this may seem a silly question but i was wondering if i should / could get feeders to hang in my garden is quite large and there is a medium sized woodland behind before the next lot of houses i know some birds nest in there as my dog found a baby in the bottom of the garden (still alive he was just standing whining at it lol), the problem i have with feeders is i do have cats (although they do not seem bothered by my budgies when caged) there locked out on flight time the second problem is i know there are a load of squirrels although they are great in there own way i feel they would clean feeders out to quick.
if i did the next question would be were to hang or place them other than the fence the only thing is an apple tree.
Dogs (I have 3) are no problem other than chasing birds off but the birds will get used to that.
Squirrels are a pain in that they take certain types of bird food but you can find feeder designs that help on that front.
Cats are a whole different box of frogs.
It's always difficult to see birds you attract get killed but it comes down to:
a) You feed the birds and they benefit from it
b) You feed the birds and the cats catch, kill and eat them
The reality is:
c) You feed the birds, the whole population benefit from it but you accept that the cats catch, kill and eat some.
The key (for cat owners) is knowing whether you're being kind or cruel to the birds.
For the record when I had 4 young cats I decided not to attract the birds as the kill rate was shocking.
When I was down to 1 old cat and 1 young cat I decided (despite the odd kill) to experiment.
I also live next to woodland and we have a couple of neighbours who also feed the birds. When I stopped feeding the birds my cats would simply catch birds at my neighbours unprotected feeding stations.
I set up my own extra tasty stations but set them up to be more 'cat proof'. As a result the birds came into my garden and the killing stopped.
Chicken wire skirt under the feeders to stop the cat jumping up. Feeders placed away from natural cover that the cats use for stalking. Feeders above open ground rather than bushes so ground feeding birds can't be ambushed.
Birds feed and cats hunt at certain times of day so the time of day you feed your cats can make a massive influence on hunting.
The general view (certainly during a harsh winter) is that the overall bird population benefit more from being fed than being left to go hungry for fear of cat predation.