Should bird feeders be brought in at night
Why you may feel your bird feeders should be brought in at night is no concern of yours unless you expect the feeders to be damaged or taken away overnight.
Feeders should not be brought in at night as they're designed to be left out in the yard, unless damage is expected. Overnight forecast can bring wind that can ruin your bird feeder setup - whereas a frost can be avoided if the feeders are brought in. Bear in mind, the feeders must be put back out in the early morning.
Even with the most genuine reasons too, most people tend to allow their feeders to get what's coming to them - as feeders can take all kinds of punishment.
Life can be made easier though if you can unhook the feeders to store them in a shed or outbuilding overnight when the time allows it.
Stored indoors keeps the feeders out of reach of nighttime backyard visitors; as in the nuisance animal kingdom or indeed to avoid a spate of overnight backyard theft.
Feeders can take on all kinds of weather, but the wind is the biggest concern as it can uplift all kinds of feeders off their bracket or branch, thus they're never to be seen again.
Having brought in your feeders at night can be the best solution, but remember its unlikely you won't be up in time the following morning to reassemble your feeders.
Birds feed as soon as its bright out so unless you can be up before the birds, they risk missing their important early morning feed.
Unusual to bring in at night
It has to be said to bring in your bird feeders at night would be unusual, so it wouldn't be a common thing to see or do.
Genuine reasons to bring in a bird feeder at night due exist but for the most part, you can keep the feeders where they are in time for the early morning feeding rush.
If you do not have a genuine reason to bring in your feeders, then leave them where they are.
People do believe feeders must be brought in at night to help keep the food within the feeders better preserved, or at least they believe it contributes to the feeders, and so to the food lasting longer.
When in fact bird feeders are made to be outdoors 24/7, whereas bringing feeders in at night is just a waste of time. Having said that, this doesn't apply to not bringing hummingbird feeders in at night as the nectar cannot get too cold.
While its unusual to bring feeders in at night out of the blue, for no apparent reason, there is reasons to bring in feeders at night for nighttime issues to be avoided.
Only if feeders are disturbed
Less so pests in the insect world but nocturnal animals such as foxes, coyotes and opossums could be attracted to a bird feeder at night.
More so raccoon are attracted to bird feeders with the ability to climb up a pole to reach the food kept in the hanging bird feeders left out in the yard.
In which case it makes sense to bring in bird feeders at night where you can't control or at least scare away nuisance animals over the course of the night.
And it has to be said to refer to bringing in bird feeders in at nighttime applies to feeders being stored away in a shed or outbuilding only - as its not very hygienic for feeders to be brought into the home.
Where else you'd need to focus on is keeping the area around where the bird feeders hang or are placed as clean as possible, 24 hours a day.
Simply put, if hanging bird feeders are left to create a mess beneath them then the night time visitors would simply be attracted to food on the ground.
However, it has to be said its not always the wildlife disturbing feeders at night with mother nature expected to cause serious damage.
To avoid mother nature
In anticipation of an overnight forecast that is sure to cause a frost, then you can bring in the feeders through the night.
Frost can cause the food within the feeders to freeze over so would become inaccessible to birds in the morning. And while the feeders are bound to freeze up once they're put back out, at least you are in better control.
While freezing weather through the night is sure to cause the food to freeze up, what else is an issue is snow, but unlike frost can be shaken off.
Similarly, if high winds or rain is expected in the early hours then bring in the feeders to prevent them being blown away.
Rain is less of an issue but strong wind through the night would damage bird feeders.
Not surprising the occasional storm that brings it all, and then some... would require you to pack your bird feeders safely away, along with your backyard furniture.
Overnight forecast can continue from what began in the day or evening, so at this point I would you should of brought in your feeders before now.
Miss early morning rush
The most important time when backyard birds come to feed in your yard in numbers is when there's plenty of light, be it in the early hours of summertime or the rest of the year.
Its therefore expected birds to come to your bird feeders between 6AM to 8AM, or any time before depending on where you live.
I don't expect you to be up in time to put your bird feeders back out in time for this early morning feeding frenzy.
I doubt it, its too early for anyone... so to consider bringing bird feeders in at night, you're sure to miss the early morning feed.
If you are up early for work or to get the kids ready for school then great, but that is not to say you wouldn't forget to hang the feeders back up in the yard again.
And there you have it, the downside to bringing in your bird feeder in at night would mean you probably won't be able to get them back up again in time, thus the important early morning wild bird feeding time is missed.
Summarize
If you have no genuine reason to bring in your bird feeders at night, then it would be an unusual action to take.
Reasons why feeders can be brought in overnight can very, heck... feeders could be brought at night to simply stop overnight thieves.
If your bird feeders are not so much attacked at night but more so disturbed by pests, then this would be a good time to bring feeders indoors.
Suspects can be raccoons, coyotes, opossums or foxes; as it is not all these nocturnal animals could actually be targeting the feeders.
Indeed, it could be the unkempt area below bird feeders these animals and more are targeting - with easy pickings of spilled food. It would then be a better option to keep the area clean, rather than bring the feeders inside.
Why else you would definitely need to bring the feeders indoors is an overnight forecast.
Mother nature doesn't always have a way of creeping up on us, so an expected forecast can tell you if the feeders need to be brought through the night.
More so to avoid an overnight frost as birds won't be able to access the food within the feeders - but less so a light flurry of snow as this can be shaken off in the morning.
Rain is not so much a problem but where there's rain there's usually wind - so wind does risk damaging your bird feeder setup unless its disassembled, and brought indoors.
All this of course can lead to you not taking the bird feeders back out in time for the early morning feeding birds, or indeed you are in no rush so you'd happily miss the most busiest feeding time of the day.
Bird feeders should be brought in at night for reasons of overnight weather forecast or if animals come visiting to disrupt the feeders. So without a genuine reason, it would be better to leave the feeders where they are.
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