Interactive planning tool
Bird Feeder Calculator
This bird feeder calculator gives a conservative starting layout — how many feeders, of which types, for the birds you want — and deliberately does not estimate pounds of seed, because weather, species and spoilage make fixed quantities unsafe.
The rules it applies are Project FeederWatch's on feeder types, foods, placement and cleaning 12 and All About Birds' on windows 3.
Use different feeder forms rather than crowding many birds onto one shared surface.
Place feeders on glass or within 3 feet of windows. This is a planning estimate—not a food-quantity prescription. Adjust downward if food remains, gets wet, or creates conflict.
What the bird feeder calculator assumes
One feeder per food, because foods sort birds: a hopper or tray of black-oil sunflower for cardinals, chickadees, finches and sparrows; a tube or mesh of nyjer for goldfinches, siskins and redpolls; a suet cage for woodpeckers, nuthatches and chickadees; millet on a low tray or the ground for juncos, doves and sparrows 1. Large hoppers attract most species and let doves and grackles feed; tubes with short perches exclude jays and grackles 1. It adds a bird bath to every plan, since birds are attracted to water just as they are to feeders 1.
The station also assumes cover. Feeders belong close to natural cover such as trees or shrubs that offer refuge to birds as they wait their turn to feed — evergreens are ideal, hiding birds from predators and buffering winter wind — and a loosely stacked brush pile nearby gives ground birds such as Song Sparrows resting and escape cover 1. If the yard has none, the plan's first item is a shrub, not a second feeder.
Placement: a quiet area, easy to see and refill, close to natural cover such as trees or shrubs — evergreens are ideal — but about ten feet from strong branches that squirrels and cats can jump from 1. Squirrels can jump to feeders less than ten feet from a tree or building, so a pole with a baffle is assumed for any station in the open 1.
Why the bird feeder calculator caps the count
More feeders mean more cleaning: each seed or suet feeder needs washing every week or two and more often in heavy use or wet weather, hummingbird feeders every couple of days, and bird baths a water change every day 1. FeederWatch's advice is that if you cannot follow those practices year-round, limit feeding to the times you can 1. A plan you can keep clean beats a bigger one, and if several sick birds appear, all of it comes down for a couple of weeks 2. Any window near the station needs markings 2 inches apart, screens or cords 3.
More feeder guides
Frequently asked questions
How many bird feeders should I have?
Start with one per food type you offer — sunflower, nyjer, suet, millet — plus a bath, and add only what you can clean every week or two 1.