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How-to guides that answer the question first, with the distances, ratios and schedules that matter.
- Where Should You Put a Bird Feeder?Hang a bird feeder 5 to 6 feet off the ground, at least 10 feet from anything a squirrel can jump from, and either within 3 feet of a window or beyond 30 feet, never in between.
- How to Squirrel-Proof a Bird FeederA squirrel-proof feeder closes its feeding ports or drops a cage shut under a squirrel weight of roughly 4 ounces or more, while a bird feeder pole stays squirrel-resistant only when it sits 10 feet or more from any jump point with a baffle 4 to 5 feet up the pole.
- How to Set Up a Smart Bird Feeder CameraSet up a smart bird feeder camera by mounting it where its solar panel gets direct sun most of the day, connecting it to a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network within strong range of your router, formatting an SD card of the size and format the manual specifies, and pointing the camera lens away from direct sun glare.
- How to Choose Binoculars for Bird WatchingFor most bird watching, 8x42 binoculars are the standard choice because their 5.25 mm exit pupil stays bright at dawn and dusk and their wider field of view makes it easier to find a moving bird, while 10x42 trades some of that brightness and field of view for extra reach.
- Where Should a Hummingbird Feeder Go?Hang a hummingbird feeder where it gets morning sun and afternoon shade, at 5 to 6 feet high, either within 3 feet of a window or beyond 30 feet, and near but not against flowering plants that give hummingbirds a perch to guard the feeder from.
- How to Make Hummingbird NectarMix hummingbird nectar at 1 part plain white granulated sugar to 4 parts water, with no red dye and no honey, and change it every 6 days when temperatures stay below about 75 degrees Fahrenheit or daily above about 92 degrees.
- How to Clean a Bird FeederClean seed feeders every 2 weeks, or weekly during wet weather or a local disease outbreak, using a soak of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water followed by a full rinse and complete drying before refilling.
- Where to Mount a Birdhouse: Height, Direction and SpacingMount most nesting boxes 4 to 10 feet off the ground depending on species, face the entrance east or northeast to avoid hot afternoon sun and driving storms, and space same-species boxes at least 100 feet apart on a smooth pole fitted with a predator guard.
- How to Attract Cardinals to a Bird FeederCardinals come to platform and hopper feeders stocked with black oil sunflower seed, sunflower hearts or safflower, placed within 10 to 15 feet of dense shrub cover. A wide-perch feeder built for a heavy-bodied bird helps, since cardinals are too broad for small tube-feeder perches.
- How to Attract Bluebirds to Your YardBluebirds need a nest box with a 1 1/2 inch entrance hole mounted 4 to 6 feet up in open lawn away from dense trees, mealworms offered as a protein supplement during nesting season, and a predator guard on the pole, since open-country nesters face more exposure than woodland species.
- Feeding Birds in WinterOpen water is usually the bigger winter bottleneck than food, since a heated bird bath keeps a liquid water source available while natural sources freeze. Pair that with high-fat foods like suet and black oil sunflower and a feeder sheltered from wind, and most backyard birds get through cold snaps without extra help.
- Keeping Bully Birds Off Bird FeedersSwitch to a caged tube feeder that lets small songbirds through the mesh but keeps larger blackbirds, starlings and grackles out, add a weight-activated perch feeder for the same effect, and offer safflower seed, which cardinals and finches eat readily but many bully species avoid.
- Preventing Bird Window StrikesFeeders and windows within about 3 feet of glass, or more than about 30 feet away, see far fewer strikes than the danger zone in between. On the glass itself, decals or tape need to be spaced no more than 2 inches by 4 inches apart across the whole pane to actually break up the reflection.
- Bird Feeders and CatsKeep feeders at least 10 to 12 feet from any shrub, woodpile or other hiding spot a cat could ambush from, and mount them on a smooth pole 4 to 5 feet up rather than a low table or the ground. Treat a bell on a cat's collar as unreliable, since studies on collar bells show mixed results at best.
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