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Young starlings, sparrow occupy many hanging bird feeders grouped on pole

Can you have too many bird feeders

Many bird feeders isn't necessarily needed if you feel you have the bird numbers to match it, when an open to all bird feeder platform can accommodate all birds in the yard.

You can have too many bird feeders if your don't have the birds in the yard to match it. An abundance of bird feeders can frequently be used, yet the bird feed is now spread too thin, thus will lead to more waste than ever before. Begin with a seed, peanut and suet, along with a dish at first, then add more accordingly.

Its understandable when you feel the need to use more bird feeders in a yard if it guarantees all bird feeders will be used daily.

Bear in mind fewer bird feeders can be frequently by occupied by birds, though its possible the bird feed really isn't touched at all.

Clock is ticking with only a few days before bird feed goes bad, thus too many bird feeders can lead to less feed being eaten up in time.

Feeder count relies on use, yet too many bird feeders can spread bird food too thin, as a result none of the bird feed is seen to be used up at all. What you must do is refine your bird feeders to a maximum of four only, then proceed to add more if necessary.

As it happens you don't have to add many bird feeders if you can help it, when a larger capacity seed, nut or suet bird feeder can replace too small bird feeders.

Absolutely can bird feed still waste but you can correct that by only filling up bird feeders if you know how much bird feed is eaten within a few days of replenishing them.

Many bird feeders will limit how much available space is in the yard, thus safe areas will begin to dwindle the more that's added.

Bird feeders must be grouped to allow birds to feed safely in numbers, yet there's a risk of birds being harmed if too many bird feeders surround them - result in bumps and possibly birds getting crushed in windy conditions.

Feeder count relies on use

How many bird feeders you happen to have hanging up or placed in your yard will depend on the number of birds who frequent your bird feeders.

You can have too many bird feeders in your yard if these feeders are not being used.

Its a common tactic to begin with four major bird feeders of the peanut, seed mix and suet cage kind - along with an open dish or platform to add all this bird feed and much more, while made accessible to all.

Beyond these four bird feeders you may see all feeders used, with less bird food taken.

Feeder count relies on the frequency of use, and how much bird food is taken with that day, and the proceeding days before leftovers have to thrown or replaced with fresh options.

I understand the need to use more bird feeders and therefore more bird feed in an effort to attract birds to new bird feeders; when in fact refining your bird feeders only needs to be a few options to begin with - while ending up with these same few feeders in the end.

If your backyard is busy with birds early in the morning and throughout the day, then extra bird feeders can be used, if only the bird feed is mostly used up before it expires.

Food waste if spread too thin

Upgrading to additional bird feeders in your yard can result in too many bird feeders causing a congestion - resulting in birds eating all bird food, yet no bird feed is used up.

What happens is say up to six of the most common bird feeders are in use, a dozen birds can be using two or three whilst only a few birds are feeding off the others.

Most popular bird feeders of them all - which can be the suet and seed mix feeder - will see at lot of the feed used up, whereas the others remain pretty full.

What has happens is birds in their dozens are happily feeding on what they like, but the bird food within other bird feeders is spread to thin - meaning bird feeders appear to be used, but there's too much bird food in use.

Few days you have to get birds to eat up all your bird feed, then whatever's left must go in the trash, leading to bit of a waste on your part.

Instead, you can reduce the two or three different kinds of bird seed tube bird feeders; to only the one accessible hopper seed bird feeder - designed to attract birds of all species, both small and large.

Similarly, no other bird feeder is needed if only using a single yet highly effective open top platform bird feeder - with one available on a pole, can hang or is a ground bird feeder.

Safe places begin to dwindle

Too many bird feeders hanging up in your yard can become an issue as soon as you feel where you hang the bird feeders is beginning to feel desperate.

What I mean with that is with only a few bird feeders they can safely hang up on a bird feeder pole of any kind, then any additional feeders with no spare bracket in place - will need to be hung up elsewhere, which is where a hummingbird feeder can be placed.

Its then you'd feel under pressure to continue to hang bird feeders in a safe place, such as in the open yet remaining 4-6 feet off the ground - to only find there's nowhere else the bird feeders can go.

What that results in is bird feeders being too close to the ground, thus are within reach of pets or pests - or indeed feeders are set too close to the backyard boundary, thus birds will be in a dangerous area.

With that in mind, you can end up placing bird feeders too close together in an effort to make extra room on an occupied bird feeder bracket, or indeed when sharing a tree branch.

Where bird feeders should be placed is within a close group, yet with space to allow birds to feed safely.

Close groups benefit birds as they feed safely in numbers, yet bird feeders are not seen to be hidden or out of sight. Desperation is obvious when this close group of bird feeders become highly congested.

With all that bird feeders benefit with a shaded area for much of the day, thus shaded spots become unavailable if the area has a bird feeder or two in place already.

Minimum FOUR feeders

I will say you can have too many bird feeders if its more than 6 or 7, with the exception being if only birds use up all the bird feed within a few days.

However I will encourage you to continue with only the big four bird feeders, as any one of them is going to be required to accommodate most birds dietary needs.

Setup one clear plastic tube bird feeder for seed mixes; mesh wire bird feeder for nuts; wire cage bird feeder for suet - and then finally at least one open dish or a platform of sorts to allow all this bird food to be placed in, while remaining accessible to most birds.

Where these bird feeders should be hung is within a tight group hanging up on a bird feeding station pole, or similarly a Shepherd's hook.

Rather than introducing additional bird feeders close to this description, you can go bigger rather than adding far too many bird feeders.

I will continue to use a wire bird feeder for peanuts, or indeed to hold sunflower seeds, with two suet bird feeders within reason - yet go a step up on popular seed feeders.

Switch out a limited, compact hanging bird seed feeder and replace it with what will be a more accessible hanging hopper style bird feeder, or a tube seed feeder in a hexagon shape - with a wide seed catcher tray on the base.

Why birds are not coming to a bird feeder could be accessibility issues, thus a wider, open to all seed feeder may just be what your seed eating birds need.

Too many if lazy to clean out

Now that you know only four major bird feeders can be used, with the exception of a platform bird feeder which is accessible with all bird feed, more bird feeders lead to more of a mess.

Make no mistake, bird feeders do make a mess so unless you are prepared to clean up more seeds, peanuts and other bird feed on the ground, then forget about it.

Its hard enough to clean up few bird feeders once or twice a week, and this is especially true if you have a hummingbird feeder in use; whereas seeds, suet or peanuts must be picked up in order to prevent a hazard developing under bird feeders.

If too many bird feeders which are grouped within a foot or so of each is spread over a wider area - your cleaning duties will take up far more time and effort.

Few bird feeders in use don't often have to be cleaned up at all, as the few seeds, nuts and other wild bird food on the ground is usually cleaned up by ground eating birds - as they forage on the ground as well as up on hanging bird feeders.

How to clean a series of bird feeders can be pain for many, with the process including a long soak and a scrub - with the potential for a repeat process to remove any bacteria with a vinegar cleaning solution.

Bird feeders must be cleaned so when its time to clean all of them, you will find you'll probably postpone it, yet if it - not bother to clean all these bird feeders at all which you may have scattered around the yard.

To summarize

Of course you can have too many bird feeders if the types of bird feed within these feeders are not being used up within a week or so.

Bird food must be used up within three to five days which can depend on the time of year, as it will begin to germinate with bacteria if not replaced in time.

Many bird feeders can result in less bird feed being used up, as its spread too thin across too many bird feeders.

While an abundance of bird feeders can appear to be used, what happens is less bird food is eaten with fewer birds spread across them all.

Instead, you can begin with only four bird feeders to hold seed mixes, peanuts and suet, with an additional hanging or mounted bird feeder dish to hold all this popular bird feed, as it remains accessible to most common backyard birds.

In fact a pole mounted, hanging or ground platform bird feeder which is open to the elements may be the only bird feeder you'll ever need.

If you find more seeds, peanuts or suet is quickly eaten up, and long before the others run out... simply use a second bird feeder of its kind to hold what birds eat more of.

What else you can do is go bigger, so a small, compact seed bird feeder can be replaced with a large hanging hexagon or panoramic style seed feeder or hopper - which you will find is open to more birds to access with ease.

Basic bird feeders in use is enough to hang on a bird feeder pole, or grouped together in a tree.

Whereas many bird feeders in use can see safe feeder locations running dry, which can result in you doubling up brackets or tree branches with additional bird feeders.

With all that, too many bird feeders can lead to extra cleaning of bird feeders once or twice a week - with more mess created under hanging up bird feeders.

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