Why You May Want To Reconsider Using A Window Bird Feeder

If you have limited space in your yard, or you simply want to wake up to birds enjoying themselves outside your room in the morning, you may consider purchasing a window bird feeder. While they seem like a good idea, they pose some pretty significant risks to your home and the birds. Before purchasing or continuing to use one of these window feeders, make sure you fully understand the dangers. 

There are several problems with window bird feeders you may not have considered. The first is that reflective glass causes a lot of problems with these flying animals. Unless you've managed to bird-proof your windows, there's a good chance that one will end up smacking or attacking the glass. This is because birds can't see the panes as well as humans. Commonly, they either think the sky is continuing, not realizing they're facing a barrier, or they see their reflection and believe it to be another bird, thus attacking the window. 

The food itself is also a problem. If you've ever had a feeder up, you've likely watched how birds spill seeds everywhere. With an easy meal so close to your home, you can find yourself facing a major pest problem. These wasted seeds attract other animals to come and eat, including squirrels, mice, and rats, all of which can cause some pretty severe damage to your home if they get inside. And, if they are desperate or hungry enough, your secret trick to humanely banish squirrels from your garden isn't going to work. Unfortunately, rodents are not the only problem, which is why you should also reconsider using a bird feeder at all if you live in bear territory. 

While window bird feeders aren't ideal, there are still plenty of options to attract birds to your yard, or near your window, and for pretty cheap, too. For example, next time you finish up eggs, don't throw away the container. Birds will be flocking to your yard with this genius egg carton hack, and it lets you reuse materials that would otherwise go into a landfill. 

Or, you can go buy any old bird feeder from a store. You can find them in pretty much any business with an outdoor section, especially around spring and summer. There is also Amazon, where they have pretty neat ones with cameras if you want to check out the birds even when you're away from home. If you're lucky, you could be thrifty and find one somewhere like Goodwill, as well, allowing you to repurpose something instead of buying new. 

If you don't mind the threat of rodents and you really want a window bird feeder, the best option is to make sure they can see that there is a barrier. It's pretty easy, as all you need to do is get some fun window decals or anti-reflection film to put on your glass. They don't even need to be specifically anti-bird, as long as you place the stickers roughly no further than 5 centimeters apart. However, the trick with these is that they need to go on the outside of your window. Putting them on the inside helps a little, but at certain times of the day, they are still impossible to see past the reflection and glare.