How high should a bird feeder be off the ground
Providing you don't experience a predatory issue or pests wanting to steal bird food, do hang or mount all bird feeders far off the ground so its visible but accessible to birds.
How high should bird feeders be off the ground is 4-6ft. minimum; distance of which relates to a wild birds natural feeding pattern in shrubs - whereby a higher up location of 6-8ft. can be attractive. Measure feeder base to ground height, whilst considering a low or high position to avoid rain, sun, pets and predators.
Height off the ground of any bird feeder made to be hung or mounted would normally be set at 4 feet minimum, if only relying on a bird feeding station or similarly a Shepherd's Hook.
Whilst the pole brackets are quite high off the ground the bird feeders can continue to be within reach of ground predators or pets on the ground, plus visiting squirrels or raccoon's who can climb or simply jump up 4 feet above.
If you have any of that to contend with then bird feeders must be hung 6 feet or more.
When a bird feeder pole bracket doesn't provide you that much needed height, then turn to a wall mounted bracket to hang bird feeders.
Birds won't use your bird feeder if its continuously occupied by nuisance animals thus you must keep all others off whilst prioritizing its use for birds exclusively.
Height off the ground is important but it isn't so if you don't have to deal with nuisance predators or common bird feeder pests.
In fact, a bird feeder doesn't have to hang when it can be sat on a flat surface, or where you would utilize a ground bird feeder to open up to birds not compatible with feeders made to be hung higher up.
Where to place a bird feeder of any kind must also be 4 feet minimum, but an higher up location must be your priority - with a maximum height off the ground of say 10 feet.
Aim for 4-6 feet minimum
Why we must prioritize an off the ground location for feeders is to accommodate what are mostly common backyard birds who forage higher up in the wild.
Benefit to feeding birds at a height of 4 feet minimum can double up as a safe place to feed birds while keeping them out of reach of predators or even pets like cats. How high should bird feeder be off the ground is 4 feet minimum.
Personally, I wouldn't situate any kind of bird feeder below this recommended hanging or mounted placement - or else the bird feeder would be accessible by all and sundry.
Despite this, bird feeders at a 4 feet minimum height can still be far too low down to the ground for many of you, thus its better to locate feeders little higher up.
Rather than being dead set on a 4 feet placement off the ground, instead aim for anywhere between 4 to 6 feet if you like.
Additional height must be prioritized if you plan to squirrel proof your bird feeders, or indeed if you need to keep bears, raccoon's, coyotes or others off in the meantime.
Begin with an accessible yet an often default 4 feet high bird feeder pole bracket placement - then proceed to hang or mount higher up if nuisance animals or issues arise after a period of use.
Measure feeder base to ground
How high does a bird feeder need to be would be anywhere between 4 to 6 feet for most of you, which is a significant distance off the ground you should be able to accommodate.
With that being said, I must remind you any kind of bird feeder can be up to a foot or more tall.
Its therefore a guarantee if a bird feeder is hung off a bracket or branch at 4 feet off the ground, then this would correspond to a feeder only being strung 3 feet off the ground... plus any additional height lost due to the wire, chain or rope used to hang.
With that to consider a 4 feet placement off the ground would actually lead to 5 feet, in order to counteract the height loss when the bird feeder is hung.
What else you must consider when hanging a bird feeder off a tree branch, bird feeder pole or a random object in your yard, is to measure the lowest part of the feeder.
The tip or base of the bird feeder will be where you measure the recommended 4 to 6 feet off the ground.
Never measure a bird feeder off the ground at the point of where its hung, such as the tree branch or bracket on the bird feeder pole; it will give you a false height as you forget about the hanging feeder lower down.
How high should bird feeders be is 4 to 6 feet off the ground based on the very tip of the bird feeder.
Higher up if within reach
While the minimum 4 feet distance off the ground is going to accommodate wild birds just fine, it may not be an ideal placement if predators are within reach, or indeed woodland creatures or pests visit to steal bird food.
Go for a 4 to 6 feet height off the ground but if you can at all, there's nothing wrong with hanging or mounting any kind of bird feeder higher up.
In fact, 6 to 8 feet off the ground - when measuring at the bottom tip of the feeder - to be the best way to hang a bird feeder in order to keep everyone and everything else out of the feeder you have hung up.
It would be rare to reach additional height on a bird feeder pole above 4 feet, thus this extra height would mostly apply to hanging bird feeder on a tree branch.
Other choices can also include hanging bird feeders on the gutter or its adjacent Soffit, under the eaves, on the washing line, under a flower basket - or hanging feeders off a bracket mounted to a wall or fence.
How to keep squirrels off bird feeders would rely on a baffle hung above, and with that comes a loss of an additional foot or so.
I do believe a bird feeder can be hung too high if its above a birds natural foraging height in-flight, as birds fly low over yards in search of bird food in feeders.
Lower if birds obstructed
Rare as it is to hang a bird feeder below the recommend 4 feet minimum, there is the possibility of doing so if no nuisance animals or predators occupy your yard.
Heck, a hummingbird feeder or regular suet, seed or nut feeder can be placed on a flat surface - of which birds will happily come to - especially as it applies to common backyard birds who eat bird food, but are not able to use bird feeders.
And remember there's such a thing as a ground bird feeders which of course will cater to these ground feeding birds, and many more.
Why you might consider hanging a bird feeder lower down to the ground could also be to keep bird feeders out of direct sun to sustain the bird food. Whereas a lower down placement could benefit with shelter out of the rain.
Similarly, most people would have a shared fence between your property and your next door neighbors, in which you can utilize - thus to hang a bird feeder on a fence can be an option, although it does come with risks.
Risks being the neighbors cat plus large, nuisance birds can use a fence placement for leverage to access bird food or in the case of cats, to pray on innocents birds.
To be honest, a small or lower down group of shrubs or plants you can use to hang bird feeders on within your yard, often are under 3 feet; thus you'd have no choice but to hang feeders lower down... which of course can be avoided if you invest in a bird feeder pole or bracket to mount or hang feeders higher up.
To summarize
How high should a bird feeder be off the ground is approximately 4 to 6 feet at the bare minimum.
Priority must be to situate bird food in feeders that is within a safe yet reliable but natural placement off the ground, which normally corresponds to common backyard birds natural foraging pattern in the wild.
Most birds forage off the ground at a lower position in shrubs or go higher up in trees.
With that in mind a 4 to 6 feet distance off the ground is still quite low, despite that your wild birds come to rely on bird feeders so will have no qualms of feeding on it with your property.
I would aim for a minimum of 4 to 6 feet off the ground to at least prevent ground predators praying on birds feeding directly above.
Similarly, a higher up bird feeder placement could be needed to utilize a squirrel baffle or hummingbird ant moat, in which they're strung above bird feeders to stop descending rodents or insects.
However, what you must know about using devices like this, is that bird feeders lose additional height off the ground as baffles or ant moats double up as hangers.
On that subject, remember to measure the very bottom tip of feeders to the ground directly below, as its where you get the safe 4 to 6 feet distance off the ground.
With all that said and done, there's certainly no harm in hanging or mounting bird feeders higher up off the ground at 6 to 8 feet.
Impossible on a default height of a 4 feet bird feeder pole, but to hang feeders in a tree, you can achieve the height... but bird feeders must remain accessible plus visible to birds - and for you to clean and replenish bird feeders that are kept within reach.
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