By The wild bird enthusiast who wants to attract wild birds to his home and yard may want to consider the bird feeder pole an essential part of his equipment. Even a homeowner who just wants to be able to watch birds from his window should look into having a bird feeder pole or six in his arsenal.
Now why do I say this? If you are lucky enough to have trees in your yard, you could just hand a bird feeder from it, right? Yes, this is true. But what if you don’t have trees that are close enough to make bird watching easy from your living room window.
In my case and that of many people who live out west, there just aren’t trees in the yard to hand anything in. I do have trees but they are a couple hundred feet and more away and hanging anything in them to attract feeding birds would be difficult. Besides, they are on the wrong side of the house as well. Those of us who live on the plains and in the desert do not always have this option even if most towns and many homeowners have planted trees.
But there is another reason for not hanging your bird feeder from a tree and that is a cute little four legged varmint with a fluffy tail who would love to get its paws on all that wild bird seed of whatever type you set out. Makes it easier to stock up. That little varmint would be your local squirrel and all his buddies that live in those trees.
And don’t forget the cat whether yours or the neighbors. Cats love to climb and the branch that your bird feeder hangs from would make a great place to lay an ambush. Birds have it tough enough with cats and dogs around. Don’t provide them with a hunting spot that they can easily access.
Likewise attaching a bird feeder, even a platform feeder, to your deck railing provides the same kind of temptation even if it does make a great place to see the birds eating and carrying on their shenanigans.
However, if you use a bird feeder pole, you can place it where it’s easy to see from any window you desire. By placing the pole and the attached feeder far enough away from trees you won’t have to worry squirrels especially if you use a squirrel baffle making it a squirrel proof bird feeder. Just remember squirrels can jump several feet. And the squirrel baffle will need to be placed high enough up the pole so that it doesn’t actually become a step up allowing the squirrel access to your wild bird seed. Review Gurus is also a good resource to know about birdfeeders in detail.
Bird Feeder Pole Types
Now bird feeder poles come in a few different types. Which kind you want to use will depend upon a few different things. Among these will be the type of bird feeder(s) it will support and this will depend upon which types of birds you want to attract. There is also the aesthetic appeal in the home’s landscaping and just which kind of poles you like to look at. You will have crossed arms feeder poles, shepherd crook’s poles, and straight bird feeder poles from which to choose.
Now with the crossed arms you can usually hand four feeders as you will have four points at the end of the crossed arms. Instead of wild bird seed feeders you might want to add a suet bird feeders, a small solar powered bird bath or something else from your collection including just a pretty piece of lawn art. Since you have four points it’s up to you.
Likewise, with a shepherd’s crook type you will have anywhere from one to six crooks to hang something from including a pot of flowers I suppose. Of course you should be sure that the pole will support the weight of all the things you may hang from the hooks. One I looked at was capable of holding 120 pounds. When you consider you might hang a seed feeder, a bird house, a hummingbird feeder and in winter a suet bird feeder. I even saw a couple with built in squirrel baffles and rings where you could add a bird bath.
Now with a straight bird feeder pole you will most likely need some type of mounting hardware. But once you have your hardware in place you will be able to add a platform feeder or even a bird house if you wish.
Whatever type of bird feeder pole you select, it will no doubt add much beauty to your home’s landscaping. Just think of the fun you will have watching the birds and letting your children learn more about nature and wild birds. There are lots of places online where you can search through the available types of bird feeder poles.
