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Affordable (squirrel and big bird proof) bird feeders... Any recommendations?

January ManJanuary Man Posts: 212
in Wildlife gardening
Hi all

My partner has been looking this morning and has come across a bird feeder that ticks all the boxes (squirrel and big bird proof), but not the affordability box at £50!!!  Has anyone had any success with cheaper bird feeders?  It needs to woodpecker friendly though. 

Many thanks
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Posts

  • amancalledgeorgeamancalledgeorge Posts: 2,736
    I have the cheapest going fat ball feeder, pretty much identical to this one: https://www.lovegardenbirds.co.uk/nature-s-market-fat-ball-feeder-with-squirrel-guard it has been hanging on our apple tree for three years and the birds lap up the food and the squirrels have tried but failed to get anything so they've given up. We do have a woodpecker that frequents it and makes a bit of a mess but the larger birds clean up any stray chipped pieces that land on the ground. 
    To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow
  • January ManJanuary Man Posts: 212
    Thank you very much - I'll take a look at that with my partner.  However, we had one of our large apple trees literally stripped bear by jays this year.  There's not a single one left!  So we're trying to discourage large birds too...  
  • amancalledgeorgeamancalledgeorge Posts: 2,736
    I'm happy to feed everyone flying by...
    To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow
  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    Having poultry, many different birds come to dine here.  They usually clean everything up in the morning leaving no debris to attract rats.
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • January ManJanuary Man Posts: 212
    amancalledgeorge said:
    I'm happy to feed everyone flying by...
    I would be too if it wasn't for the chronic apple decimation!  I think we've lost well over a hundred apples to the jays
  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    @amancalledgeorge   That looks like a good feeder - I have a sort of double spiral for the fat balls which I hang in my Feijoa tree also in the chicken run.
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • shazza 3shazza 3 Posts: 197
    I don't think any feeder is big bird proof. The wilful destructive magpies where i live are enough to drive you crazy every few minutes, hanging on the feeders, trying to dislodge them from the feeder hooks. they managed to dislodge a new feeder that i recently bought, it ended up in pieces all over the garden, the seeds as well !!! I'm not really sure if i will be able to put it back together, it cost me a fortune !!! 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Easier to make one. Mine are simple cages, on a wooden frame of battens, which the small birds can get into, but nothing bigger. You can do something similar by making a free standing bird table, or adapting an existing one by adding a bigger section to the table part, and surrounding it with chicken wire. They just have to be big enough that larger birds can't reach feeders by sticking their heads in. 
    You can do the same on the ground. I also find that I can surround a ground feeder, leaving a gap for blackbirds, but other birds like starlings are too wary to try and go in, despite being small enough.

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    Try Homegar - their bird feeders are £25 each and good value for money.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • January ManJanuary Man Posts: 212
    Thanks for the replies.  

    Would be great to see photos @Fairygirl
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