Birds are not the only animals that eat bird seed. Other small creatures also like eating them, which is probably why your bird feeder always seems to be empty or significantly lesser in the morning, even though you just refilled it the other day.
If you want to know what is eating my birdseed at night and how to prevent these animals from pilfering your birdseed, you should first identify what they are so you can implement appropriate measures to keep them away.
By learning about what animals eat bird seed at night, you will somehow know what preventive measures you can take against them. This article will enumerate and discuss some of the most common perpetrators. If you often find these animals on your property, then there is a high likelihood that they are the culprits.
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Common Animals That Eat Bird Seed at Night
Although you bought the birdseed for your little feathered friends, they are not the only creatures that frequent your yard and also like to partake in the free food. Here are some of the nocturnal animals that may be eating from your bird feeder while everyone else is asleep:
Small Rodents
These are the most likely culprits of birdseed theft. Rats and mice are mainly nocturnal and they are known to be quite attracted to the smell of grains and seeds, which are the main ingredients of commercial birdseed. These little rodents are also quite skilled at climbing up poles and walking across a suspended wire.
These tiny mammals can squeeze through tight spaces and are quite smart that they can figure out how to open simple containers. They usually figure out where your bird feeder is by locating the spilled birdseed on the ground, so it is important to clean underneath your bird feeder regularly.
Raccoons
Raccoons are nocturnal opportunistic eaters. This means they will actively search for any food source. This is why you can usually find them sifting through uncovered garbage cans and, of course, bird feeders. Although raccoons are bigger compared to rodents, they have dexterous hands, making them quite adept at climbing.
In addition, raccoons are very smart and they can easily figure out how to open most bird feeders if they can reach them. If you do not want raccoons to get into your bird feeder, make sure you do not leave other potential food sources.
Keep your garbage cans covered and always clean underneath the bird feeder so the raccoons have no reason to investigate in your yard.
Squirrels
Although most squirrels are diurnal, some species exhibit a few nocturnal behaviors. For instance, most species of flying squirrels are nocturnal. And since they glide from tree to tree, they can maneuver their way to your bird feeder, even if it is elevated off the ground.
On the other hand, regular squirrels can also climb up the pole of your bird feeder at around the crack of dawn, even before the birds can get to the birdseed. You can prevent them from climbing up the pole of your bird feeder by installing a baffle halfway up the pole.
Also, use a smooth metal tube as a pole to keep the squirrels from getting a good foothold.
Opossums
These marsupials are also nocturnal and opportunistic eaters just like raccoons. However, opossums are also skilled climbers. If you mount your bird feeder on top of a wooden post, an opossum will have no issue climbing up and getting access to the bird feeder.
If an opossum reaches your feeder, you can be sure that it will be destroyed come morning. To prevent opossums from reaching your bird feeder, you can install large baffles on the middle of the mounting pole of the bird feeder to keep it from climbing higher. Also, do not use a wooden pole. It helps to use a smooth metal pole instead.
Skunks
You do not have to worry about these stinky little critters stinking up your bird feeder. They will only do so when you startle them. However, these animals can be quite destructive in other ways.
Although there is no need to worry too much about skunks climbing up the bird feeder pole, they will dig up the ground underneath it with their sharp claws. If there are lots of birdseed that fell underneath your feeder, skunks will dig all of them out of the ground and grass.
The solution here would be to clean underneath the bird feeder regularly. You can also use paving stones underneath the bird feeder. This will make cleaning up spilled birdseed easier. It will also prevent skunks from digging.
Conclusion
Now that you have reached the end of this article, you already know what animals eat bird seed at night and how to prevent them from doing so. If you have raccoons, squirrels, opossums, and any one of the animals in the list above, they are likely to be the birdseed thieves that you have been looking for.
Now, you do not have to trap these animals or hurt them in any manner. It would be better to know how they behave and apply measures that will dissuade them from getting access to your bird feeder. Just making it slightly difficult for them to reach the bird feeder will be enough to discourage them from trying again.