Narrowly on the matter of “clean feeders”, I’d recommend people (particularly of interest to those in the UK) check out Finches Friend. They make feeders designed to avoid the spread of disease (primarily trichomonosis) and their blog posts are full of related information.
Tip for New Zealand bird feeding - native birds feed on nectar (sugar/honey water) and not seeds which are primarily consumed by introduced / invasive species.
just plant native plants that have seed heads and don't dead head them once they're done flowering. your neighbor will think your garden is ugly, but they won't have many birds in their garden.
Didn’t see this in the article, but having a thriving bird population is great for pest control as well! They keep all kinds of bugs in check, so less need to spray stuff, etc.
Sadly it was made illegal in our area and our neighbour actually reported us. One day they were actively bringing in bus loads of foreign tourists to feed the birds, the next they're knocking on our doors telling us to stop or get a fine.
(Melbourne, Australia)
For those interested, Lazy Game Reviews (LGR) recently started a live bird feeder cam which runs daily: (edit: fixed) https://www.youtube.com/live/fd-2D_Qabqk?si=buJg480KK3VJI_PD
Also, if you're curious what birds are coming into your yard, I recommend the Merlin Bird ID App from Cornell University: https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/
I really dislike when one problematic neighbor feeds crows. She has ended up attracting a massive group of them regularly, and it ends up causing a nuisance for everyone else who has to put up with constant noise from the crows and also trash (since they like to retrieve random things and leave them all over). Folks who decide to feed wildlife - please be considerate of others around you. Wild animals are wild, and they can figure out how to survive on their own.
I feed my neighborhood crews peanuts pretty regularly, they know me and my girlfriend and are quick to show up in the morning when we have the bag of peanuts. Its fun
We don’t feed the birds directly, but we do have a fountain the local birds greatly enjoy. We make it a point that algaecide we use is bird safe.
From finches to crows, they all seem to enjoy the running water in our ad hoc birdie bidet. Once or twice a year we get a reenactment of “The Birds” when 10+ rather large crows descend for a spa day.
One of the best things I've done recently was install bird feeders that hang from the soffits of my house. My main level is on the the top floor, and seeing all the birds while I'm at work or on the sofa is such a joy. They keep me, my cats, and toddler entertained... but having to refill every week gets expensive
I remember how my mom and I used to feed the pigeons together in the park
Just seed your lawn, easiest most expensive way to feed birds ever invented.
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None of this applies to crows. They're very happy to eat our rotting corpses and day old vomit. So feeding them can be an adventure if you try hard enough.