Unless you anticipate having your bird feeders broken into or stolen while you’re asleep, you shouldn’t worry about why you feel they should be brought in for the night.
Since feeders are meant to be left in the yard, bringing them inside at night is not necessary unless damage is anticipated. A frost can be averted if bird feeders are moved inside for the night, but a windstorm predicted for the night could destroy them. Keep in mind that you’ll need to replace the feeders in the morning.
Feeders can take a lot of abuse, so most people let them get what they deserve, even if they have a good reason not to.
However, if you have the time, unhooking the feeders and storing them in a shed or outbuilding overnight can simplify things.
The feeders won’t be stolen or damaged if they’re kept inside overnight, and they’ll be safe from any nocturnal visitors (whether they’re pest animals or human trespassers).
While most feeders can withstand rain, snow, and even hail, the wind is the largest threat, as it may blow even the sturdiest feeders clean off their bracket or branch.
Bringing your feeders inside at night may be the best option, but keep in mind that you probably won’t be awake early enough the next morning to put them back together.
Birds start eating as soon as it gets light outside, so if you don’t get up before the birds, you can miss out on their breakfast.
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Unusual to bring in at night
Bringing in your bird feeders at night is not something you would normally see or do, and for good reason.
While there are some circumstances in which bringing in a bird feeder for the night is warranted, in most cases the feeders can be left outside until the morning feeding frenzy.
Leave your feeders outside if you don’t have a good cause to bring them inside.
They believe that bringing feeders inside at night helps retain the food within them, or at least that it helps preserve the feeders, which in turn helps preserve the food.
Bird feeders, on the other hand, are designed to be left outside at all times, so bringing them inside at night is unnecessary. However, this does not apply to leaving out nectar for hummingbirds; it would spoil if it got too cold.
Although bringing in feeders at night for no apparent cause is quite unusual, there are times when it is necessary to do so.
Only if feeders are disturbed
Not as many insect pests would be drawn to a bird feeder at night, but nocturnal creatures like foxes, coyotes, and opossums would be.
Raccoons are especially drawn to bird feeders that require them to climb up a pole in order to access the food inside.
Therefore, it makes sense to bring bird feeders inside at night if you can’t control or at least scare away nuisance animals throughout the night.
It’s also worth noting that bringing bird feeders inside at night only applies to those that are kept in a shed or outbuilding, as doing so isn’t very sanitary.
You should also give your whole attention, around the clock, to maintaining the area where the bird feeders are hung or positioned as clean as possible.
Nighttime visitors would be less likely to linger around if the area under hanging bird feeders was kept clean.
While wild animals are often to blame for late-night disturbances at bird feeders, bad weather and other natural disasters can also play a role.
To avoid mother nature
When frost is predicted for the next day, you can bring in the feeders throughout the night to protect the birds’ food.
Until it frosts, the food in the feeders can freeze solid, making it inaccessible to the birds when dawn comes. Even if the feeders freeze up again after being put back outside, you now have more control over the situation.
Snow is also a problem, but unlike frost, it can be removed simply by shaking the food outside.
Likewise, if early-morning rain or wind is predicted, it’s best to store the feeders indoors.
Strong overnight winds are more of a concern than rain for bird feeders.
It’s only natural that you’d have to store your bird feeders and patio furniture during the rare but devastating storm that brings it all and more.
The day’s or evening’s weather forecast may carry over into the following day, so by this stage you should have already brought in your feeders.
Miss early morning rush
The early hours of the day, whether in the summer or any other season, are the best time of day for attracting a large number of backyard birds to your yard for feeding.
Therefore, you can anticipate bird visitors at your bird feeders between the hours of 6 and 8 AM, or earlier, depending on your location.
You probably won’t wake up in time to refill your bird feeders for the morning rush.
It’s too early in the morning for anyone to be awake, so if you’re thinking about bringing the bird feeders inside for the night, you can forget about catching the birds at their morning meal.
Even if you get up early to get the kids ready for school or to get yourself to work, you might not remember to re-hang the feeders in the yard.
You may not be able to get your bird feeders back up in time in the morning if you take them in at night, meaning that the wild birds in your area won’t have their daily meal.
Summarize
It would be an out-of-character move if you didn’t bring in your bird feeders before bed.
Feeders can be brought in overnight for a variety of reasons, including preventing theft in the middle of the night.
It is a good idea to put bird feeders indoors if they are being disturbed by pests rather than being assaulted at night.
It’s possible that nocturnal animals like raccoons, coyotes, opossums, and foxes are the ones stealing food from your feeders.
It’s possible that these creatures, and others like them, are drawn to the mess beneath bird feeders in hopes of finding discarded morsels of food. The environment should be kept tidy instead of bringing the feeders inside.
The only other time you should bring the feeders inside is if there is a forecast of rain or snow overnight.
The weather doesn’t always sneak up on us, so knowing if the feeders need to be brought in for the night is as easy as checking the forecast.
The birds won’t be able to reach the food inside the feeders if it freezes over night, but a small dusting of snow can be shook off in the morning.
While rain itself isn’t too much of an issue, the presence of wind almost guarantees that your bird feeder arrangement will be damaged unless you take it down and store it inside.
Of course, this can make it so that you forget to re-hang the feeders in the morning, when the birds are at their busiest, or that you are in no hurry and hence are content to skip this period.
If bad weather is predicted for the next day or if animals are known to visit and mess with bird feeders, they should be moved inside before bed. If there isn’t a good cause to move the feeders, then don’t.
