  7. Kingfishers (not sure you’d ever get one on your feeder?)

wild bird feeder

This is a very new product from Roam wild and we love it! It’s a great idea for a small bird only feeder. You can buy it below from amazon* –

Amazon-Buy-Now

No 3 – Cage for most feeders

If you already have a feeder you may just want to block any larger birds or squirrels getting to it.

So number 3 in our best feeders from small birds isn’t actually a feeder – its a squirrel proof cage to keep them out.

You’ll need to check the sizes to make sure your feeder will fit but this effectively just sits over the feeder and gives the birds a place to feed safely.

squirrel blocking cage

This is an effective tool to keeping them out and works with most standard sized nut and seed feeders. We much prefer the top option though, this is more of an add on for if required.

Amazon-Buy-Now

Other ideas

One of the main problems with feeders is all the waste that ends up on the floor and is usually picked up by pigeons or if you’re unlucky – rats. There’s a couple of options to help reduce this.

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Option 1 – Place a wire feeder on the ground

You can get house type feeders for on the ground from the RSPB these can be placed under your feeder area to keep the pigeons off – it won’t stop the rats/ mice though.

This just means the smaller bird, usually sparrows and dunocks operate a ground feeders, will be able to get to any split seed.

If yo have open seed feeders you can end up with a lot of waste as the birds usually shake their heads while feeding.

If you are having a problem with rodents on your feeders rather than small birds its worth switching from seed to fat balls or nuggets. As the birds nibble at the blocks they create a lot less waste.

Option 2 – Tray feeder.

This is a find mesh tray to go under the feeder and catch any waste. This usually ends up as more of a double feeder where the birds will happily feed off the tray too.

Thats all for our top 3 – If you have any questions please use the comments below or send us a tweet to @HomeNgardenUK 


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