There is no greater charm than having birds fluttering in and around the garden. Not only do they play a vital part in our gardens’ ecosystems, but they lift our spirits. The variety and numbers we can attract is impressive, with the birds pictured in this feature, being just a small sample of those found in one (village) garden.
There are many feeders available on the market but too often they are rather unattractive devices, where function overtakes design. Granted, bird feeders are designed for birds not humans, but that shouldn’t mean that they can’t be aesthetically pleasing as well as practical.
Here’s a selection of some of the more unusual bird feeders that make us smile – feeders that are suited to a small or large garden, the designer, the gardener, the younger generation, or simply anyone keen to attract more birds to their gardens, allotments or balconies…
Bird cafe feeder by Umbra
Undoubtedly ‘de Stijl’ influenced, this is guaranteed to cheer humans as well as this chaffinch…
Created by the industrial designers, Teddy Luong and Dennis Cheng for Umbra, the bird cafe is not only a fully functional bird feeder, but clearly has been designed with thought and sensitivity towards the materials and aesthetics.
The bird cafe feeder (17.8 x 17.8 x 20.3 cm) is made of snazzy moulded plastic, with an easily removable lid for top loading. The seed flows out of the bottom holes into the generously sized tray where the birds feed. There are holes at the bottom of the tray for water drainage.
Very popular with all manner of birds, especially tits, robins and this rather chuffed looking chaffinch….
The bird cafe feeder is available direct from those bright sparks at Umbra for ÂŁ30.