SCOTT SHALAWAY Quality dining at the bird feeder

I know it's fall because my mail is dominated by questions about bird feeders. Which one is best? What do you recommend? Are expensive ones better than cheap ones?
I won't presume to name the "best" feeders on the market, but I will name my favorites and explain why I like them.
First, though, I must point out that feeders are not necessary. All seed-eating birds, including woodpeckers, eat on the ground. So there's really no need to spend a dime on feeders.
But using feeders is safer for birds and more enjoyable for us. Feeders get birds off the ground and away from predators, especially cats. Feeders also protect seed from rain and snow. And feeders allow us to attract birds to where we want them -- just outside the living room window, for example. So for practical reasons, feeders are a wise investment.
At any given moment, I keep between 30 and 40 feeders filled, and I'm always trying new feeders. What follows is based on what I've learned over the last 25 years, including two general rules.
Materials
One, wood is not a good building material for bird feeders. Though wood feeders are aesthetically attractive and quite popular, they fail the test of time. Sooner or later, wood rots. And sooner or later, squirrels chew and destroy wood feeders. The oils and odors of seeds contaminate the wood, and squirrels find that irresistible. So my first rule, if you're looking for feeders that will last a lifetime, is to avoid wood feeders.
And two, not all plastics are the same. Cheaper plastic feeders are made of acrylic, a material that gets brittle, cracks, and fades over time. The life span of an acrylic feeder may be shorter than a wood feeder. The best and more expensive feeders are made of polycarbonate (Lexan) plastic, a virtually unbreakable material. That's why feeders made of Lexan typically carry lifetime guarantees. All the plastic feeders that follow are made of Lexan.
With that basic background in mind, here are my favorite feeders. You can find all of them in my back yard.
Varied types
Tube feeders are ideal for offering sunflower seeds. Aspects (888-ASPECTS; www.aspectsinc.com) and Droll Yankees ([800] 352-9164; www.drollyankees.com) set the standard for tube feeders. Both use Lexan for the tubes and metal for the perches, tops and bottoms. If forced to choose, I give the nod to Aspects because it also makes a clear Lexan dome that is molded to fit directly atop the feeder's cap. Both Aspects and Droll tubes carry lifetime guarantees, and both offer tubes inside cages designed to frustrate squirrels, pigeons and other large birds.
Gold Crest's All Weather Feeder ([888] 985-2473; (www.goldcrestdistributing.com) is an ideal feeder for sunflower kernels. It comes in two sizes, 4-quart and 6-quart, and it is truly weatherproof. Because of its clever design, neither driving rain nor blowing snow can soil its contents. So it's ideal for sunflower kernels, which spoil quickly when wet. The kernels can easily be pulled from the circular feeding slots by finches, cardinals, woodpeckers, chickadees, titmice and nuthatches.
Another nearly weatherproof feeder that I've used for years is the bowl-style Big Top by Droll Yankees. It's perfect for a shelled nut mix. The Big Top bowl hangs beneath a large squirrel baffle and lacks perches. Consequently only smaller, acrobatic birds with strong clinging feet such as woodpeckers, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches and finches can use it. It's easy to fill even in cold weather, and it holds a lot of seed.
Rolling away squirrels
Aspects' new Roller Feeder is an ingenious mechanical design that frustrates hungry squirrels and leaves behind the food for the birds. The design is elegantly simple -- an easy-to-fill hopper is surrounded by a freely rotating outer shell. The hopper is stationary, but when a squirrel lands on the outer shell, the squirrel's own weight spins the squirrel harmlessly to the ground. The Roller Feeder is as entertaining and effective as Droll Yankees' popular Yankee Flipper but doesn't require a battery.
Several terrific feeders remain on my list of favorites, but I'm out of space. I'll get to nut and finch feeders, suet cages and more another time.
sshalaway@aol.com.