The Feeders

	Back Feeders These feeders offer sunflower seed and suet.  There is a bird bath nearby, and shrubs for shelter.  Larger birds like cardinals prefer the box feeder at the center.  Woodpeckers prefer the suet.  Ground feeders and squirrels prefer the seed spilled on the ground.  In warm weather, I place large wire mesh panels a few inches above the ground below the feeders to discourage the pigeons.  More ...
	Side Feeders These feeders offer niger seed and suet.  There are shrubs nearby for shelter.  Those that hang from the roof edge are most easily seen from the window, and are serviced with the aid of a pole with a hook at the end.  The highest niger feeder is the kind with the feed holes below the pegs.  This prevents the goldfinches from being crowded out by the house finches, because the goldfinches don't mind eating upside-down.
	Upstairs Window Feeder This high-capacity sunflower feeder hangs outside our second-floor bedroom window.  I installed it when my wife, Donna, broke her leg and was spending most of her time at this end of the bedroom.  Sometimes I hang a plastic bowl below the feeder to catch the spilled seed, and ground feeders eat from the bowl.  A pulley at the top and a reel and crank mounted on the side of the deck stair railing below provide for hoisting the feeder up and down.  Occasionally a dare-devil squirrel will jump down to it from the roof — and from there to the ground.  Once, a squirrel chewed through the cord, so it is now replaced by stranded wire.  More ...