Very nice video and great design! We live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We don't have squirrels here but we have pigeons. I have done something similar for a proof-of-concept and it keeps those pigeons away and the smaller birds in. I enjoyed watching your video and your explanations were great.
Thanks for your video! I made one after watching your video, but I taped the openings to cover the exposed cut wire so the birds didnt get injured. I also did not add a top so that the birds can fly away quickly vs trying to find an opening.
You're certainly on the right track. I have been feeding birds for decades now and the biggest problems I have are grackles and Starlings. They will wipe out any bird feeder in no time flat. They come in droves and are aggressive towards smaller birds and even each other. I have a feeder with e cage around it like your old one and I still had to block the openings in front of the feeding ports as the grackle would stick their heads through the cage and clean out the feeder. They are like a plague when they come through.
Great video. I was thinking about trying the same thing and found this., and I think it looks great. One suggestion I have is to make the diameter of the two end pieces larger next time. I have a store bought feeder that is designed similarly, but the distance to the seed holes are farther so that the squirrels can't just reach in to grab seed because their arms are too short. Between that and having the screen holes smaller I think it will make a great feeder. I'm on my way to our workshop downstairs and then to Lowes to get the supplies. Thanks again.
I will try with strings of silver paper clips and pop tabs to see if I can deter Magpies. Thanks for the tips. I will let you and everyone know if it works
Great job, I'm going to use part of your idea to modify my feeder. Problem I'm having is the dove will emptying the feeder of sunflower seeds by racking the seed out onto the ground. Just wasting it. I'm going to wrap it with the wire fencing material. As far as the squirrels goes I use a baffle up above the feeder that keeps the squirrels away. Works great and only $14 at Lowes. I've used this way for years. The squirrels try to come down the cable and the baffle dumps them off. They only try a couple times then just sit under the feeder and eat seeds that get racked out.
Nice “Armored “ feeder,but I heard you mention TREE, twice,you made it so easy for animals to get to it,now you’re looking for ways to protect it.I have bird feeders (5) mounted on a galvanized 4” x12 ‘ tall pipe with concrete in the ground away from any trees (I have lots of trees) animals can not climb this pole nor they can fly.Located away from trees.For birds only,different feeders for different species,works great.
True, if you have the opportunity to mount poles that could work well. Although, you still need to prevent squirrels and raccoons from climbing the pole.
We did the same thing only we put it too close to the house...6 feet. It needs to be 8 feet away because the squirrels can jump off the roof of our ranch and onto the feeder.
John, you are a true environmentalist! For the love of birds, and ixnay to those rascally racoons and sneaky squirrals. Thought at first it could double as a bug zapper (well that's what it looks like now) then the birds probably wouldn't like that too much. Well done, hope to see vids of the birds feasting, neato seeing a peek at your workshop. Happy New Year!
Ha! Thanks, man. It does look like one of those bug zappers now that I think about it. I think a raccoon tried to get at it last night, but it held up fine.
Have you thought to use the new feeder into the old feeder cage. I did that myself. My favourite old feeder cage just needed some repair (base, etc.) but the actually feeding tube within it was beyond repeat after many years of service. So I bought a new non-caged feeder of similar size and modified it to fit into my original much loved feeder cage. Works great.
Well, eventually the raccoons and the deer won this battle! Night after night the raccoons would sit on the feeder and let it twist around to try and eject seed. Sometimes they would actually knock the feeder out of the tree. Once on the ground, the deer would approach and stomp on the feeder to release more seed. After awhile the damage became too great and I just tossed the feeder. I live in an area of very heavy deer pressure. This year we've had a mild winter, though, so the bird feeders haven't taken as much of a beating. So, yes, it did work for awhile, but when you have large animals determined to beat your feeder into submission then it's probably a losing battle.
I'd also like to see the squirrels trying to get into the 2" x 2" hole where you installed a perch. The squirrels I have can go through that size hole!
Great video, also great idea… I am also looking for an immediate idea, for little and medium and small birds. Big to medium size birds come to my yard and eat all the seeds.😮! Loving nature and try to the best I can to give the water and food. Thank you for sharing your idea ❤❤❤🌿🦋
If you want to clean the container you can just stick a hose in the top and spray it out. I've never cleaned my bird feeders, I guess because they never last that long! Even this one eventually succumbed to the raccoons and the deer. Even a wire cage can't stop a deer stomping on it.
after watching complete video i had an idea,do what you have already done,but since you said a squirrel got in how about the same thin flexible plastic that is used on the tall slender feeder you bought,wrap that around outside attached to the chicken wire you used,or i just thought money wise use old plastic pepsi or gold peak tea bottles cut top bottom off slit sides and wrap around THAT IS A GR8 THING YOU MADE TYVM
The video is probably a little deceiving. It's possible, I guess, that a small squirrel could squeeze in but it's unlikely. So far they've stayed away. It would be easy to create an adjustable opening if you're worried about it, though. Just cut a square of fencing a little larger than whatever opening you made previously and twist-wire the square on the grid to narrow the previous opening to whatever you wish. I expect that different birds in different areas of the country might prefer various sizes of openings so it is something with which to experiment.
We'll have to see over time about the squirrels. I don't even mind if they nab an occasional meal, it's when they just empty the whole feeder in a few minutes that I get upset.
See my update in the comments. After a few weeks of testing a squirrel did find a way in, though he didn't do any damage. I now recommend making the access hole one square smaller to avoid this problem.
Sorry, no feeder footage! That feeder in the video worked well for several years, but the winters and the marauding deer and raccoons eventually did enough damage so that I retired it.
Great work! I have a 7th floor balcony, so I don't have a squirrel or raccoon problem. My problem is pigeons! I want to make it accessible to sparrows but not pigeons. I feel this particular design might still make the seed accessible to pigeons. Any ideas on modifications?
You know, if your design will sit on a balcony it could be made bigger. In fact, it could be any shape. To stop pigeons you may only need to purchase one or two commercial feeders and then fashion a cage large enough to where they can't reach in.
I have the same battle going on in my yard. I have to feed the wood peckers otherwise they put huge holes in my wood sided house. Luckily the deer won't come within a 100ft of the house for whatever reason.
The woodpeckers do prefer the suet feed over individual seed, so that can be used to keep them at bay. If it gets cold or snowy enough, almost any bird or animal will go after the sunflower seed!
The squirrels are predictable, but the raccoons would sweep in at night like a marauding army and take down all my feeders! The swivel bolt seems to be working so far on that problem.
Only the size of the access holes. Of course, a juvenile squirrel might still be able to get in if the hole is left too large, but no solution is perfect.
They can't chew through the wire, but they are sometimes capable of reaching in and grabbing the bird perches or chewing through plastic. And there are smaller squirrels which might get in where others cannot. There's no perfect solution, short of posting a guard at the feeder.
By cutting that huge hole, you might as well just forget the entire mesh thing. Put the feeder on a pole with a baffle and that keeps squirrels and raccoons out. I had a problem for many years, but not anymore!
The hole may look larger on camera. It's really only big enough for small birds. In my area of the country a feeder on a pole won't work. If you manage to keep out the squirrels and raccoons , the deer will certainly destroy the pole and the feeder. Feeders mounted in trees need to be at least 6-7 feet high as well, or the deer raise up on their hind legs and swat at the feeder. Nothing is safe from the deer hordes!
Nice idea,but i can see the sharp points from where you cut out the hole for the birds to get the seed as well as the wires that are twisted together to hold the wire mesh to the feeder.....I see injured well fed feathered creatures fluttering about in pain...
You could file those down if you are concerned, but I never found any injured birds. They are pretty adept at navigating pointy objects and even if I stick my hand in there the edges don't poke.
It is work, and it is probably cheaper to buy something at retail if you can. But, if you enjoy small projects or can't find something locally it's another option.
Very nice video and great design! We live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We don't have squirrels here but we have pigeons. I have done something similar for a proof-of-concept and it keeps those pigeons away and the smaller birds in. I enjoyed watching your video and your explanations were great.
I have the same with 6 feeding port. I am also looking for cage around it to protact my painted buntings. Thanks for this video.
Thanks for your video! I made one after watching your video, but I taped the openings to cover the exposed cut wire so the birds didnt get injured. I also did not add a top so that the birds can fly away quickly vs trying to find an opening.
You're certainly on the right track. I have been feeding birds for decades now and the biggest problems I have are grackles and Starlings. They will wipe out any bird feeder in no time flat. They come in droves and are aggressive towards smaller birds and even each other. I have a feeder with e cage around it like your old one and I still had to block the openings in front of the feeding ports as the grackle would stick their heads through the cage and clean out the feeder. They are like a plague when they come through.
I've had the same issue with Starlings but my partner loves them so I have to put up with it even though they scare off my sparrows 😥
Great video. I was thinking about trying the same thing and found this., and I think it looks great. One suggestion I have is to make the diameter of the two end pieces larger next time. I have a store bought feeder that is designed similarly, but the distance to the seed holes are farther so that the squirrels can't just reach in to grab seed because their arms are too short. Between that and having the screen holes smaller I think it will make a great feeder. I'm on my way to our workshop downstairs and then to Lowes to get the supplies. Thanks again.
I will try with strings of silver paper clips and pop tabs to see if I can deter Magpies. Thanks for the tips. I will let you and everyone know if it works
Great job, I'm going to use part of your idea to modify my feeder. Problem I'm having is the dove will emptying the feeder of sunflower seeds by racking the seed out onto the ground. Just wasting it. I'm going to wrap it with the wire fencing material. As far as the squirrels goes I use a baffle up above the feeder that keeps the squirrels away. Works great and only $14 at Lowes. I've used this way for years. The squirrels try to come down the cable and the baffle dumps them off. They only try a couple times then just sit under the feeder and eat seeds that get racked out.
Nice “Armored “ feeder,but I heard you mention TREE, twice,you made it so easy for animals to get to it,now you’re looking for ways to protect it.I have bird feeders (5) mounted on a galvanized 4” x12 ‘ tall pipe with concrete in the ground away from any trees (I have lots of trees) animals can not climb this pole nor they can fly.Located away from trees.For birds only,different feeders for different species,works great.
True, if you have the opportunity to mount poles that could work well. Although, you still need to prevent squirrels and raccoons from climbing the pole.
We did the same thing only we put it too close to the house...6 feet. It needs to be 8 feet away because the squirrels can jump off the roof of our ranch and onto the feeder.
John, you are a true environmentalist! For the love of birds, and ixnay to those rascally racoons and sneaky squirrals. Thought at first it could double as a bug zapper (well that's what it looks like now) then the birds probably wouldn't like that too much. Well done, hope to see vids of the birds feasting, neato seeing a peek at your workshop. Happy New Year!
Ha! Thanks, man. It does look like one of those bug zappers now that I think about it. I think a raccoon tried to get at it last night, but it held up fine.
Have you thought to use the new feeder into the old feeder cage. I did that myself. My favourite old feeder cage just needed some repair (base, etc.) but the actually feeding tube within it was beyond repeat after many years of service. So I bought a new non-caged feeder of similar size and modified it to fit into my original much loved feeder cage. Works great.
Sometimes you can do that, sometimes you can't, depending on the configuration.
Could you give a update on how its working out for you?
Well, eventually the raccoons and the deer won this battle! Night after night the raccoons would sit on the feeder and let it twist around to try and eject seed. Sometimes they would actually knock the feeder out of the tree. Once on the ground, the deer would approach and stomp on the feeder to release more seed. After awhile the damage became too great and I just tossed the feeder. I live in an area of very heavy deer pressure. This year we've had a mild winter, though, so the bird feeders haven't taken as much of a beating. So, yes, it did work for awhile, but when you have large animals determined to beat your feeder into submission then it's probably a losing battle.
I'd also like to see the squirrels trying to get into the 2" x 2" hole where you installed a perch. The squirrels I have can go through that size hole!
Yeah, some of them are pretty slippery! You could try a smaller hole first and see how it goes.
It looks to me like the squirrels could go right through the hole made for the cardinals.
Not at one and three fourths in diameter. provided its circle shaped
Great video, also great idea… I am also looking for an immediate idea, for little and medium and small birds.
Big to medium size birds come to my yard and eat all the seeds.😮! Loving nature and try to the best I can to give the water and food. Thank you for sharing your idea ❤❤❤🌿🦋
Nice, but how are you going to clean it?
If you want to clean the container you can just stick a hose in the top and spray it out. I've never cleaned my bird feeders, I guess because they never last that long! Even this one eventually succumbed to the raccoons and the deer. Even a wire cage can't stop a deer stomping on it.
after watching complete video i had an idea,do what you have already done,but since you said a squirrel got in how about the same thin flexible plastic that is used on the tall slender feeder you bought,wrap that around outside attached to the chicken wire you used,or i just thought money wise use old plastic pepsi or gold peak tea bottles cut top bottom off slit sides and wrap around THAT IS A GR8 THING YOU MADE TYVM
Looks great, but it would be nice to be able to validate your design if we can see some bird actions!
I'd like to see a live bird cam on this new bird feeder. Wish you could make one for me lol
Great job John. You should market these lol. After all, you have nothing else to do right? Lol.
Great job! I am curious if the squirrels have tried to get thru that opening, it looks big enough on camera..Thx
The video is probably a little deceiving. It's possible, I guess, that a small squirrel could squeeze in but it's unlikely. So far they've stayed away. It would be easy to create an adjustable opening if you're worried about it, though. Just cut a square of fencing a little larger than whatever opening you made previously and twist-wire the square on the grid to narrow the previous opening to whatever you wish. I expect that different birds in different areas of the country might prefer various sizes of openings so it is something with which to experiment.
Rob Shamel I was thinking that same thing. Squirrels chew through plastic pretty easy and are very resourceful when food is concerned.
We'll have to see over time about the squirrels. I don't even mind if they nab an occasional meal, it's when they just empty the whole feeder in a few minutes that I get upset.
See my update in the comments. After a few weeks of testing a squirrel did find a way in, though he didn't do any damage. I now recommend making the access hole one square smaller to avoid this problem.
@@enduringcharm I knew it. Darn squirrels. They are nothing but resourceful when it comes to free food.
I wish you would’ve included some footage of the feeder in use 😕
Sorry, no feeder footage! That feeder in the video worked well for several years, but the winters and the marauding deer and raccoons eventually did enough damage so that I retired it.
Great video. Your a good teacher. Thank you.
Great work! I have a 7th floor balcony, so I don't have a squirrel or raccoon problem. My problem is pigeons! I want to make it accessible to sparrows but not pigeons. I feel this particular design might still make the seed accessible to pigeons. Any ideas on modifications?
You know, if your design will sit on a balcony it could be made bigger. In fact, it could be any shape. To stop pigeons you may only need to purchase one or two commercial feeders and then fashion a cage large enough to where they can't reach in.
Thanks!!! Truly found my solution. On my way to Homedepot right now. :)
Great. What is the suggested access hole (height and width in inches) for the cage to prevent squirrels from entering?
See 13:00. You may want to adjust that, but start small and work your way bigger if you experiment, because those squirrels are clever.
31mm stop squirrels
I have the same battle going on in my yard. I have to feed the wood peckers otherwise they put huge holes in my wood sided house. Luckily the deer won't come within a 100ft of the house for whatever reason.
The woodpeckers do prefer the suet feed over individual seed, so that can be used to keep them at bay. If it gets cold or snowy enough, almost any bird or animal will go after the sunflower seed!
Thanks. I'm having the exact same issues with my feeders sans the deer.
The squirrels are predictable, but the raccoons would sweep in at night like a marauding army and take down all my feeders! The swivel bolt seems to be working so far on that problem.
What is going to stop the Squirrels from going in it?
Only the size of the access holes. Of course, a juvenile squirrel might still be able to get in if the hole is left too large, but no solution is perfect.
what about the sharp bits where you have cut , the birds could catch themselves on it
Birds are pretty smart about avoiding sharp edges, but if it bothers you just take a couple swipes with a file to smooth the area.
Innovative and creative-nice job. And all for birds’ sake. ;->
I want to see video of birds in action 🙏🏼
María
Can squirrels eat the wire ?
They can't chew through the wire, but they are sometimes capable of reaching in and grabbing the bird perches or chewing through plastic. And there are smaller squirrels which might get in where others cannot. There's no perfect solution, short of posting a guard at the feeder.
Love this, thanks!
"It's a birdfeeder, not a China cabinet."
Starlings would bully the little ones.
It is the sheer number that scares the rest such as sparrows, tits, finches etc.
Nice video, but common grackles will attack your feeder.
I've never had grackles or crows give any feeder a glance. Maybe in my area they have plenty of other food they prefer.
I think your opening is too tall squirrel jumps on it he can get your seed. 1.5” x 1.5” would have been a start. Nice information l liked it
Great job!!!
Great job
Why didn't you just buy bigger wire while you were at Home Depot?
You mean a larger grid pattern? You may find something that works, it depends on your local store. If you go too big you'll have squirrels getting in.
Nice Idea! Thanks
this is a good one
By cutting that huge hole, you might as well just forget the entire mesh thing.
Put the feeder on a pole with a baffle and that keeps squirrels and raccoons out.
I had a problem for many years, but not anymore!
The hole may look larger on camera. It's really only big enough for small birds. In my area of the country a feeder on a pole won't work. If you manage to keep out the squirrels and raccoons , the deer will certainly destroy the pole and the feeder. Feeders mounted in trees need to be at least 6-7 feet high as well, or the deer raise up on their hind legs and swat at the feeder. Nothing is safe from the deer hordes!
Nice idea,but i can see the sharp points from where you cut out the hole for the birds to get the seed as well as the wires that are twisted together to hold the wire mesh to the feeder.....I see injured well fed feathered creatures fluttering about in pain...
You could file those down if you are concerned, but I never found any injured birds. They are pretty adept at navigating pointy objects and even if I stick my hand in there the edges don't poke.
way too much work
It is work, and it is probably cheaper to buy something at retail if you can. But, if you enjoy small projects or can't find something locally it's another option.
Great Job!