Bird Hopper Feeders

Hopper feeders have a large center seed holder that allows seed to come out of slots in the bottom into a feed tray. These hoppers are easy to fill and clean and many also have ways for the tray to drain rain water. They usually hold large amounts of seed to avoid constant filling and attract a variety of birds.

There are many designs available, including ones that close off the seed supply when the weight of a squirrel or large bird is detected. There are clear plastic relatively inexpensive models all the way up to huge, heavy metal or wood models that may hold up to 10 pounds of seed. These can be filled with just sunflower seeds, or a wild bird seed mixture, depending on the birds you are attracting. Because these feeders are of more complicated design than other feeders, they are more expensive, but well worth the extra investment.

The only drawback of hopper feeders is that the platform is not very large. Therefore, there is limited feeding space which cannot accommodate as many birds at a time as on an open platform.

Feeding Birds Sunflower Seeds

Sunflower seeds are a favorite among the vast majority of birds, so if you are only going to have one bird feeder or it is your first bird feeder, be sure it is one that holds sunflower seeds. The best choices are a tube bird feeder or a hopper bird feeder. Birds love sunflower seeds because it is so easy for them to crack open the thin shell to get to the fat-laden seed. There are three types of sunflower seeds - black oil, striped and hulled. Each type has advantages. The black oil is the most popular type for they contain more fat then the larger striped variety. The striped seed is much larger so takes a big beak to crack the shell. Cardinals, jays and grosbeaks actually look for these for there is less competition for them. The nice thing about hulled seeds is there is no mess of empty shells below the hopper bird feeder and no waste. With no shells to break open, other birds such as woodpeckers and mockingbirds may be tempted to visit your bird feeder. Many birds need a lot of sunflower seeds in the winter to survive. Consider the black-capped chickadee. It needs to eat the equivalent of 150 sunflower seeds in a day. When it is very cold, this number can easily be 250 seeds a day. It will take a large tube feeder or hopper feeder to satisfy the winter needs of a few chickadees!

Pros and Cons of Hopper Feeders

Hopper bird feeders have a few advantages over most other bird feeders. Seeds are stored in a holding bin, some with a quite large capacity, and fall down into a tray as birds eat them. The storage bin usually has a roof so seed is protected for the weather. The storage bin is usually made of either clear plastic or glass so it is easy to see when the bin needs to be refilled. These hopper bird feeders generally do not need to be filled as often as other bird feeders and the seed stays fresh and dry. Best of all, most birds love to eat at a hopper feeder. This feeder will draw chickadees, grosbeaks, cardinals, nuthatches, titmice, woodpeckers, finches and jays. If the platform is big enough, the hopper feeder may even be visited by ground feeding birds like doves and sparrows.

It is not a good idea to use seed mixes in a hopper feeder, for it is too easy for a bird to just knock off the seeds they don't like as much and just dig around for the sunflower seeds. It is a much better plan to use sunflower seeds exclusively in this feeder. The other problem can squirrels. A squirrel can empty a hopper feeder in no time! If this is a problem in your yard, opt for a squirrel proof hopper feeder. These close the seed off in a variety of ways using the weight of the squirrel.