Bird Feeders

A bird feeder turns the back garden into a low-effort wildlife reserve. The format depends on the birds you want: hanging tube feeders (with peanuts or sunflower hearts) attract tits, finches and small songbirds; ground tray feeders attract robins, blackbirds and dunnocks; suet ball cages attract starlings and woodpeckers; nyjer-seed tube feeders attract goldfinches specifically. Cheap Furniture Warehouse, Cheaper-Online.co.uk and Cherry Lane Garden Centres between them cover £2-£250 across the range. Squirrel-proof feeders use weight-sensitive perches that close the seed port under squirrel weight; without them, feeders empty in days rather than weeks. Hanging height matters: 1.5-2m above ground keeps cats off but isn't impossible to refill from a step ladder. Place feeders within 1-2m of cover (a hedge, dense shrub) so birds have escape routes from sparrowhawks. The grid below filters by feeder type, capacity and squirrel-proofing.