the seed gums up at the bottom 25% and becomes full of bugs and nasty.
Not sure if this helps, but I fill my feeders each day, and if a small amount is left at the bottom I empty it into a dish for the ground feeders. This keeps the hanging feeders fairly clean at the bottom and I give them a wash once a week.
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I can empathise with T.B's tale of woe ; seeing outside feeders getting "gummed up".
I had this happen, initially
Luckily, most half-decent U.K stores & supermarkets sell decent quality feeders, inexpensively.
More to the point, the ones (brands/make), that they sell, are dismantle-able
Both the wire-mesh seed & peanut feeders - Plus the regular seed feeders CAN be taken apart.
My advice would be ; Check the outlet section on or rather just inside the feeder itself.
In most (the majority), that I purchase, they ALL have a single-screw...
This can be found just inside the teardrop-shaped outlet.
Unscrewing this with a Phillips or Posidrive screwdriver releases BOTH teardrop sections...**
** (they may or might need a persuasive wiggle)
This in turn, releases the small circular base of the feeder itself, making cleaning easy.
May seem obsessive, but thesedays I use a Dettol (disinfectant) spray !
Had to, because during winter, one of mine had a wet-seed, "Germinate"
This led to a small weed growing within the cylindrical tube & lower base.
Gummed-up seed is pretty "Janky" & can harbour a multitude of germs, disease & general nastiness !
Any half-decent store SHOULD sell feeders (all types), which have a screw-detachable base.
It simply alleviates ALL that 'Gummed-up' scuzz that otherwise accumulates.
I wanna feed the wild-birds, not kill 'em ! :t:
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