Will Doves eat from a bird feeder
Doves can often be seen perched on or looking on at feeders from afar, appearing to be interested but never seen using feeders at all, which couldn't be further from the truth.
Doves will eat from a bird feeder because they forage for seeds in the wild, which are commonly made available. Doves will try yet often fail on small compact feeders, although open top platform feeders will guarantee success. Ground bird feeders must be used with an abundance of bird seeds to boot.
Doves will eat out of bird feeders because they often contain an important component of they diet, which is seeds like those found in the wild.
With most doves feeding mostly on all kinds of seeds in the wild, you can expect these same birds to raid bird feeders replenished with seeds.
Doves are not the most agile bird thus act more like slow moving, yet often clumsy birds who struggle to access bird feeders.
What you will have to do to be sure doves can eat out of bird feeders is to switch feeders to the open top platforms kind.
Where you place the bird feeders for Mourning Doves or Common Ground Doves so they access with it ease, is in a lit up area with no near by objects likely to cause doves too much trouble with their wide wingspan whilst in-flight.
Large bird likely to be seen raiding all kinds of bird feeders - plus the likelihood of this larger bird eating more - thus they will be seen to poop on and around any bird feeders far more often; thus any wonder people like to discourage all doves and their close cousins, the pigeon - rather than attracting them at feeders at all.
Doves are a common backyard bird thus can be a lot of fun to feed if you wanted to, and will eat from a bird feeder despite the species unlikely to access the feed within, with any success at all due to their size or inability to coordinate.
Doves desperate to eat off bird feeders
Its not so much a case of will doves eat from a bird feeder but a matter of when, despite the small, compact bird feeders being mostly out of bounds.
Your favorite doves like the Mourning Dove or Common Ground Dove will want to feed off any kind of bird feeder in your your, only the size of the dove will mostly keep them well off it in their attempt to pick up their favorite seeds.
Desperate as doves are to feed off bird feeders, its because they do often contain a much needed source of dove-safe seeds, thus you can expect doves to at least try an feed on feeders.
If you want your regular visiting doves to feed off your particular bird feeder, then its essential you scrap the hard to access feeders in place of open to all feeders.
Remember doves are large, clumsy with no agility, thus they can't perch or land on short or little to no perch placements.
Doves can land on an open platform bird feeders but for those that are hung off a branch or pole - then they're only likely to inspect it from afar - as oppose to finding a spot to land which will be near impossible.
Clumsily perch on compact feeders
How you would go about feeding smaller birds at feeders whilst keeping doves off bird feeders in the meantime, is to utilize specialty small compact feeders.
Actually, they aren't intended that way but they are a vital food source that can mostly feed smaller, kinder birds while expelling larger birds - which are what people would classify as nuisance birds just like pigeons.
Despite how hard it is for any kind of doves to perch on a feeder intended for small birds only, you can expect them to what can only by clumsily perching on compact feeders.
As you can imagine with their size and body girth, the dove or common pigeon isn't made to daintily perch whilst feeding at the same time. All doves can do is perch on an easy to land area whilst feeding at the same time.
Now you know doves will eat from a bird feeder, is this something you want to happen or is it a behavior you wish to discourage.
If you want to keep doves off bird feeders then continue to use small compact seed-filled feeders.
If you want doves to be seen eating at bird feeders then you have no choice than to use what would be mostly open top bird feeders.
Open platforms suitable options
Where you'll see all doves willing to feed off bird feeders would relate mostly to open to platform bird feeders which doves like the most.
You know the kind, it would sit on top of a stand up to 3 feet off the ground, where all kinds of wild bird food is thrown on top of the wooden platform for wild birds to help themselves.
It will have to be an open top platform bird feeder on a stand because that is how doves like to eat on feeders - on top of a stabilized platform.
Open platform ground bird feeders are a better choice as doves are ground feeding birds after all; whilst an hanging platform bird feeder can be more or less restricting to your common backyard dove.
What I expect you to put on top of these platform bird feeders is a mix of wild bird seeds only, situated on an open, visible to all area where you larger than normal dove - and pigeons if you like - can safely perch to feed.
Doves will at least try to feed off compact hanging bird feeders which can be filled up with seed mixes; whilst you can guarantee doves can eat seeds if you place them on top of a platform bird feeder.
Will eat seed on ground feeder
Doves will of course eat off bird feeders if the feeder in question makes a mix of wild bird seeds available to them all.
With your Common Ground Dove, Inca Dove, Mourning Dove and Spotted Dove likely to be spotted in your yard, and therefore possibly accessing your feeders in a way they know how - its important then to supply them what they eat.
And what all of the most common backyard doves eat is a mix of seeds, with little else on the menu.
Doves will eat from bird feeders then but remember the open top platform bird feeder must be replenished with seeds only.
No particular seed is necessary although you can expect most doves to eat what you'd normally have available; like seed mixes, sunflower and safflower seeds. You can also expect doves to eat cracked corn if made available.
With most seed types happily eaten by doves alongside cracked corn, all this must be made available on the ground as the best way to feed doves in your yard.
Seeds can be put on a ground bird feeder although doves will eat seeds off the ground, just as nature intended.
Summary
With seeds making up a doves diet 99% of the time, doves will come to bird feeders to feed on common bird seed mixes.
Doves must eat as much if not more than smaller backyard birds, thus will do all they can to access seed mixes in order to receive a proper intake of nutrients. With that to think about you can expect all doves to raid feeders, even if most of the time they struggle to.
Large, often clumsy doves won't find it easy to feed out of a bird feeder, even if that is something they want to do.
And if you don't want to feed doves as you consider them a bit of a nuisance, then the small, compact hanging seed bird feeders is all you need.
To successfully feed doves in your yard, or more specifically from your bird feeders; you may need to change the type of bird feeders currently in use - to something a little more accessible.
Out goes the limited use hanging seed feeders then and along comes the use of open top platform bird feeders.
Open top so doves can easily land to perch, yet to utilize a platform feeder on a stand can guarantee stability and accessibility. Whereby a similar hanging platform bird feeder would make it hard for doves to thread their wide wingspan through as they land.
With doves being ground eating birds, then a ground bird feeder will make more sense, providing its full of dove-attracting wild seed mixes.
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