A bowl with headroom
Duncraft Cardinal Bird Feeder
A 9 in seed bowl under a 16 in weather guard, with the 2½ in of headroom Duncraft gives cardinals and grosbeaks.
Grosbeak feeders
Grosbeaks are big-billed seed eaters that crack black-oil sunflower with ease and need room to perch: a tray or a feeder with a wide ledge, such as the Duncraft Cardinal Bird Feeder, suits them better than a tube. Rose-breasted grosbeaks also take safflower and raw peanuts, and black-headed grosbeaks visit oriole nectar feeders.
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A tray for a flock
Birds Choice Small Hanging Platform Feeder
A 10 in square tray with a stainless mesh floor that drains; evening grosbeaks come in flocks.
Nectar in the West
Aspects Oriole Feeder 16 oz. #361
Black-headed grosbeaks sip at oriole nectar feeders; this one holds 16 oz behind four large ports.
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8 more feeders
Birds Choice · Seed feeder
Medium Hopper Bird Feeder
- Holds 3 lb
- Comes apart to clean
A made-in-USA recycled-plastic hopper for cardinals, jays and chickadees, about 3 lb of seed.
Keep in mind: The 1 in pole flange (#1202) or 15 in hanging cable (#C15) is sold separately.
Birds Choice · Seed feeder
Large Hopper Bird Feeder with Suet Cages
- Holds 6 lb
- Comes apart to clean
About 6 lb of seed plus two suet cakes on one pole: a feeding station in one box.
Keep in mind: Pole mount only, and the 1 in pole flange (#1202) is sold separately.
Birds Choice · Oriole feeder
Oriolefest Oriole Feeder
- Holds 12 oz
Feeds orioles three ways at once: nectar, grape jelly and an orange half, with an ant moat built in.
Keep in mind: Jelly and nectar both spoil in heat; empty and wash it every day or two in hot weather.
Birds Choice · Platform feeder
Seed Catcher Platform Feeder, Medium
- Comes apart to clean
A big pole-mounted tray for cardinals, jays and doves, or a catcher under a hopper so less seed hits the ground.
Keep in mind: The 1 in pole flange (#1202) or the leg set (#SNLS) for ground use is sold separately.
Duncraft · Platform feeder
Eco-Strong Platform Feeder
- Holds 2 lb
An open tray that brings the most kinds of birds: seed, fruit, nuts or suet on a mesh floor that drains.
Keep in mind: An open tray collects droppings: scrape it daily and wash it every week or two.
Brome · Platform feeder
BirdsUP Seed Catcher Tray
- Comes apart to clean
Catches what falls from the feeder above and feeds the ground birds on a tray instead.
Keep in mind: Needs Brome’s BirdsUP Single Pole.
Duncraft · Platform feeder
Open Air Ground Platform Bird Feeder
- Holds 5 lb
Ground-feeding birds such as doves and cardinals, with corner perches that chickadees and finches land on.
Keep in mind: Food at ground level is within reach of squirrels and other animals, so fill only what the birds finish in a day.
Birds Choice · Platform feeder
Supper Dome Bird Feeder for Seed Suet and Mealworms
Mealworms, peanuts, fruit or seed in a dish the dome keeps dry, with suet logs beside it.
Keep in mind: The dish is 6¼ in across and 1¾ in deep, so it holds a small amount at a time.
Three grosbeaks at US feeders
The rose-breasted grosbeak spends the summer across the Northeast and Midwest and comes to feeders for sunflower, safflower and raw peanuts; even outside that range it may stop at a stocked feeder on spring or fall migration. The black-headed grosbeak is its western cousin: it takes sunflower too and turns up at nectar feeders set out for orioles. The evening grosbeak is a winter visitor that comes in some years and not others, in flocks, for sunflower.
Room to perch
Grosbeaks are big, heavy-billed birds, and evening grosbeaks arrive in flocks, so they use platform feeders more than tubes, Cornell notes. A tray, a hopper with a broad ledge or a bowl with headroom, such as the Duncraft Cardinal Bird Feeder with its 2½ in gap under the guard, gives them space; short tube perches suit them poorly.
What to fill it with
Black-oil sunflower is the staple: a grosbeak’s heavy bill cracks it easily. Rose-breasted grosbeaks also take safflower and raw peanuts; offer peanuts plain and unsalted. In the West, an oriole nectar feeder of 1 part white sugar to 4 parts water may bring black-headed grosbeaks as well as orioles.
References
| Source |
|---|
| Rose-breasted Grosbeak: Backyard Tips ↗ |
| Black-headed Grosbeak: Backyard Tips ↗ |
| Evening Grosbeak: Backyard Tips ↗ |
| Feeder Types ↗ |