Oriole jelly birdfeeder

A jelly birdfeeder for storing and dispensing jelly comprising:

• a jelly holding container having an open end;
• a base having a feeding platform and a central area with a connecting part for connecting the base to the open end of the container, said connecting part including an upwardly directed collar defining an interior space in the central area on an upper side of said base and having at least one jelly dispensing opening in a side thereof, jelly from said container entering said interior space when said base and container are connected for use;
• and
• a manually operated mixing mechanism operative with the base, the mixing mechanism including a pushing element and a handle, said pushing element being movably positioned within the interior space of the collar and configured to push jelly out through the collar opening from the interior space and onto the feeding platform when activated by the user using the handle, a position of said handle being outside said base generally opposite said feeding platform and being configured so that movement of said handle by the user also moves the pushing element in a substantially horizontal plane to push jelly onto the feeding platform, the position of said handle outside the base enabling the user to distribute jelly onto the feeding platform at any time and in desired amounts without contacting the jelly, an upper surface of said feeding platform being open when the feeder is in use to provide unobstructed access to the jelly on the feeding platform.

A method of dispensing jelly to a feeding platform of a jelly birdfeeder comprising the steps of:

• providing a jelly birdfeeder for storing and dispensing jelly, the birdfeeder including a jelly holding container having an open end, a base having an open unobstructed feeding platform and a connecting part for connecting the base to the open end of the container, said connecting part including an upwardly directed wall defining an interior space on an upper side of said base and having at least one jelly dispensing opening therein, jelly from said container entering said interior space when said base and container are connected for use, and a manually operated mixing mechanism having a pushing element and a handle operative with the base, said pushing element configured to mix and push jelly from the interior space in the base through the at least one jelly dispensing opening in the wall and onto the open feeding platform when manually activated by the user using the handle, the handle projecting outwardly beyond a bottom of the base under the feeding platform;
• putting jelly in the container and then coupling the container to the base to assemble the feeder;
• inverting the feeder so that jelly moves downwardly into the interior space defined by the wall;
• dispensing some of the jelly onto the open feeding platform by moving the handle to concurrently move the pushing element in a substantially horizontal plane so that the pushing element pushes jelly out of the interior space through the at least one jelly dispensing opening in the wall, positioning of the handle under and outside said base and extending beyond the bottom thereof enabling the user to grasp the handle to manually distribute jelly without coming into contact with the jelly that is on the open feeding platform of the base.