Outdoor plastic containers/bird feeders problem
By coffeebreak
@coffeebreak (17797)
United States
October 1, 2012 7:32pm CST
Budget dictates that I only have the option (usually) to buy plastic over glass/terra cotta etc outdoor containers for planting. I live in the high desert of CA where the sun literally bleaches color out of plants, not to mention...bleaches and dries and discolors plastic containers...namely my bird feeders.
I have tried several coats of Deco-Pague, but still, the sun is so hot and strong.. after 3 months of the bird feeder in the heat all day.. it has gone from red to pinkish white! I got a new one. but need help in how can I protect this from the sun? I have no shade to hang the feeeder in and the birds just love it right where it is.
Any suggestions that will protect the plastic (hard plastic) but not deter the birds?
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6 responses
@savak03 (6684)
• United States
2 Oct 12
Do the birds seem to care what color the feeder is? If they eat from it when it is new and also after it has faded I would hazard a guess that they only care about the food and not how good it looks. If your main concern is feeding the birds then maybe that is the right question to ask yourself. 
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@coffeebreak (17797)
• United States
3 Oct 12
I remember those. I was looking too at the block of seed..I forget what it is called, but just a hard block of seed you just hang out there..problem with that.. it'd be gone in 2 days! I got this new feeder for $10...maybe I should stop stressing about this and just put it out there and in 6 months..get another one if the birds are still around!!! I just dont' like wasting money but I know I over compensate too! Unless I get any other suggestions, I think I'll just paint it with the green (as it is green) paint I have and not spend more money on more paint and just paint it nad deco pague it and hope for the best!
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@savak03 (6684)
• United States
3 Oct 12
When I was a kid me and my step sister used to make bird houses and other things out of gourds. We had a ball making them out of a natural substance that I have still not figured out a better use for. Maybe they would hold up better to the weather than those made of man made materials. I don't know, I'm just speculating here.
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@marguicha (230334)
• Chile
2 Oct 12
I have only seen bird feeders placer hanging from tree branches. THose trees have leaves in Summer and they keep the extreme heat out and water cold (if the feeders also have water). Do you have any such tree where you live?
@coffeebreak (17797)
• United States
2 Oct 12
No trees....the feeder now is on a stick in the middle of a bush and bushes near it. The bird "hold up" in the bushes until I get the food out there in the mornings. But the bush is total sun from sun up to sun down. No shade at all. Only place I can put it! I don't want to hang it from my patio as I don't want bird poop all over my patio. Plus...I can see the feeder from the kitchen window good too which is where I am often watching them in the morning.
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@allknowing (153544)
• India
2 Oct 12
@coffeebreak - Don't you have anything to comment on my response? I have spent time to write that response and you have ignored it!!!
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@coffeebreak (17797)
• United States
3 Oct 12
allknowing....you said nothing to answer my question or offer me a suggestion as to how to protect a plastic container that the bird feeder is.
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@coffeebreak (17797)
• United States
3 Oct 12
Plastic paint...hadn't heard about that. Maybe I'll check out Joann's craft store for that. I stumbled on a new one for cheap..bigger too and a stronger plastic, and was going to just paint (with house paint I have left over from inside painting) and just paint the top...then maybe deco paug it.
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@drannhh (15219)
• United States
7 Oct 12
That is a good question. I was thinking more along the line of putting an umbrella like thing that you could easily make yourself above the feeder, sort of like a hummingbird dome (those are so pretty but also very expensive). I lay an upside down plastic bowl above the expensive box that controls the automatic watering of my plants, which is what gave me the idea.
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@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
9 Oct 12
hi even here in sou then Calif its been one horrible august and se tember hot hot h ot and humid. why not hang the plastic
birdfeeders in the shade as I imagine the birds would n ot
mind either I cannot think of what you could coat the m with thet might not be harmful to the birds. oh shame did not see the
no shade.I just assu med yo u might have trees evein in the desert but was wrong.maybe you could bu ild some sortof gazebo that you would have shade for the birds a nd the feeders.
@allknowing (153544)
• India
2 Oct 12
Bird feeders are normally kept around some bushes. Birds like to perch on there after their fill. I have a birdbath which is located close to the bushes and it is a pleasure to watch them being active there.
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