Backyard bird watching is not just for people with sprawling, tree-lined backyards. Even those living in upper-level apartments in the city can attract birds of all kinds to a balcony feeder with a little effort.
Many of the tactics for attracting birds are similar to attracting birds to any type of feeder, but there are extra considerations for those on balconies.
Key Takeaways
- Make safety a priority: It’s crucial to make your windows safe for birds by adding screens or decals and regularly cleaning your feeders to prevent disease. This keeps both the birds and your living space safe and clean.
- Smart feeder placement: Think wisely about where you place your feeders to reduce mess. Hanging feeders over the edge of your balcony can help keep your space tidy, as long as you are not creating a mess for neighbors down below. Also, choose feeders that fit well with your balcony setup.
- Choose the right food and be patient: Start with popular bird foods, like shelled sunflower seeds, to see what local birds prefer. Remember, it might take some time for birds to discover your feeder, so a bit of patience goes a long way.
Make Sure Windows Are Safe
Making sure birds are safe when visiting your balcony feeder should be the number one priority, especially given that your balcony probably has windows near it.
Though it might seem like keeping feeders close to windows could increase the risk of window strikes, a study has shown that placing feeders closer to windows could actually reduce fatal strikes. Still, it’s important that your windows are safe for birds.
You can make your windows safer for birds by putting screens on the outside of your windows or applying decals — just make sure they cover a large area of the window and are fairly close together. A sticker or two across a window is unlikely to prevent birds from hitting it.
Keep Things Safe, Keep Things Clean
Another necessary safety measure for birds is to keep your feeders clean. A dirty feeder can spread diseases, so it’s recommended you clean your feeders at least every couple of weeks.
You may need to change the feeder’s contents a little more often, with frequency depending on the circumstances. If it’s rainy or snowy, seeds may get mushy, or the sugar water in a hummingbird feeder could get gross when sitting out in the hot sun for multiple days in a row.
Keeping things clean around a balcony feeder isn’t just important for birds. It’s of even more importance for you and your family given how close it is to your home, especially if you ever intend to sit on the balcony for yourself.
Birds are messy. They poop frequently and spill seed constantly, neither of which are exactly things you want on your balcony. Wherever your feeder is located, keeping areas used by humans clean of wasted seed or bird waste is extremely important.
The Right Setup
With that in mind, how you set up your feeder can make a big difference in how clean your balcony is. If you place your feeder over the balcony or near furniture that you use, odds are good that birds will probably do their business and spill seed on them.
Hanging your feeder over the edge of your balcony, such as with a shepherd’s hook, won’t keep every bird from making a mess on your balcony, but it can keep some of that extra seed and waste from spilling on your patio.
However, be courteous of any downstairs neighbors. If there’s a patio directly below you or your patio is above someone’s door, for example, you don’t want seeds falling there constantly. If this is the case, you might also consider putting down a bowl or something to collect the seeds below your feeders, which you can then dump out periodically.
Your building’s layout may also impact the type of feeders you want to include on your balcony. A hummingbird feeder, if you think there are hummingbirds nearby, will not result in spilled seeds or much waste from the little guys compared to a feeder taken over by sparrows or other larger birds.
You’ll also probably want to go for a small feeder, even if it’s a seed feeder. A large tray feeder that allows numerous birds to perch and toss seed around is more likely to attract bigger birds like blackbirds that make more of a mess than say, a finch feeder filled with thistle and shelled sunflower seeds.
Other setup considerations include what else you have on your balcony. You want birds to feel safe, so you will likely want to keep the balcony mostly empty without too much clutter.
Put Your Feeder Where Birds Can’t See You
You’re probably scarier to birds than a few pieces of furniture or storage, so feeders should probably be in a place where birds can’t see you too easily. This may require a little bit of moving around depending on how birds can see through your windows.
With time, the birds may get more comfortable around you. I’ve sat on my balcony while hummingbirds visited, but this will take time, and you’ll need to make sure they feel comfortable around you. Sudden movements are almost sure to send birds scattering.
Sit far enough from the feeder with little to no movement and allow birds to get comfortable with you around. The same advice applies if you’re inside the windows. If you’re constantly moving around, birds will have a hard time getting comfortable, but if the birds can only see into a seating area where you sit to read, wild birds will feel safer.
Make Sure You’re Putting the Right Type of Food for Your Local Birds
This piece of advice isn’t really balcony-specific, but it’s arguably the most important piece of advice for any bird watcher. If you’re not providing the right type of food, the birds will not follow, regardless of anything else you do.
That being said, you might be surprised what birds will visit your balcony, even if you’re in a big city. I’ve seen hummingbirds visit downtown balconies where you would think they have no business being. It may be a bit of an experiment to see what birds are likely to visit your balcony, so start with something easy that many birds like, or try a variety of foods.
For a wide range of birds, you may want to consider shelled sunflower chips. They won’t exclude any birds and they’ll go in a hurry, so feeding them to the birds 24/7 can get a tad costly, but it’ll be a good test to see the birds that could show up.
Once you know what birds are likely to use your balcony feeder, you can narrow down your bird seed choice and tailor it to the bird species that are showing up.
For hummingbirds, you can provide both feeders and flowers. A couple of pots of colorful flowers — especially native plants — can provide you with beauty for your outdoor space and the potential for fun bird-watching opportunities.
Taking Some Time
Whenever any bird feeder is placed, there’s the possibility it will take a while for the birds to find it. This may be especially true for a feeder on a balcony, given its proximity to humans and potentially its distance away from birds’ typical habitat or feeding areas.
You may have to be patient, but the birds will hopefully find the feeder in time. Once one bird spots the feeder and stops, it can snowball quickly as the rest of the birds follow suit.
In Conclusion
Many of the best tips for attracting birds to a balcony feeder are the same as they are for attracting birds to any other feeder — provide birds with the right food and make them feel comfortable — do that, and hopefully, the birds will be frequent visitors to your yard in no time.
But there are additional considerations, especially as they relate to your windows and your presence. Fortunately, despite a little bit of extra work and thinking, attracting birds to your balcony is not impossible.
Whether you’re in a downtown apartment or just want the birds to get a little closer to you as you sit upstairs at night, attracting birds to a balcony bird feeder is certainly doable.