Feeder maintenance scheduler
When to refill and clean each feeder, adjusted for your weather. Add your feeders once; they are saved in this browser, and you can add the dates to your calendar.
My Feeders
No feeders yet. Add the feeders you have to get their schedules.
Add your first feeder
Tell us what kind of feeder and food you use, and we work out when it needs refilling and cleaning.
How often to clean and refill each type of feeder
The starting intervals the scheduler uses in mild weather. Clean more often in heat, humidity or after rain, and whenever you see mould, clumped seed or cloudy nectar. Seed feeders: about every two weeks, as Project FeederWatch and Birds Canada advise; hummingbird feeders: whenever you change the nectar, which Audubon says means twice a week in hot weather.
| Feeder | Clean every | Refill or top up every |
|---|---|---|
| Tube Feeder (Seed) | 14 days | 4 days |
| Hopper Feeder | 14 days | 5 days |
| Platform / Tray Feeder | 7 days | 2 days |
| Ground Feeding Area | 3 days | 1 day |
| Hummingbird Nectar Feeder | 4 days | 3 days |
| Oriole Feeder (Nectar & Jelly) | 3 days | 2 days |
| Suet Cage | 21 days | 7 days |
| Suet Log / Plug Feeder | 30 days | 10 days |
| Nyjer / Thistle Tube | 14 days | 5 days |
| Peanut / Nut Mesh Feeder | 14 days | 4 days |
| Window-Mounted Feeder | 7 days | 2 days |
| Squirrel-Proof Feeder | 21 days | 5 days |
| Mealworm / Bluebird Feeder | 7 days | 1 day |
| Fruit Feeder / Spike | 2 days | 1 day |
| Finch Sock / Mesh Bag | 14 days | 5 days |
Guidance: Cornell Lab (All About Birds), Birds Canada, Audubon. A 1:9 bleach-to-water soak (then rinse and dry) is the usual way to disinfect.
How the schedule is worked out
Each feeder type starts from its own cleaning and refill interval. When you share a location, the scheduler looks up the current weather (from Open-Meteo) and adjusts those intervals:
- Heat: at 85°F (29°C) or more, clean twice as often and refill a little sooner; from 70°F (21°C), clean about a quarter sooner. Seed spoils and nectar ferments faster in heat.
- Cold: from 32°F to 49°F (0–9°C), cleaning can wait half as long again, but refill sooner, because birds eat more. Below freezing, cleaning can wait twice as long and feeders need refilling twice as often.
- Humidity: at 70% or more, clean more often (mould grows faster); below 40%, cleaning can wait a little longer.
- Rain: if it rained yesterday or today, clean sooner, because wet seed spoils.
- Nectar: at 80°F (27°C) or more, you get a warning to change sugar water more often.
Mild weather (50–69°F) leaves the intervals as they are. Without a location, the scheduler uses each feeder's standard intervals. Mark a feeder cleaned or refilled and the countdown starts again from that day.
Questions
- How do I use it?
- Add each feeder you have. Choose your city if you want the intervals adjusted for your weather. When you clean or refill a feeder, mark it, and its countdown starts again from that day. "Add to calendar" puts the reminders in your own calendar app.
- Where are my feeders saved?
- In this browser only. Nothing is sent to BirdTab. Clearing this site’s data removes them. Weather is looked up from Open-Meteo using the city you choose.
- What is the health score?
- A quick check across all your feeders: 100% when every feeder is on schedule. Points come off when a cleaning or refill is due, and more the longer it is overdue.
- What do the disease alerts mean?
- Some feeder types and conditions make bird diseases such as salmonellosis and conjunctivitis more likely, for example warm, wet weather. If you see sick birds (fluffed up, lethargic, crusty eyes), take your feeders down for a week or two and clean them before putting them back.
- Which birds does it list?
- The birds each feeder type attracts in North American gardens. Elsewhere the types of feeder still apply, but the species differ.
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