17 Jan - Written by Tom

Top 5 bird feeding stations

Also known as bird poles or feeder trees.

Bird feeding stations are versatile and effective tools for attracting a diverse range of bird to your garden. By offering various types of bird feed and feeders, you can cater to different species' dietary preferences and behaviours. Whether you aim to entice small songbirds or larger, more robust species, there is a feeding station suited to your needs. Additionally, the flexibility of incorporating multiple stations allows for accommodating various bird populations simultaneously. This is your first step to turning your garden into a perfect environment for bird activity.

The four main feeder types:

Seed feeder

A seed feeder will attract loads of different types of birds to your garden, including House Sparrows, Blue Tits, Greenfinches and Siskins. The seed feeder is a really common type of feeder and comes in a wide range of shapes and sizes. They’re suitable for any free flowing seed mix, including sunflower seeds and sunflower hearts.

Ground feeders

Some birds, such as blackbirds, thrushes, wrens and robins, prefer to eat from ground level rather than a suspended bird feeder. Sprinkle feed on a patio, lawn or use a ground feeding table, sit back and watch them come. The best feeds to use for this are grated peanuts, suet nibbles, meal worms or even grated cheese

Nuts and nibble feeders

These feeders are a lot like the seed feeders, the main difference being the feed is surrounded by a metal mesh. This is perfect for feed like peanuts because it prevents the birds from getting too big a piece and choking. You can expect to see tits, woodpeckers, nuthatches and any other species that cling coming to this style of feeder

Suet feeders

Suet feeders come in all shapes and sizes, some are made for suet balls and others for cakes so make sure you check before buying your feed. Suet is animal fat and is very easily digested and metabolised by many birds. This high energy food is very important during the winter. You can expect to see woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, jays, and starlings coming to this feeder.

Wildlife Gardening

Fined out more about how to attract wildlife to your garden

GardenWild’s Top 5 Bird Feeding Stations

A snap shot of our favourite feeding stations, either in our own gardens or our clients’.

No. 5 | RSPB, Signpost wooden feeding station

Pros: Old fashioned signpost look | Made from wood | Includes standing bird table | RSPB

Cons: Only suitable for flat surfaces | Not stable in wind

Key features:Easy to move, easy to set up, old fashion style

Price: ££

I really like the old fashion look of this bird feeding station. Strategically placed in the garden it could easily end up being a feature. It would be very at home at the corner of a garden, looking over a small fence. The only downside to it is the stability problem. At some point there is going to be a gust of wind that will blow it over and the last thing you (or the birds) need is to be going out and picking it up 5 every minutes. One of our clients has the same feeding station and he's fixed it to his fence. However the RSPB website does suggest, if you're going to get this it's worth getting the " table stable " which make your feeding station "less likely to blow over in high winds." I still think this is a really nice bird feeding station and well deserving of it place in our top 5.

No. 4 | Simply Wood, Deluxe Bird Feeding Station

Pros: Good in strong wind | Two feeding trays | Red wood

Cons: Tricky to assemble | Quite chunky

Features: 2 Extra Feeding Trays 200mm x 200mm | height: 180cm | FSC Highest Grade Redwood

Price: ££

The best thing about this bird feeding station is that it’s really solidly made! Which, once you realise how many flimsy alternatives there are out there, you really start to appreciate. I would suggest this feeding station to someone (like me) who really likes to “get the job done”. It’ll be a faithful feeding station, come rain or shine, for years and I would know because mine has. Plus it will withstand the wind which is another massive selling point! We’ve had clients who’s bird feeding stations pretty much blow away in the wind. Ours managed to stay upright during yellow storm conditions. The station is a bit thick/chunky for my taste and it took me a little while to decide where it was going to go in the garden, but I managed it and it’s been there ever since.

No. 3 | Green Jem Wild Bird Feeding Station

Pro: Ground spikes | You can decide on the height | Handmade

Con: No attachment for birdbath/ground feeder | Can have a rust problem

Features: Brown hammertone finish | 2 metres in height | 3 part pole system

Price: £

This one is the opposite to number four. I really love the leaf design, the colour, and with the feeders attached it looks perfect… not the most stable in the world… It’s alright, but it won’t withstand gale force anything… even with the ground spikes. In our client’s garden it’s been cable tied to the fence. Which looks actually looks really good!

No. 2 | Kingfisher Bronze Copper Effect Solar Powered Bird Hotel

Pros: Eye catching | Everything you need in one | Includes solar powered garden light

Cons: Light weight | A bit of a struggle to construct

Features: Bird Bath | Bird Feeder | Garden Light | Built in Planter

Price: £

Technically this isn’t a bird feeding station, it’s a bird hotel. The difference is that you can’t hang bird feeders off it but there are various sections for different kinds of bird food. I’d never seen one before this winter. One of our clients has one in their garden and they say the birds love it, and it looks really good too! This kind of feeding station (or hotel… or whatever it is) would look really nice in a traditional garden. If the look, you’re going for is traditional English garden, then this is the one for you.

No. 1 | Harrod Arched Top Bird Feeding Station

Pros: Beautiful design | Every feeder in catered for | Squirrel proof fixing hooks

Cons: Self assembly required | Price

Features: Inserts 30cm into the ground | Squirrel proof fixing hooks | Holds 3 feeders

Price: £££

We have a client in north Leeds who has this bird feeding station and it’s, hands down, the best feeding station I’ve ever seen! It’s my all time favourite, because it manages to seamlessly blend into a border, flower bed and still (some how) manage to be a feature. The squirrel-proof hooks are a really good idea as well, because squirrels will quite happily smash a feeder to bits in search of the contents. And our clients have never had any trouble with wind knocking it over, because you can stick it so far into the ground... Don’t get me wrong, this is an “aspirational” bird feeder for me. I wish I could afford this feeder in my garden… one day!

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