Fill-and-forget-it makes larger bird feeder best choice

*A large resin, hopper-style feeder is a good all round choice as a bird feeder.*

A large bird feeder is a great investment to attract a huge variety of backyard birds.

In fact, incorporating a large bird feeder into your backyard-feeding strategy will play an important role in both attracting more birds as well as making the feeding experience much more enjoyable.

Let’s face it, going out every day to fill your feeders can quickly become a chore you can do without.

More importantly, if you fail to keep your smaller bird feeders full, backyard birds may look at your feeding station as an unreliable source of food and go elsewhere.

If you are just starting out on your bird feeding journey, purchasing the largest, high quality bird feeder you can afford is probably your best chance at success. It’s a lot easier to keep a large feeder filled and ensure the birds return to a reliable food source than to spend your time trying to keep a small feeder filled.

Bird pole with a number of feeders including the large fly thru idustrial feeder — *Our bird feeding pole showing a number of feeders including the large black industrial strength fly-thru feeder on the right.*

One visit from a squirrel, and the small feeder can be emptied in minutes. If the empty feeder goes unnoticed for any period of time, birds will begin to look elsewhere for a reliable food source.

Consider using smaller feeders for more specialized seeds, including niger, safflower and millet. These sources of food are preferred by more specialized birds and, for the most part, are not as appealing to squirrels. There is a good chance they will not be raided by squirrels or birds looking for sunflowers. As a result, they will need less filling and monitoring than if they were filled with more desirable sunflower seed.

Three large feeders add variety and reliability

I use three large feeders at various times during the year. One is ideally built for black oil sunflower (see image above of large black screened feeder), another is a large feeder that works like three smaller feeders that allow me to offer a variety of food to specific birds. The final feeder is a larger, covered hopper style feeder that is good for a variety of birds and seed concoctions.

If you are either looking to purchase your first feeder, or your first large feeder, consider purchasing a large resin hopper feeder, They tend to be the best all-round choice. The larger feeders not only hold plenty of seed, but they offer sufficient space for larger birds like blue jays to perch while they eat.

Industrial strength black oil bird feeder

The black oil sunflower feeder is a massive, fly-through, industrial type feeder that leaves the seed completely open to the elements. Made from industrial strength steel mesh, this is an ideal fill-and-forget-it feeder that can act as a real magnet for many backyard birds that thrive on black oil sunflower seed. That, as most of us know, includes almost all backyard birds.

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Chipmunk feeding

The above Green Meleave Bird Feeder, that holds up to 6.5 lbs of seed, is similar to our larger industrial fly-through feeder. This high quality feeder is made entirely of metal and the bird-shaped safety lock lid makes the feeder extra secure against squirrels, deer and raccoons.

Our large black industrial-grade feeder makes it the ideal feeder to take on squirrels and even racoons that might make it up our feeder pole system. Even deer have trouble shaking out much seed with their noses.

Because its metal screen leaves the seed open to the elements, black oil sunflower – with its protective outer shell – is best used in this feeder.

Our feeder is large enough to allow several birds to feed on it at once, including several smaller birds that can actually fly into the interior of the feeder and feel protected surrounded by their favourite food. I can’t help but think birds imagine themselves in heaven when they actually fly into the feeder and realize they are literally surrounded by their favourite food.

This feeder can stay full for more than a week, depending on the time of year and the number of birds using the feeding station.

Three cylinder feeder offers variety of seed to specialized birds

The second feeder we use on a regular basis is a large, three-cylinder feeder like this one from Heath that allows you to feed three different types of food and includes 6 feeding perches. These feeders are particularly attractive to smaller perching birds.

These feeders are completely covered and do a good job of keeping the seed dry even in harsh weather conditions.

I use this style of feeder to provide a variety of bird feed to attract more specialized birds at different times of the year. In spring and summer, for example, I use one of the feeding cylinders for white proso millet, which is a favourite for Indigo Buntings. In another cylinder, safflower can be used to give Cardinals their own special treat. The third cylinder can be filled with a combination of no-mess sunflower seeds and meal worms for nuthaches, chickadees and woodpeckers or specialized finch food for goldfinches, housefinches etc.

Large hopper-style feeder is always a solid choice

The final choice is a large hopper-style feeder that is an excellent all-round feeder for a variety of birds.

I particularly like the resin-feeders (see post on why resin feeders are superior to wood ones) for their more hygenic properties.

Filling these feeders is easy and cleaning them, especially the Wild Bird Unlimited feeders that have removable bottom plates, involves a simple blast of water and a little soap.

I use the large hopper feeder and a smaller one to hold the expensive, no-mess feed that is my mainstay for most of the summer when I don’t want a build-up of seed and husks under the feeders.

I also recommend trying to purchase resin feeders over the wood ones. Although the more modern resin feeders are more expensive, they tend to last longer and, most importantly, are easier to clean. For more on choosing resin feeders over wood ones.

Another option is to invest in a steel hopper-style feeder much like this one available from Walmart and other sellers. This hopper style feeder even has weight sensitive adjustments that help you target the type of birds that can use the feeder.

This style of feeder was one of the first feeders I purchased when I started to feed birds. The feeder was exceptionally well made and lasted for years before I replaced it. The all-metal construction makes them ideal for situations where squirrels and racoons are a problem, and the touch sensitive feeding bar makes it ideal for discouraging larger heavier birds like Blue Jays, Grackles and blackbirds that tend to throw feed on the ground in search of their favourite seed.

Large covered table feeders can be a useful addition

Now that we have explored the importance of including a large feeder as part of your bird feeding arsenal, let’s look at another large feeder that also offers lots of potential.

Feeders such as the Large Amish Homemade Gazebo Vinyl Bird feeder (also pictured above as a clickable Amazon link), is an ideal choice for those looking for both an attractive and an effective bird feeder. The fact it is vinyl rather than wood makes the feeder even more desirable.

Large covered table feeders can be ideal to attract certain types of birds to your yard. Many of these feeders are also very attractive and can be used as functional pieces of art in your landscape.

To show them in their best light, these feeders really need to stand alone in a picturesque area of the garden where they can shine. Look for feeders like the Large Amish Homemade Gazebo feeder that has a large, built-in seed storage container.

Without built-in seed storage, the covered table feeders either have to be filled on a daily basis, or simply become attractive works of art in the landscape.

If they are used as stand alone feeders, they will also need to have their own pole and guards to keep squirrels and raccoons off the feeder.

A nuthatch feeds from a small resin hopper-style feeder.

Can a large bird feeder save you money?

Whether you are just starting out on your bird feeding journey, or have been feeding backyard birds for a number of years, investing in a large high-quality feeder is a good choice.

A large feeder will help ensure that your yard becomes a reliable source of food for the neighbourhood birds. They are particularly important in winter, when keeping feeders full becomes both more important as well as more difficult.

Large backyard feeders can indeed save you money in several ways. One of the main advantages is that they allow you to purchase bird seed in bulk instead of smaller bags. By having one or two larger bird feeders, you can use an entire large bag of bird seed, which is usually more cost-effective than buying multiple small bags. This way, you can take advantage of bulk discounts and save money in the long run.

Another benefit of using larger feeders is that they can help minimize food waste. When squirrels, raccoons, and deer are unable to access the feeders, there will be less spilled food or seeds eaten by these critters. This means that more of the bird seed will be available for the birds you are trying to attract, reducing the need to constantly refill the feeders and ultimately saving you money on bird seed.

By investing in larger backyard feeders, you not only save money on bird seed but also ensure that the food you provide is primarily consumed by the birds you want to attract. This can lead to a more enjoyable bird-watching experience and a greater variety of bird species visiting your backyard. So, if you're looking to attract backyard birds while also saving some money, consider using larger bird feeders.

Large bird feeder plays big role at feeding station