So what is the key to choosing the right garden bird feeder? What do you need to do first, and is your choice truly that important? I guess in the beginning, it’s not as important as it might be later on. It’s perfectly ok to choose a basic garden bird feeder as your first one, even one with a low price tag. To start with, you won’t need anything too fancy, at least until you work out what you really want from your bird feeder.

Then again, if you’ve been doing this for a while, you won’t have much hesitation in going for the right type of garden bird feeders and you might even be able to teach me a thing or two. If you are new to birding though, you’re probably wondering how you will be able to choose the right bird feeder for your garden. Well, there are a few things to consider but I will list them here to make it easier for you to work through them.

But just before I do that, if you don’t really want to go through all the fuss, or if you’d rather have the pleasure of discovering as you go along, then go ahead and get yourself one of the basic platform garden bird feeders. It’s a great one to begin with and will get you off to a great start.

However if you want to gather as much information as possible before making your choice on which garden bird feeder to buy, read on. I think the best way is to make a list of the important facts and relevant points that you should consider. So, you need to think about;

* What types of birds are you hoping to attract to your garden

* How durable is your bird feeder

* Is maintenance easy

* How much seed should it hold

* Do you live in the warmer climes or the cooler ones

* Are you on the bird migration paths

* Do you want to raccoon and squirrel proof your bird feeder

* How much will you be willing to spend

Just to clarify the first item in the list, one of the most important questions you can ask of yourself when buying a bird feeder is what type of bird do you want to bring to your garden? This is important because your choice of feeder will always be influenced by the type of bird you want to attract.

For instance, if you’re looking to attract hummingbirds then investing in a platform garden bird feeder isn’t going to get you very far. Hummingbirds need nectar and you’ll need to get a special hummingbird feeder for them to drink from, and the same applies to orioles. Alternatively, if it’s northern cardinals you want then you’ll want to look into buying garden bird feeders that sit on the ground, or maybe you’ll need to go for suet bird feeders for any woodpeckers and others of the same kind.

I hope you’ve got the general idea, but if you’re new to all of this you’re probably wondering how on earth you’ll find out which birds are found in your area. Well that doesn’t need to be a big problem - just about any field guide in your area can help you, and I’ve always found the internet to be a gold mine of free information. Or, you could look for more information at your local library or even from a bird society in your area.

Once you know all the pertinent details it’s then just a matter of narrowing it down to which particular birds you want to attract. After that you can again resort to any of these sources to get the low-down on which garden bird feeders the birds will prefer, or you could always ask a friendly sales person from your local pet store.

So exactly how do you choose the right garden bird feeder for you? What’s the first thing you need to do and is the choice of bird feeder truly an important one? Well, the truth is that in the beginning it’s probably not. The choice of your first bird feeder can be simple and rudimentary - you don’t really need anything too fancy - and something with a low price tag might suit you even better, at least until you make up your mind as to what you really want from your bird feeder.

But, if you’ve been doing this birding lark for a while, you probably know exactly what kind of garden bird feeders you should be looking at, and you can probably teach me something too! If you are new to this, then you might also be wondering how you can find the right garden bird feeder to suit your back yard. There are a few things to consider and I’ll go through them so as to make the options clear and easier for you to work through.

Just before I do that though, if you really don’t want to go through the hassle, or if you’d rather discover what you need for your birding hobby as you go along, then you could just go ahead and get one of the basic platform garden bird feeders. They’re a great starter bird feeder and it will be a quick boost to your learning curve.

However if you want to gather as much information as possible before making your choice on which garden bird feeder to buy, read on. I think the best way is to make a list of the important facts and relevant points that you should consider. So, you need to think about;

* What kinds of birds do you want to attract to your garden

* How strong is your bird feeder

* Is it easy-maintenance

* How much seed should it hold

* Do you live in a warmer climate or a colder one

* Are you on the bird migration paths

* Do you want a squirrel proof bird feeder

* How much will you spend

Just to expand a bit on the first item in the list, the most important question that you can ask of yourself when buying a feeder is what type of bird or birds do you want to attract to your garden? This is most important as the choice of feeder is always influenced by the type of bird.

For instance, if you’re looking to attract hummingbirds then investing in a platform garden bird feeder isn’t going to get you very far. Hummingbirds need nectar and you’ll need to get a special hummingbird feeder for them to drink from, and the same applies to orioles. Alternatively, if it’s northern cardinals you want then you’ll want to look into buying garden bird feeders that sit on the ground, or maybe you’ll need to go for suet bird feeders for any woodpeckers and others of the same kind.

You probably get the general idea, but don’t worry of you’re still wondering how on earth you’ll be able to find out which birds are in your area. That can be a fairly simple problem to overcome as any field guide for your area will almost certainly provide it, or failing that I’ve always found the internet to be a great source of information. If that doesn’t help, you could always look for information at your library or maybe even from a bird society in your area.

When you’ve gathered all the relevant details it’s just becomes a matter of narrowing it down to which particular birds you want to attract. Then you can use the same sources to find out exactly which kind of garden bird feeders your birds will prefer. Failing that, you can always ask the friendly sales person at your local pet store.