The Best Bird Feeders For Winter: A Review Of 5 Feeders

Wintertime is a great time to think about keeping your bird feeders full as food becomes scarce for birds. Whether you are an expert birdfeeder or not, this can be a very thrilling activity during this time.

However, you may need to get yourself a feeder that can stand the winter cold and still keep your birdseed fresh.

So, How do you choose the best one?

We have listed 5 of our favorite bird feeders for winter in this article. All of these items can help you enjoy winter bird feeding.

By the end of this article, you will know what to look for in a backyard winter feeding station. So, Let’s get right to it!

5 Best Bird Feeders For Winter

The Nibble bird feeder lets you enjoy bird feeding all year long. it is weather-resistant, created with durable polycarbonate tubing and powder-coated metal alloy. This feeding station will not rust or turn yellow the longer you use it.

It is also coated in an anti-bacterial solution to minimize the risk of bacteria and germs. This feeder is also very easy to clean. Simply unscrew the perches and gently pull out the base and ports to clean it thoroughly.

this feeding station from Nibble can hold up to 350g of seed mix you can offer to your feathered friends. It’s large enough for feeding, yet quaint enough to jazz up your backyard.

Nibble’s bird feeder is a great product to have at home if you are a novice at birdwatching. It is very easy to use, clean, and assemble. It can hold quite a lot of birdseed at 350g so you won’t have to refill too often.

This is also perfect for the wintertime for all the variety of birds that you want to feed. It is made with very thick plastic tubes that can withstand the cold weather. Get the Nibble Weatherproof Antibacterial Bird Feeder and watch as our feathered friends flock to your backyard feeding stations.

Droll Yankees created a no-fuss, no-frills onyx tube bird feeder that you can hang in your backyard to attract a variety of birds. It can be filled with up to 2 pounds of sunflower seeds and mixed seeds. It has 4 feeding ports so you can watch many birds at a time.

It is also equipped with a one-touch opening for easy filling. Just press the button and the top flips open, giving you access to the tube. As it is easy to fill, it is also easy to clean. At the base of the feeding tube, just twist and release the removable base to clean the tube entirely.

You can hang this feeding station with the steel wire that is included in the package or you can get a pole mount that you can stick into the ground away from the trees and the squirrels.

This sunflower feeder from Droll Yankees could be a good addition to your backyard. It will allow you to attract different types of birds with the 4 ports that it is equipped with.

Have this feeder up hanging the whole year to even get to feed the winter birds that scour for seeds during this time. The tube will hold as it is made with strong durable material that keeps seeds as fresh as possible.

This bird feeder can be enjoyed by most birds such as finches, cardinals, sparrows, woodpeckers, and so much more. It is best used with sunflower seeds, mixed seed mix, peanut chunks, safflower seeds, sunflower kernels, and cracked corn.

Another feeder from Droll Yankees is the new generation finch flocker bird feeder. This is a large capacity feeding station that has 20 feeding ports and perches. It is equipped with an internal baffle that ensures that the will empty completely without seed buildup.

It is made with a die-cast metal base and cap to make it durable for all seasons. It also has a UV-stabilized polycarbonate tube the can be filled with a maximum capacity of 3 and a half pounds of birdseed.

Easily refill this bird tube by sliding up the cap and pouring your preferred bird seed into the tube. Watch as the finches flock in your backyard.

This 36-inch bird feeder for finches would be a great buy. It gives you 20 feeding ports that goldfinches, finches, chickadees, redpolls, and siskins would surely flock over to. However, it may be too big for some backyards because of its size.

The best seed to use for this feeder is the Nyjer seed or premium Nyjer mix. It can hold up to 3.5 lbs to feed a hungry flock of feathered friends.

it also has drainage holes that they say can keep the seeds fresh for a long time. Unfortunately, there have been some reports that say that because of the tube’s length to does not do so well.

This tube feeder made with UV polycarbonate can withstand both sand and snow. If you do enjoy the company of finches and other small variety of winter birds, Droll Yankee’s new generation bird feeder can be the one for you.

Suet for the birds is just perfect. What’s more perfect is a suet feeder from Stokes Select. This feeder can hold up to 4 suet cakes to get the birds energized and pumped up during the snowy season. This is perfect for clinging birds such as woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, and more.

It is very easy to use. It has a double-locking closure system secures tightly to keep suet cake secure and in place. It is constructed with durable weather resistant, powder-coated black finish and weather guard roof. Not only is this great for suet, but also works with any seed cake that you make or buy.

Suet is especially great for the wintertime as it can provide our feathered friend to go on during the harsh weather. The suet feeder from Stokes Select is a great product as you can feed more birds than other feeders. It has 4 places for suet for birds such as titmouse, flickers, nuthatches, chickadees and woodpeckers.

If you are looking for a feeder that can hold a good amount of suet, this may be the winter feeder for you. This is constructed with a cage grid design with birds that cling in mind. It also has a metal roof with shingles to keep our feathered friends dry as they munch on the suet. Check out more suet bird feeder reviews here.

This 21-inch squirrel-proof tube bird feeder by Droll Yankees is one of the most expensive on our list. They guarantee that squirrels cannot get to the seeds. Its motorized perch ring is designed to spin as soon as a squirrel jumps and lands on the feeder throwing them away from the seeds and the birds.

Its cap and base are constructed with heavy-duty metal. The tube that holds the seeds is made with UV- stabilized polycarbonate and will not yellow or fade.

This feeder can hold up to 5 lbs of birdseed and has 4 feeding ports that our feathered friends can perch and feed from.

This is the 3rd Droll Yankees bird feeder on our list and it is one of the best. Squirrels are a big problem for many of us birdwatchers. This can keep them at bay from stealing the seeds we put out.

It is, however, on the more expensive side and not all can afford it. But I would rather have a bird feeder that keeps the squirrel from destroying the feeder rather than to keep on buying new feeding stations every time.

The convenience of having a squirrel-proof feeder outweighs the cost you’re going to have to pay.

How To Select The Best Bird Feeders For Winter

When choosing bird feeders for the winter, be sure to take into consideration some critical factors. This is important since you want to ensure that you and your backyard birds will enjoy your winter bird feeding.

Bird Feeder Construction

Metal Base and Cover

Having heavy duty metal base and cover makes it very durable especially in the winter. These are needed because winds can be strong and this season can make things moist. Having rust-resistant metal, and powder-coated bases and covers will make these feeders last longer than most other feeding stations.

Large Capacity

Bird feeders should also be able to keep a great amount of seed. This is mainly for the birdwatchers’ convenience. However, this will only work if the bird feeders are protected from moisture.

Some feeding stations have been pre-drilled to keep the moisture out and keeps air flowing to keep the seed’s freshness.

Type of Seed or Food

There are many different types of bird food that you can offer our feathered friends in winter. All with one goal: To offer birds the nourishment and energy for the cold weather. Here are some of the food that you can use for winter bird feeding

Suet

Suet is a high-fat food that comes in different shapes and sizes. It can come in its raw form, but that can easily expire. It can also be in the form of cakes. These are premade and can be bought in stores. You can even make your own cakes if you wanted to with lard, peanut butter, seeds, and even dried fruit.

Suet is one of the most popular winter foods for birds because of its high-fat content. The fat that birds may get from the suet gives them the energy that they need to survive the cold weather while their other food sources are unavailable. Think about the flavor bomb, high-fat treat that a wild bird would get from the suet treats you leave out in your North America backyard.

Seeds

A good mix of seeds can be a good source of energy for our winged friends. A good mix of seeds consists of sunflower seed, cracked corn, white proso millet, and maybe some peanut hearts. There

There are some seeds that are considered junk food for the birds. These do not provide any nutritional value for the birds in winter. It can include dyed seed meant for pet birds, wheat, and some forms of red milo that only birds in the Southwest Desert eat.

So make sure that your only feeding the backyard birds the best seeds you can get. Also, consider that different birds will eat different seeds.

Fruits

Fruits are also a great alternative as food for our feathery friends. These are some of the most special treats to give your wild birds in the snow. Some of the fruits you can give them are grapes, sliced citrus, and, bananas.

Fruits have a lot of nutrition that can help birds attain all the energy they need to keep going in the snow.

Nuts

Nuts are jam-packed with fat and protein that our frequent flyers need to travel through the colder climate. These are best for Woodpeckers, jays, nuthatches, chickadees, and titmice. And also small birds such as cardinals and finches would go through nuts.

Just make sure that the nuts you offer are de-shelled, dry roasted, and unsalted.

Weather Resistance

Bird feeders during winter need to be weather resistant as you do not want rust, mold, and fungus to poison the birds that flock to your feeding station.

Cover

One of the things that you should make sure is that your bird feeders are covered during the snowy weather. This ensures that your seeds will not get wet and clump up inside the tube feeder.

Your cover must be durable and should extend a few inches over the edge of the feeding station. this also helps birds to stay dry while feeding.

Easy To Clean In The Cold Weather

Most weatherproof feeding stations are constructed with UV-stabilized polycarbonate, which is just thick plastic that can withstand all weather. They are also very easy to clean in cold weather as they do not turn yellow or create mold in the feeders.

Here are some features that you might want to look for when looking for when winter bird feeding:

Removable Bases

Removable bases make it so much easier to clean the tubes that we use when feeding birds. Some just are rotated to be removed and some have special locks that you need to access to remove it.

Pre-drilled Holes

Pre-drilled holes on bird feeders can make cleaning very easy. By having these holes, the air can circulate very well and prevent mold and fungi can building inside the tubes. Feeder brushes can help clean these all out in case they occur.

Winter Bird Feeding FAQs

What is the best thing to feed birds in the winter?

The best bird food that you can feed the wild bird in your backyard is those that are high in protein and fat. These will give them the energy to keep flying in the colder weather.

Suet cakes and peanuts are some of the foods that are the best to offer during this time. These will work amazingly for every winter bird.

Should you leave bird feeders out in winter?

It is not necessary but it will be highly appreciated by our feathered friends. They will need our help in winter because these are the time that their food sources are at their lowest. So any help with winter bird feeding will do. It is also the time that you will see some winter birds flock to your feeding stations.

Where do you hang bird feeders in the winter?

Sheltered locations are the best places to hang your bird feeders. This keeps them safe from severe winds and moisture. Placing them near your house will be very effective. You can even watch the birds indoors and stay warm.

How do you clean bird feeders in the winter?

Cold weather can easily cultivate the growth of bacteria, mold, and fungi inside your feeders. These are something that you need to look out for. You can take care of this by using animal safe cleaning solutions and a tube brush will be advantageous in this situation.

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