Fly-Thru Feeder Added to #NewOldBackyard

 Over the weekend, I came across this clear plastic round fly-thru platform feeder at where else?  Menards of course..  It comes with a wide, deep platform for seed and a broad, clear plastic dome cover that shelters the seeds and what-have-you from the weather.  I paired it with a Stokes Select Bird Feeder Pole and a Northstates two-way squirrel baffle.  The feeder was a discontinued item and had no packaging on it, so it was a screamin' deal.   It was the last one and marked way down, so I, of course, glommed on to it.

I've been thinking of adding a fly-thru feeder to our mix back there.  What's a fly-thru (or fly-through) bird feeder?  Well...they're exactly what you think:  a platform of some type with a roof over it.  That allows birds to fly through and land on the platform.  Instead of perching on the side/edge of a feeder, this one encourages a different behavior and (hopefully) different type of bird.

The advantages of a fly-thru feeder, according to BackyardBirdingBlog including ease of use (easy to fill) and diversity of birds it attracts ("They attract the shyest of birds too.").

The girls and I put up the feeder about 10 feet away from our other feeders and birdbath because these fly-through feeders are susceptible to squirrels, so I didn't want it close to anything that the furry guys can climb on.  I also added a squirrel baffle below the feeder - vs. on top of the feeder, which is where i have the rest of them.   We also loaded it with a new kind of feed which is from Nature's Own and is called "Gold Nutty Treat" and includes peanuts, sunflower seeds and cracked corn.   The bag specifically calls out Nuthatches, Grosbeaks, Finches, Cardinals, and Woodpeckers.  But, it is the Cardinals were that we are after.  We have a few that hang around our yard, but to date they are very rare visitors to our feeders.

With just a week or so under our belt, I've - so far - failed to spot even ONE bird in the new feeder.  But that doesn't mean it isn't being used.  There are bird turds on the squirrel baffle below the feeder, and the feed is disturbed (being eaten?) so I'm pretty confident in thinking that means we're getting visits, just not catching them.