Many of the birds we enjoy feeding in our yards prefer eating on a flat surface.

These include cardinals, grosbeaks, doves, blue jays, sparrows and others. The "Platform" Bird Feeder provides this environment very well.  There are two types of Platform Bird Feeders, the “hopper” feeder and the “open tray” feeder.

The hopper bird feeder is enclosed on all four sides with wood and plexiglass, and has a hinged roof that opens above in which the seed is placed. The seed is dispensed at the bottom of the bird feeder through openings in the plexiglass. While the seed is protected from the elements, it’s important that the birdfeeder provide a sufficient amount of ledge on both sides to allow for the larger ground feeding birds (i.e., cardinals, doves, etc.). The open Platform Bird Feeder usually has more surface that can attract more birds than the hopper feeder; however, you must attend to the seed more frequently.

Thus there is a tradeoff involved:

(1) a hopper birdfeeder with less maintenance but fewer birds vs.

(2) an open tray birdfeeder with more maintenance and more birds.

Since ground feeding birds find a variety of tree and weed seed on the ground we recommend using a high quality seed blend with no Milo such as our "Deluxe", "Special" or "Choice" blend.