Multi-purpose, species-discriminating bird feeder for controlling ingress and egress of birds into interior of bird feeder

A bird feeder, comprising:

• a base;
• a top;
• and
• a plurality of sides extending between said base and said top, at least two of said plurality of sides having an upper side member and a lower side member, said upper side member and said lower side member being at least partially spaced from each other to provide an ingress/egress opening therebetween so that birds of a selected size may enter and exit an interior portion of the bird feeder through said two sides, while birds or mammals larger than the selected size are prevented from entering said interior portion of the bird feeder, at least one of said upper and lower side members having a concave edge surface that opens into the respective ingress/egress opening.

A bird feeder, comprising:

• a base;
• a top;
• and
• a plurality of sides extending between said base and said top, at least two of said sides having an upper side member and a lower side member, said upper side member and said lower side member being at least partially spaced from each other to provide an ingress/egress opening therebetween so that birds of a selected size may enter and exit an interior portion of the bird feeder through said at least two sides, while birds or mammals larger than the selected size are prevented from entering said interior portion of the bird feeder, each said upper side member being manually selectively replaceable with a different upper side member dimensioned to change a width of the respective ingress/egress opening between said upper side member and said lower side member so that birds different from the selected size may have access to said interior portion of the bird feeder.

A species-discriminating bird feeder, comprising:

• a base;
• a removable top;
• a plurality of vertical supports extending between said base and said top;
• and
• sides extending between said base and said top and mounted to said vertical supports, said sides each including an upper side member and a lower side member which are at least partially spaced from each other to provide an ingress/egress opening therebetween so that birds of a selected size may enter and exit an interior portion of the bird feeder from any of said sides of the bird feeder, while birds larger than the selected size are prevented from entering said interior portion of the bird feeder, each said upper side member being manually selectively adjustable so that a size of the respective ingress/egress opening between said upper and lower side members is increased or decreased.

A method of controlling ingress and egress of birds into and from an interior of a bird feeder, comprising:

• forming a bird feeder with a base, a top, and a plurality of side members;
• constructing at least some of the side members in the form of upper side members and lower side members with an ingress/egress opening therebetween;
• and
• manually selectively adjusting a size of the ingress/egress opening between said upper side member and said lower side member small enough to restrict entry into the interior of the bird feeder to selected sizes of birds or mammals.