Fascinating thread. @Something Fishy, care to share some Amazon links for good starter material?
Thanks.
Oddly enough, I find Amazon to be way more expensive than local stores for these types of things. As far as a basic setup, the main thing you need to decide is where you want it, and how it'll be mounted. A pole stuck into the ground is the most common - I use
this one (many manufacturers sell the same exact thing at different prices, so shop around). If you want something more basic go for one with only one or two hooks.
Since mine is on a deck, I sawed off the bottom stakes and just ziptied the entire thing to the railing, it works great.
For a basic feeder, start with
this and some basic mixed seed. Most of them are good, but you can tell the quality by the sunflower-to-millet ratio. The more sunflower the better quality is is and the more your birds will enjoy it. If most of it is millet (tiny brown balls), skip it - it's mostly filler and will end up costing more at the end of the day.
This is the one I found works best for me.
To get more exciting birds, the easiest way is a suet or finch feeder. For suet, you can't beat
a price like this. For the suet itself, I have so far been unable to find a decent place to buy them online, so I get them in Walmart for around $1.25 each. I find that the hot pepper ones are the only ones that the squirrels hate and birds love.
For finches, start with
a basic finch sockand see if they come - no need to spend on a real one in the beginning. If that's successful, then get a real finch feeder. You can also try the
name-brand socks, but I find that my birds highly prefer the generic Walmart seeds. Go figure.
In short: get a basic feeder, a pole to hang it from if you need, and a bag of mixed seed. That's all you need to start, and can cost under $50.
And if you want to add suet and finch feeders, you can try those out for under $10 all-in.