Of all the different bird feeders that you can choose to keep in your garden, one of the favorites is the Tube Feeders. These feeders work well with all small wild birds such as Chickadees, Titmice and Goldfinches. Not surprisingly, they are shaped liked long cylinders, or tubes.
They usually come in two different models, one designed to serve thistle seeds or nyjer seeds, and the other designed to dispense mixed seed varieties. For each type of seed, you’ll get different bird species coming to your feeders.
The thistle seed Tube Feeders are long and thin and have lots of little perches next to the many small slotted feeding ports. Birds such as Woodpeckers, Pine Siskins and House Finches will enjoy eating at this type of feeder as well. Because these bird types are relatively small they can easily and comfortably fit on the small perches.
This particular perch size will also discourage larger birds such as Grosbeaks, Cardinals, Doves, Blue Jays, Grackles and Blackbirds from coming and eating at your Tube Feeders. If you want to attract these kinds of birds you should take a look at hopper hopper feeders or ground feeders instead.
The patented Upside Down Thistle Tube Feeders are also great at discouraging unwanted bird types from feeding in your garden. This is because the feeding holes are actually placed underneath the perches. Thus, any bird that wants to eat from these particular Tube Feeders must be willing and able to cling upside down and eat. This usually discourages a lot of birds but will readily attract Goldfinches and Pine Siskins. They are known to be quite acrobatic and don’t mind feeding while hanging upside down.
If you prefer to serve mixed seeds or black oil sunflower seeds then you’ll need to take a look at the Tube Feeders which have feeding ports which allow for the dispensing of larger seeds. Like the Thistle Tube Feeders, these feeders also have lots of perches and feeding ports. To reduce the amount of competition near feeding stations, tube feeders that have perches spaced a little bit apart are a good idea.
Of course with the constant menace of squirrels around you might want to find a way of protecting your Tube Feeders from these animals by getting hold of a squirrel proof bird feeder. One way is to invest in a Tube Feeder that has a wire mesh type frame or cage around the feeder. This way only small bird types will be able to feed from these enclosed Tube Feeders.
You will sometimes find Tube Feeders that come with attachments of other tubes which you can the use to create a longer Tube Feeder that will allow more birds to feed at the same time.
Whichever Tube Feeder you decide on though, remember and make sure that you’ll have a clear line of sight to your feeders, half the fun of bird feeding after all lies in watching the antics of the various birds. And this is especially true of the upside down feeder – the picture of fully a dozen or so birds all hanging upside down while they feed is a sight to behold and shouldn’t be missed.
