Henry Bell Sterling Fat Ball Feeder

Henry Bell Sterling Fat Ball Feeder – 32cm

The Sterling Fat Ball Feeder is the metal end of Henry Bell's range: hardwearing aluminium in a silver finish rather than the plastic tube most fat ball feeders use. It stands 32cm tall and holds five fat balls stacked in the column, which in a busy garden is roughly a week of midwinter feeding.

The lid lifts off in one movement and the base comes away for cleaning — which matters more on a fat feeder than on any other kind, because softened fat and old crumb are exactly what spreads disease between birds. Henry Bell's ring perches run round the body so birds stand to feed rather than clinging to the bars.

Performance & Benefits

• Aluminium body and lid rather than plastic, so it holds its shape through frost and summer sun.
• 32cm tall, with room for five standard fat balls at a time.
• Easy-opening lid, and a base that lifts out so the whole column can be washed and dried.
• Henry Bell ring perches let tits, robins and finches feed standing rather than hanging.
• Open cage sides, so several birds can work at the balls from different angles at once.
• Silver finish that sits on a bird table or feeding station without looking like garden plastic.

Suitable For

• Standard-size fat balls, fed loose without their nets.
• Hanging from a feeding station arm, a bird table hook or a tree branch.
• Robins, tits, sparrows, starlings and finches — the birds that come to fat.
• Year-round use, with the heaviest demand between November and March.
• Not made for peanuts or suet pellets, which fall straight through: the Henry Bell Sterling Peanut Feeder takes whole nuts, and a suet bites feeder takes pellets.

How to Use

• Lift the lid, drop up to five fat balls into the column and replace the lid.
• Hang it clear of fences and low branches so cats have no launch point near the feeding birds.
• Take the base off and wash the feeder in warm water with a mild disinfectant every couple of weeks, more often in mild wet weather.
• Dry it completely before refilling — damp is what turns leftover fat mouldy.
• Move the feeder a metre or two every few months so droppings do not build up in one spot.

Specification

• Height 32cm. Hardwearing aluminium with a silver finish.
• Capacity five fat balls.
• Easy-opening lid and removable base.
• Henry Bell ring perches around the body.
• Henry Bell product code H040606. Barcode 5026132033674.
• Henry Bell publish no weight, diameter or hanging-loop dimension for this feeder, so none is stated here.

Care & Caution

• Never load fat balls that are still in their plastic net. Nets catch feet and beaks, and Henry Bell supply their own fat balls net-free for that reason.
• Clean the feeder regularly. Fat feeders are among the likeliest places for disease to pass between garden birds.
• In hot weather fat softens and can smear on plumage. Put out fewer balls and check them daily.