Cedar Bird Deer and Wildlife Feeders. Every Feeder is Handcrafted.

Western Redcedar (Thuja Plicata)

is indiginous to the Pacific Northwest United States, north through Western Canada and into Alaska.

The sapwood (outer layer of the tree) is typically pure white. As you move closer to the heartwood (very center of the tree), the color of the wood becomes darker. Coloring will range from near white to pinkish red, to chocolate brown.

Cedar is naturally decay resistant due to its high oil and resin content. Cedar also is high in tannin which act as an insect repellant. Due to these factors, cedar is often used where weather or water resilience is required, such as, exterior home protection, boat building, etc.. Which is why we use Western Red Cedar for all of our products. It will serve you for many years.

Take a look at our illustration to the right. We have taken sections from five different boards to illustrate how different the coloring is in our lumber. The piece at the top is nearly white and the bottom one is dark brown. The typical lumber coloring is from one of the three middle sections. The middle piece and the second from the bottom show how a single board can have a beautiful striped effect and we work these effects into our feeders.

Each piece of lumber is inspected for the following:

1. Soundness - We make sure each piece of lumber is not cracked, split, twisted or warped in any way. If any piece of lumber is found defective, it is placed aside for use in experimental products. If it's quality is not up to our standards, it becomes a garden stake or fence rail at someone's home.

2. Natural Beauty - Like the striped effects noted above, we look for unusual characteristics in the lumber. When we build a feeder, we "use" these effects to enhance the design characteristics of the feeder we are crafting. When we come across a very unusual color, grain or other effect, we place that board aside for use in our Signature Series of feeders. Only 3% of our lumber is utilized in our Signature Series Feeders. It takes a very special piece of lumber for us to use it in our "one-off" feeder. In the illustration below, the bottom piece was set aside due to its "dark, speckled grain" and used to craft a special order feeder. The picture to the right shows a one-off feeder built by Pete Hurley for installation at our wood shop. The lumber for this feeder was a very dark, vibrant pink. We have not seen a piece like it before or since. The feeder sports dual forward opening tops and a rain gaurd at the peak. At any given time, we'll have 20 or more small birds at this feeder. Despite it's large 10 pound capacity, we have to fill it every three days. From the time we placed this feeder to the time we had seen the first bird was only 35 minutes and within one day, the feeder was beyond its capacity. Keep in mind, the closest feeder was 750 feet away in a wooded area. We feel the reason for such fast acceptance was due to the bright coloring of the lumber.

Keep these wood facts in mind when purchasing your feeder. The item you see here at the web site is of the feeder's design and the lumber used will be different every time. Yet, have no worries, each feeder is a "thing-of-beauty" all unto itself.