Great article — keep the feader out of the wind. Thats a problem on the east end of a large pond with wind crossing the frozen water in the winter. I built a large rotating feeder to keep the open end and food out of the wind. Some times it goes round and round depending on the wind direction. The birds love the ride. BILL
the problem with my feeder is the squirels lol you should see a squirel drink out of a humming brid feeder. Now I have a squirel joning for a sweet drink.
Ghost
ps I will post a picture.
Informative link . I have several Anna’s hummingbirds that stay the winter. To do my part I have 3 to 6 feeders I clean and refill every 3 days. I find straight vinegar does fast work of the cleaning and unlike beach is not toxic to the birds if you don’t rinse all of it off.
Good idea Tyrone… it seems obvious, but sometimes we don’t see the obvious, so a little help is in order. 
Also, if there are cats in your neighborhood, make sure to hang the bird feeder far enough away from a tree trunk as to not give the cats a good ambush point. I made this mistake before unfortunately. Part of the cure was to let my dog hang out in the area of the bird feeder… then I could witness the food chain in acting: birds eat seeds, cats eat birds, dogs eat cats :shock: 
Kidding… I did think of that though.
What I did was simply move the bird feeder away from any potential ambush site.
That’s always been our problem as well, and the real good ones can eventually get around the hood. We have our best luck when our daughter’s Boston comes for a visit! Lenny takes his yard patrol duties very seriously and it is fun to watch the squirrels get annoyed for a change!
my problem has happened twice now. In Georgia I had lot’s of bird feeders out Many coloful birds and the squirrel antiques to get the food was fun. But soon rats showed in yard. Had to eliminate them and stop bird feeding.
Now again in my current home. First couple of years feeding and enjoying birds. Then a mice problem arrives. I am providing habitat for them Food on the ground from the feeders and housing in my cars, and under my house. Stopped feeding them again.
Anyone know how I can put out feeders without ANY seed/feed ever hitting the ground?
Garbage can lids hanging under the feeders? A long log cabin type bird house with clear glass sides…with an entrance hole in each end?
I dunno. I have eliminated the mice problem. Eating all the wiring and fuel lines from my riding lawn mower probably gave them steroids. I have to figure out all the wiring and buy hose material to fix up machine. No mice now…but no birds either. I provide lots of water and thats about it.
gemrod
Gemrod, maybe you could import some poisonous snakes to take care of the mice. They might eat a bird now and then as well, but…
I do not know of any practical way to keep mice away from spilled seed. Out here, there are birds that feed ONLY on the seed on the ground, so if you want those birds, you can’t have too clean a set-up.
And here in Colorado, feeders attract bears as well. CDOW publishes feeder tips to prevent bear problems, but a lot of people would rather pretend the bears don’t exist until it is too late and the bears have to be taken away and relocated, or else destroyed. Birdseed is free, high-calorie food that can’t run away.
Yes, and I have ground feeder birds. They run around on the ground, scratch up the dirt and feed on something. I have lot’s of ground feeder type birds. I enjoy watching them as well. I just need to figure out a way to provide the seed in a way I can pick it up and bring it inside for the night. OR…place it up high for the night. I especially like to provide bird food when the ground is covered with snow. Bluebirds have a tough time when no insects are out or moving around. I forgot about the ground feeding birds. Thanks for the reminder and the link. Maybe I won’t have a mice problem anymore. I have a new friend…a 4’ gray snake that hangs out under a pile of junk I intend to haul off. He was up on my back deck one morning. I have gone from a serious mice problem to incredibly clear of mice. I put poison under the house and in my storage container. And under the hood of my truck. But now…not one little sign of a mouse. Inside the camp trailer…nowhere. I think I got some help from the “Groundpounder” as I named him. I don’t have the bear problem…although a neighbor claims to have had one visit. He had Game and Fish out for three days looking. But I don’t believe it. We have bears about 20 miles away in the forest…but I am out on the high flats with juniper trees.
I’ll figure out a way to feed the birds. Was just hoping someone would have a good idea. Actually I posed this problem once before and got the same answers. No one knew of a way to put out the bird food and keep it off the ground. I put out fresh water every day. They like to bath in it. Fun to watch while inside having lunch or something.
Gemrod
Repeater mouse traps (5-gallon bucket with a few inches of water and a ring of peanut butter a few inches below the rim and an access ramp to the rim for example) will catch unreal numbers of mice if they are there…
Yeah Hap. I discovered that when I was getting rid of mice. What worked out pretty neat though was simple mouse trap. If I had a mouse in a trap I just walked out into my driveway and let him fall on the red cinders. Withing minutes to an hour he would be gone…food for the crows and ravens and falcons. Good ecology I think. I have NO mice now.
Gemrod