Bird Feeder for Windy Areas

Large hoppers attract most species of feeder birds and let larger species like doves and grackles feed ¹; on a pole they are also the steadiest feeder in wind, and a pole with a baffle solves squirrels at the same time ¹. Trays attract most species too, and placed near the ground they draw juncos, doves and sparrows ¹ — a low, heavy platform in the lee of a shrub is the most wind-proof feeder there is.

Suet cages are the other wind-proof option: a block in a wire cage cannot spill or blow out, and suet is a good choice for attracting insect-eating birds such as woodpeckers, nuthatches and chickadees ¹.

If a hanging tube is your only option, the good news is that its main customers do not care. Black-capped Chickadees don't mind using tiny hanging feeders that swing in the wind ⁴, and American Goldfinches don't mind feeders that sway in the wind either ⁵. What wind does do is blow rain into ports and empty open trays, so keep the feeder close to cover — trees or shrubs that also give birds refuge — and about ten feet from branches squirrels could use ¹.

Place feeders close to natural cover such as trees or shrubs, which offer birds refuge from predators, but not so close to strong branches that squirrels can jump across — a distance of about 10 feet is the usual guidance ¹. Windows are the other hazard: collisions kill perhaps a billion or more birds a year in North America, and older rules about safe feeder-to-window distances are no longer thought valid — if a window is near a feeder, treat the glass with markings spaced no more than 2 inches apart, external screens or cords, rather than worrying about the distance ³.

Squirrel baffles — barriers placed between squirrels and feeders — are usually the best defense. Squirrels can jump to feeders placed less than ten feet from a tree or building, so a pole-mounted feeder in the open with a baffle below it, or a tilting baffle at least 18 inches in diameter above a hanging feeder, is the arrangement that works ¹.

Clean seed and suet feeders regularly — every week or two, and more often during heavy use or wet weather — by scrubbing off debris and washing the parts thoroughly with warm water and dish soap ¹. Hummingbird feeders need cleaning far more often, every couple of days and ideally every time they are refilled; discard the solution and clean immediately at any sign of cloudy water or black mold ¹.

If a sick bird appears — House Finch eye disease shows as red, swollen, runny or crusty eyes, and avian pox as wart-like growths around the eye, bill, legs and feet — remove the feeders the bird is using for a couple of weeks and clean the feeders and the area thoroughly, so disease is not spread at the feeder ². Salmonellosis, caused by Salmonella bacteria, is a common cause of mortality in feeder birds and spreads the same way ².

1. Project FeederWatch (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) — Feeding Birds: feeder types, food types, placement and cleaning
2. Project FeederWatch — Sick Birds and Bird Diseases
3. All About Birds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) — Why Birds Hit Windows, and How You Can Help Prevent It
4. All About Birds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) — Black-capped Chickadee: Overview and Life History
5. All About Birds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) — American Goldfinch: Overview and Life History