Bird Feeder Gifts

Start from what they already have

There are really only two cases, and they point at different presents.

If they already feed birds, do not buy another seed feeder. They have one, it works, and a second identical tube is a shrug. Buy water or buy height instead: a bath, a solar fountain for a bath they own, or a proper pole so they can finally move the feeder away from the fence the squirrels use.

If they are starting from nothing, buy a feeder and something to hang it on in the same present. A feeder alone gets hung off whatever branch is nearest, which is usually the worst spot in the garden, and then they conclude bird feeding does not work.

Why a bird bath is the safest choice

Far more gardens feed birds than water them, so a bath is the present least likely to duplicate something they own.

It is also the one birds use all year, not just in a cold snap. They drink from it every day and they bathe to keep their feathers in flying order, which matters just as much as food.

And a bath looks like a gift. A cast-iron pedestal or a hammered copper bowl reads as an ornament when you hand it over, which a plastic tube does not, however good the tube is.

What not to buy

Three things look like good bird presents and are not.

• Bird food. It is a consumable they already buy, it is heavy to post, and nobody wants to unwrap a sack of sunflower hearts. We do not sell it, and this is part of why.
• A second seed feeder. The commonest duplicate present in this whole category.
• Anything needing a drill. A wall-mounted feeder turns your present into their weekend job. Hanging and free-standing both avoid that.

Gifts for a flat, a care home or a child

A window feeder is the answer to all three and it is the most underrated present on this page.

It sticks to the glass with suction cups, needs no garden, no pole and no drill, and it puts a feeding bird close enough to see its eye. For somebody with no outside space, or who cannot easily get out to a garden, that is a far better present than anything standing on a lawn.

For a child it works for the same reason, plus they can fill it themselves. Our window feeders are the range to look at, and the guide to window feeders covers getting the cups to hold in cold weather.

If you would rather give a set

Our starter kits put a feeder, a pole and a catcher tray together at the sum of their parts, which is the most complete thing you can hand someone who has never fed birds.

If you want to assemble your own pairing, the two that work best are a feeder plus a pole, or a bath plus a solar fountain. Both give a present that is finished rather than one that needs a second trip to the shops.

Where they should put it

Worth passing on with the present, because it decides whether the gift works.

Feeders and baths both want to be about head height, in the open, with two metres of clear ground around them and a shrub a short flight away for cover. That keeps squirrels from jumping to it and makes it a poor spot for a cat to wait.

Where to position a bird feeder and where to place a bird bath both cover it in a couple of minutes' reading, and cats and bird feeders is worth a look if they have one.