Bird feeder: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

A birdfeeder or bird feeder is a device placed outdoors, to supply seeds such as millet, sunflower, safflower, rapeseed and others to birds. Hummingbird feeders instead supply liquid nourishment to hummingbirds, in the form of a sweet mixture often coloured red to attract the birds. Oriole feeders also supply artificial nectar, but are colored orange instead, and designed to serve orioles which have different beaks and tounges. Suet feeders are yet another type, typically a metal cage with a plastic coating to keep birds' eyes and feet from freezing to it, and containing a cake or thin block of suet to feed woodpeckers and flickers, and sometimes nuthatches.

Bird feeders are a must for home birdwatching, and many people have webcams trained on their feeders, where birds often congregate. Squirrels often come to feeders as well, creating a constant cat-and-mouse game to defeat their raids by designing better feeders, often with domes to make them slide off, trap doors to close the feeder when there is too much weight, and numerous other devices and contraptions. Squirrel feeders have also be created, typically using a whole dried cob of corn, and often at the top of a rotating stick to add a bit of amusement to the antics.