Squirrels

How to Defeat Squirrels

Some see squirrels visiting feeders as an issue. We see a solution. With the proper food, feeders and accessories, you can enjoy your birds and limit squirrel incursions.

Hot Pepper: Our exclusive WBU hot pepper foods help deter critters, saving the food for the birds. Birds love our hot pepper foods, whether they are the seed or no-melt cylinders, stackables, no-melt suet cake or Bark Butter Bits. For best results, use feeders that have a roof to prevent wet weather from diluting or washing away the hot pepper oils.

Safflower: Offer safflower; a small, white seed that is high in protein and fat. Most song birds eat safflower, while squirrels (and blackbirds) typically do not.

Guard Against Them: Take delight not only in seeing the finches, chickadees and other colorful birds you enjoy, but also in frustrating the squirrels, blackbirds and pigeons. With our On Guard™ cages, you control the size of bird that dines at your feeder. Cages allow small birds to go in and out to get their food but stop larger birds and animals from entering. Our cages will fit a variety of feeder styles and sizes.

Top-of-the-Line Option: The Eliminator™ allows you to stop squirrels from eating your seed. Featuring a unique, weight-sensitive technology, the feeder's seed ports are closed when a squirrel touches the perch ring. You can set the sensitivity level to also exclude large birds. It's easy to hang and holds lots of seed. It works best when used with our APS Short Extended Deck Arm.

Baffle Them: Our Advanced Pole System® (APS) Squirrel Baffle is designed to help make your bird feeding station squirrel-resistant. Made of durable, powder-coated steel, these baffles are very effective in stopping squirrels before they reach your feeders. Place the baffle on your setup so the top of the baffle is 4½' - 5' from the ground. Place your setup 10 ‘ away from other horizontal jumping points like a tree, deck or house.

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Helping Birds Survive Winter Nights

 

Typically, your feeders serve as a supplemental source of food for birds. During extreme cold and severe winter weather, your birds may switch to utilizing them as the critical source of food that enables them to survive from day to day.

Normally, birds that come to feeders obtain about 20% of their daily calories from our feeders, with the rest being obtained naturally. However, the story changes dramatically during periods of colder than normal or even freezing temperatures. Wind, storms and wet weather can also rob birds of their ability to stay warm, even at moderate temperatures.

 

The most often overlooked winter survival challenge for birds is having to endure the long period of darkness during a winter night. Depending on their location, songbirds must sustain themselves through 13-15 hours of darkness by utilizing only their fat reserves for fuel.

 

Songbirds may use up to 75-80% of their fat reserves in one winter night. This is equivalent to 10% of their body weight being shed and replaced every day as they consume, store, and utilize their body fat. This is comparable to a 200lb (90kg) person losing and then gaining back 20lbs (9kg) of fat every 24 hours!

 

High fat foods are a critical necessity that you can provide your birds to help them survive the long winter nights. One of the best foods to offer is WBU's Winter SuperBlend™️, which has been specifically formulated to provide birds with the much-needed fat and energy they need to survive whatever winter throws at them.