Feeders (1 Viewer)

Virtualy all berries are red in colour to attract birds. Virtually all the feeders I see are green why???

"Virtualy all berries are red in colour to attract birds. Virtually all the feeders I see are green why???"

It's what is in the feeder that counts, and what the receptors in the bird's eye sees, and how their brain(s) extrapolates the information that attracts them.
It is commonly thought that red netting hanging feeders are best for Siskins. I get far better results with yellow netting, but also use red, blue and green. They all work to differing extents. The clear plastic tube feeders clearly show that it's the contents rather than the actual feeder. The manufacturers use green so they blend in with the green in the background of the normal garden. Otherwise, it would be like what I have at times. A garden with what looks like Christmas fairy lights and baubles hanging all over it.

Regards

Malky

I think Malky is right that it is for purely aesthetic reasons that most feeders are green. I'll have to look into this more to see if anyone has done it, but perhaps a feeder color experiment is in order here? Maybe except perhaps for hummingbirds, it would not even have an effect on increasing initial recognition as a food source? Surely there is a strong social influence and some learning going on as well. Now I'm really curious about this...cheers!