Is my bird feeder too low
There are ways to determine if your bird feeders are hanging or sat too low, but to sit them high as possible would create a safer environment for feeding birds.
If your bird feeder is sitting below 4 feet at any point, this would be an indication of a poorly placed feeder. Feeder must be located 5 to 6 feet up, to allow birds to feed in safety. Hint of a too low feeder can be you need to bend over to refill or detach feeders - or could the feeder be brushing up against ground vegetation.
Don't sit bird food that would hang or sit open on top of what is a platform feeder too low to the ground, as rain splash back or moisture off vegetation can quickly spoil the feed.
More importantly, a sat too low hanging bird feeder, or a bird food tray on a stand would become within reach of common backyard pests.
Never would you be able to deter squirrels on a too low feeder, as the rodents are able to reach up or simply jump vertically to grab a feeder, thus creating a footing so squirrels can climb on top the rest of the way.
Similarly but less agile are raccoons, so to keep raccoons off a feeder would begin with a feeder sat much higher to make it near impossible to reach.
Raccoons can be quite clever, as they are capable of climbing poles or simply reach up, so do be sure to keep bird feeders high up as you can - while making sure there's no other way pests can reach the feed, via a different route.
Feeder below 4ft. is too low
Situating feeders anywhere below the height of 4 feet will be too low to the ground, thus unsuitable for use by birds too feed in safety.
Height is measured at the bottom point of the bird feeder, so while a feeder can be as high as 5-6 feet on its top part - the lower part or bottom tip is all that matters.
To hang a bird feeder off a bird feeding station or metal shepherds hook, this can drastically reduce the hanging height without even realizing it.
Only after the bird feeder has been hung can you get a fair measurement of its height.
Where you can go wrong while impaling the feeding station or shepherds hook into the ground, is indeed digging it into the ground to far.
Impale a bird feeding station or shepherds hook on a pole up to one foot only.
Four feet or below is far to low for a bird feeder of any type to be, so be sure to utilize the higher pole; mount feeder on a wall or on the side of the house to be sure of that all important 4 feet or above.
As a rule of thumb for hanging bird feeders, the safest height would always be 5-6 feet.
Need to bend over to refill
Comfort is the key to replenishing a bird feeder with bird food or cleaning it up to twice a week, on time, every time.
To swap out bird feeders or to detach them off their bracket to open and refill, it must be dangling full length at the height of your chest, give or take a few inches.
Now, this only applies to you or the person who is in charge of refilling the feeders.
But to lean or bend over to refill or detach a hanging bird feeder I would deem unusual, as an odd way to go about maintaining bird feeders.
Feeders must always be at a high vantage point for safety reasons, so for a regular person standing between 5-6 feet the feeders must be level with your eye sight, or thereabouts.
Bending over to refill or to maintain a bird feeder means the said feeders are too far to the ground - so its up to you to correct this as the feeders become within reach of pests such as squirrels or raccoons, who may only need to reach up.
Too low if within reach of pests
Cunning creatures that turn up in your backyard with your bird feeders in their sights, will do all it takes to gain access to the peanuts, seeds or suet hanging up.
If you bird feeders are hanging too low then these critters will be sure to gobble it all up.
Raccoons will find it more difficult to come within reach of a bird feeder that is just out of their range - as raccoons cannot jump up vertically but be aware they can reach up a little higher on their hind legs.
Similarly but more cunning are squirrels, who could be within reach of too low feeders, as they simply jump up to cling onto any feeder within range.
On top of that, squirrels can use the leverage of a surface or backyard object to jump near horizontally. Feeders sitting too close to the ground would make this process incredibly easy for squirrels, but still possible for raccoons.
Bear in mind its important a bird feeding station would always need a baffle to stop raccoons and squirrels climbing up.
To situate a bird feeder to low too the ground, these critters only need to climb a foot or so to reach or quite possible jump over to the side, with no need to climb any further where the squirrel baffle is mounted.
Feeder in contact with vegetation
Finally, to know if your bird feeder is too low is knowing it is brushing up against items or natural growth on the ground below it.
If your feeders sit to close to the ground the vegetation only acts to speed up the rotting process of the bird feed - as vegetation tends to stay wet or bleach anything it touches with its natural water contents.
Feeders must never be able to touch anything that can effect the food quality, but more importantly you should never allow it for hygiene purposes.
It can be about safety too, imagine if snakes or a cat is waiting within the overgrown grass or vegetation; of course birds would fall foul of these predators without given the birds a chance to escape.
On a similar but different note, never allow branches or twigs to interfere with the hanging bird feeders either - as it would create a gateways for smaller pests, such as insects.
Feeders must never come into contact with anything that sits below it, and if it does take that as a serious hint of feeders being way below the recommended height.
To summarize
Overall, the tip or bottom of any kind of bird feeder should never sit below 4 feet, as it would definitely come within reach of pests, such as raccoons or squirrels.
If your bird feeder is too low may only be known by you, as circumstances do very with the backyard setup - but for most of us bird feeders must be 5 to 6 feet high.
If you need to bend over to replenish or maintain and clean your feeders twice a week, then that should be a hint of too far down feeders. As a rule, bird feeder length must be inline with your chest, or level with your eye line.
To sit bird feeders below 4 feet won't bring the food within reach of squirrels or raccoons so much, but a squirrel can jump up whereas raccoons would normally reach up as they stand on their hind legs.
Feeders should never come into contact with a backyard object, such as a post or plant pot, nor should feeders touch natural coverage - such as tree branches or twigs.
So if your feeders are indeed brushing up against vegetation below the feeder, then take that as the biggest hint yet of feeders being too low to the ground.
Share this article:
