I always had lots of poo around the feeder, about a 2-3 foot radius. Wasn't too much trouble to clean up though..

The fly-by poo will be incidental, at best. It's only a problem underneath the spots where they perch. (Like the bird feeder, or nearby trees.)

Mudpuppie has it. I have more bird poop on my car if I park it in the garage than if I put it near the feeders. You might find some on your porch depending what perchability options there are like.

Jessamyn validation. Awesome!

Thanks, folks! I guess that there is little point in putting the feeder up right before winter, so I'll probably wait until spring. There are already a lot of beautiful birds that hang out in the trees where I plan to put the feeder, I just thought it would be neighborly of me to offer them a snack. Hopefully, they will return the kindness and not poop on me.

Actually, if you have a feeder up in the winter, you can feed all the birds that don't migrate. I find that I actually take my feeders *down* in the Summer because they attract skunks and the birds don't really need them and I have more to do than watch birds in the Summer anyhow. Anyhow, YMMV, but winter feeding can give you some neat birds to look out without all the leaves in the way.

Huh. This is why I love the internet. Well then, I am off to buy a birdfeeder!

Another question. Where do you think I can find the best birdfeeder selection? A pet store? A Home Depot type store?

Another question. Where do you think I can find the best birdfeeder selection? A pet store? A Home Depot type store?

Is there a Wild Birds Unlimited store nearby?

My feeders are a combination of whatever the boy scouts are selling and a few cheapo tube feeders that I can get at the hardware store. Home Depot should have enough to get started and box is right on for when you've got the bug and want more!

I've found that it's useful to have a few types of seed. My non-migraters like sunflower (more spendy but they like it and if they hang around cracking the seeds open I can watch them, I buy it in the 50 lb bag and keep it in a trash can on the porch) and I have a thistle feeder for goldfinches and some mixed wild bird seed which is not as popular but cheap. Sometimes I'll put up a suet feeder but I've had mixed success and they're grotty to clean out if they're unpopular.

My favorite thing about bird feeding is that it's tough to go wrong with most of what you do. The only caution I'd give you is that if you live someplace with real winter and you establish a feeder in wintertme to try to keep it full most of the time because if birds get used to it, they may be in a bit of a bind if it suddenly goes empty for days at a time.

Just a follow-up to say that I bought a tube feeder on Friday and an Eastern regional seed mix that East Coast birds (I'm in NJ) are supposed to enjoy. I'm not sure that the birds have caught on to it's existence yet, but I'm sure they will soon. Thanks for all the help!