On this page I’m going to discuss several options that you have for squirrel proofing your bird feeder. I’ll discuss different options, as well as different prices that you can expect to pay. I’ll even mention some do-it-yourself methods that you can use that will be quite effective against most squirrels in most cases. So lets get right down to it…

What’s the best method of squirrel proofing? this is an interesting question, but I’m not sure there is a real answer for it because everybody’s situation is different, and everybody uses different bird feeders. Some people hang them from tree branches, some people swing them off of deck poles, and some people use traditional bird feeder polls that are free standing in the backyard. Each of these things requires different squirrel proofing methods, but I’ll try and touch on as many as I can here today.

One squirrel proofing option are weight sensitive feeders. These feeders actually sense the heavier weight of a squirrel and take action depending on the kind of feeder it is. Some of them will close a little door so that a squirrel can’t get to the bird feed. When the squirrel leaves, the little door opens up again allowing birds to get to the seed. Others like the droll Yankee bird feeder will actually spin the perch and knock the squirrel right off! Of course, a determine squirrel can get around these measures by knocking the bird feeder and bumping the seed on to the ground, at least these measures help a little bit!

Another Option is a Baffle which is a sort of hood that encompasses the entire feeder in an attempt to keep the squirrel out from above. I’ve not had an enormous amount of success with these, but in the right circumstances they can work if you have a smaller bird feeder hanging in a certain way.

Cage Options are another way to keep squirrels out. Basically you enclose your entire feeder in a cage that has holes large enough for birds to get in, but too small for squirrels to reach through. These can work great for smaller bird feeders that focus on smaller birds, but if you like having larger birds the cage may keep them from being able to use your bird feeder. Another version of the cage contains a spinning cage-like perch that is weight activated and allow smaller birds to rest on it without turning but will spin and knock a squirrel off.

Do it yourself options? yes there are a number of do it yourself options and some of them can be done incredibly cheaply sometimes for as little as $10. But I’m not very handy and whenever I try and do something myself it always looks bad, and even if it works good, I’d rather have something that I paid for that looks nice because I spend a lot of time watching my birds and don’t want to be looking at something ugly all day.

Prices Vary depending on the bird feeder you choose – prices can vary dramatically. For instance a baffle can be purchased for less than $20, sometimes even less than $10; while a droll Yankee bird feeder will cost you at least $100, and sometimes a little more. A good caged bird feeder can start as low as $20 and go up to $50 depending on size.

The fact of the matter is, squirrels are very clever and you may have to try several methods before you find one to stop those pests from stealing your bird seed. Good luck and battle on!!

That’s what I’m going to talk about on this page today; how to find the best bird feeder poll for you. I’ll talk about the different kinds of poles a little bit, and also talk about prices probably more importantly. Don’t overlook the poll or else you may be sorry later on. I have actually had bird feeders fall over because the poll was not sturdy enough, and I’d hate to see that happen to you because there’s nothing worse than waking up one morning, looking out your back window, and seeing your bird feeder smashed on the ground!

Bird Feeder Pole Styles first off I guess I should spend a little time talking about the different styles of polls that are available. Obviously there’s your standard straight pole. But there are also many other kinds of polls that people don’t think of, these are your more specialty type polls to fit certain needs and circumstances. For instance, you might need a deck hook poll. This is a sort of poll that hooks onto the rails of your deck and kind of arches up and out and contains a hook on the top from which you hang your bird feeder down. These will run you around $25 up to $50 depending on the sturdiness of the poll.

There are also wall bracket poles: These are sort of interesting because like a deck poll, they hook to the side of your house and slant out and away much the same way as an arcing deck poll would, but without the arc. Likewise, they contain a hook at the end from which you hang the bird feeder on. These are great substitutes for the traditional window bird feeder that hook onto a window. Many times those window bird feeders aren’t sturdy enough or large enough for the number of birds that you would like to use them, and in those cases the wall bracket poll may be just what you’re looking for. Wall brackets can start as low as $14-$20 including hardware.

Branch Hook Poles there are also branch hooks, and branch hook poles. These little fellas hook onto the branches of the trees saving you from the need to place a traditional pole in the ground at all! Now, they aren’t usable in all circumstances… not everybody has trees that are sturdy enough to hold a branch hook. If you do have many trees in your yard with sturdy branches in them, then this may be just the thing for you. Branch Hook Poles range anywhere from $3-$10 making them a very nice economical substitute to the traditional pole.

How about regular poles? regular poles vary depending on several different things such as length of poll, sturdiness of poll, and whether or not you need it for any specialty reasons. For instance, a heavy-duty 72 inch bird feeder poll made out of steel might only run you around $25 or $30. On the other hand, a liberty squirrel stopper poll between 36 inches in 118 inches might run you between $100-$150 respectively. Obviously you pay more for the bells and whistles to go along with the squirrel stopper poll and these prices only go up depending on how many different bells and whistles you need.

I didn’t think a whole lot about them growing up, they were just always sort of there. But eventually when I moved away and began to raise my own family I realized that I missed those bird feeders, and I missed all those buzzing little birds hovering around and darting in and out of the bird feeder with their long beaks.

What to fill your humming bird feeder with hummingbirds like nectar, and when they can’t get nectar they will take syrupy sugar water and in fact that’s what you’re going to put inside your hummingbird feeder. To make sugar water that the hummingbirds will love, use one part ordinary sugar. I’m talking regular white cane sugar here. Mix the sugar with four parts water. Some people think that you have to boil the water, but you don’t.

You see, the water has to ferment but it doesn’t have anything to do with you; that is, you don’t have to do anything yourself to make the water ferment (hence no boiling on your part). No, the birds themselves will carry microorganisms with them and deposit them into the sugar water when they drink. These microorganisms will cause the fermentation in the water. You can mix up a batch of sugar water and keep it in the fridge for up to two weeks. This is especially handy if your birds go through a lot of sugar water and you don’t want to have to keep mixing it every few days, you can make a big batch of it and just keep it in the fridge and dispense as needed.

Watch out for this pitfall: when you’re making your mixture, be sure not to add too much sugar. My recipe calls for one part sugar and four parts water and you really don’t want to put in any more sugar than that because… too much sugar attracts insects, and you really don’t want that!

How to maintain your bird feeder hummingbirds are very picky and they’re very particular. If your feeder is filthy with spoiled sugar water, the birds won’t drink it! So in this regard you don’t have to worry about making the birds sick by not maintaining your feeder, they just won’t drink and they’ll find somewhere else to go… which destroys the whole point of it right? Every time you fill up your bird feeder, be sure to flush it out first with hot tap water. Do not use soap! You can use a brush of some sort if you want to scrub out the feeder. But I don’t usually find that necessary.

If your bird feeder starts to grow black mold, then wash it out with a bleach soak, not soap. Also, if your sugar solution starts to get murky and cloudy then it needs to be replaced even if you just replaced it a couple of days ago. Usually once a month you need to clean the feeder with a solution of bleach and water. Use a gallon of water and a fourth cup of bleach to soak the feeder for one hour than clean with a brush and rinse well.

These are one of the most popular squirrel proof bird feeders on the market today. They look like a normal tube feeder but they have a sort of ring feature at the base that spins whenever a squirrel tries to sit on it. This spinning actually throws the squirrel right off the feeder! Most of these models run a little motor that is battery powered and controls the spinning action. Don’t worry though, the motor is weight activated and birds won’t set it off.

Pros and cons: these are great bird feeders make no mistake, but there are some cons involved; as well as the pros! The pros are quite obvious, they keep the squirrels out of your bird feed. Plus it’s just infinitely satisfying to teach these little pests a lesson they so richly deserve! But the cons involved can be numerous and you need to know about them in advance before you purchase one.

The main Con in my mind is the cost (and I’ll discuss that a little later on down the page). Another con is that you have to change the battery every so often, which probably isn’t such a big deal. Another con is that sometimes the squirrels can get clever and realize that they can’t sit on the ring anymore, but they can still knock the thing around and dump some of the seed on to the ground.

Another con is that heavier birds can set the motor off in some circumstances. I said earlier that birds won’t set off the motor, and that’s true for the most part. But every once in a while you just get a larger bird who just hits the thing just right and sets it off. This isn’t a huge deal except it might momentarily frightened bird but I don’t think it actually hurts them.

Another con is that rainwater can affect the motor if you’re not careful. To get around that you just need to set up some sort of a squirrel baffle on top of the feeder; this will usually take care of that problem completely. The final con is that these things are kind of intricate and children playing around them can sometimes mess them up if they bump into them or handle them. So keep your kids away if possible.

I mentioned Price, what should you expect? one of the main obstacles to purchasing a droll Yankee bird feeder is the price as I mentioned above. You can expect to pay around $100 for a standard model. In this day and age $100 isn’t as expensive as it used to be, but in the world of bird feeders it’s quite a steep jump in price if you ask me! Still these little guys are well worth it and I think you’ll be happy to keep the squirrels away!

But with a window bird feeder you solve all of those problems instantly. For one thing, the birdfeeder is connected to your window which brings the birds right in front of your face. For another thing, window birdfeeders are smaller generally speaking, and so there isn’t physically enough room for many birds to get in there. So you have less of that fighting and flocking involved which leads to much greater enjoyment for both you and the birds!

They are also much easier to maintain than a traditional birdfeeder because you don’t have to trudge out into the backyard every so often to refill them. You can just reach out though the window and drop some more birdseed in. They’re also much easier to clean and maintain for the exact same reason.

What types are available? Generally speaking, there are two main types of window feeders. The first main type are those that are attached to a window, many times via a suction cup or hook apparatus of some sort. Sometimes they are attached with Velcro as well. These are usually smaller in size fom that reason. The second main type are those that are placed inside a windowsill. Windowsill feeders are often attached to the window like an air-conditioning unit with the window itself securing the top of the feeder, and then the feeder walls sort of extending to the edge of the windowsill on either side with an adjustable flap of some sort.

What Size is Right For You? The size of your feeder will depend on several different things. For one thing the size of the window will be a major consideration as a smaller window will require a smaller feeder in most cases. The next thing to consider is the number of birds that you’re interested in housing. The more birds you want, the bigger the birdfeeder needs to be.

Realize that most birdfeeders that are attached to the outside of the window will need to be smaller simply because the suction cup or Velcro used to attach them will only hold a certain amount of weight. If you want larger birdfeeders you’ll almost certainly have to go with a windowsill option that is more securely fastened to the window sill.

Which Birds Prefer Window Feeders? generally speaking, almost all birds will enjoy your window unit just fine. Basically, if a bird used your normal birdfeeder, it will use your window birdfeeder too. Of course, the larger the bird, the less likely they will be to use your birdfeeder simply because the feeder itself will generally be smaller than a regular one.

Another Great Benefit is… squirrels usually have a harder time getting to window birdfeeders. Of course, this will depend on your house structure more than anything as well as the window structure and the windowsill itself. If you have low hanging branches that are near your window, pests still might be able to get in to your feeder… but barring that, the chances are very good that the window unit keep them away.

Check out my site for special deals on the right window birdfeeder for you, or browse around the rest of the site for more information such as reviews and things like that. And be sure to check back often as we are always updating things!