Install a Long Swing-Arm Hook for Hanging Plants or Bird Feeders

I have several bird feeders hanging off the pergola that extends over one of my decks. The feeders hang from long swing-arm hangers. The hooks work great for hanging squirrel-proof feeders because the length of the rod helps deter the squirrels. They also keep the feeders out away from the deck, which keeps the decks cleaner and encourages the birds to come dine.

Since my decks and porch are a full story up, I wouldn’t really be able to enjoy the birds that come to eat if the feeders were down in the yard. Having them hanging from the deck/pergola works really out well. The rods swing around  toward the deck for easy filling.

Birdfeeder on Extra long Shepherd's Hook

 

I buy my swing-arm rods at Wild Birds Unlimited near my home. They have held up really well and have even held up to the weight of some nighttime visitors. 🙂 I don’t think these guys are visiting anymore, but they used to come around every night around 2 AM for a little snack.

Raccoon Eating From Backyard Bird Feeder

 

I’ve had three rods hanging off the deck with the pergola on the other side of the screened porch. I have been meaning to add one more so I’d have two off either side. This photo below is from when I added the lit post toppers. You can read that post here: Solar Post Caps for the Deck

Solar Deck Lights

 

 

I purchased another hanger this past weekend and installed it on Sunday. In addition to the long rod, it comes with this support and screws for hanging it.

Swing-Arm Hanger for Deck Bird Feeder

 

I pre-drilled the holes because the pressure treated posts that support the pergola are HARD!

Install Swing-Arm Deck Hanger for Bird Feeder

 

Here’s how the the support looks installed. You can see a couple of little nicks where my battery-operated drill/screwdriver slipped off the screw when I was installing the support. It’s kind of awkward hanging them because I install them hanging over the rail and pointing backward at the support.

How to install swing arm hanger rod for bird feeder

 

Here’s how it looked with a feeder hanging on it. Now that I have two on this end, I was able to remove the suet feeder where it’s been hanging on the pergola support pole and hang it out in midair from the rod/hook. This is working out great because there’s less suet mess on the deck rail and the birds can access the suet from both sides.

You’ll find a lot of different styles of these long, swing-arm hangers here: Swing-arm Hanger for Decks

Swing Arm Hanger Holds Bird Feeders off Deck & Pergola

 

Here are the hooks hanging off the other end of the pergola. Notice those messy looking deck rails. I have a plan for those. Once pollen season has passed, I am seriously contemplating painting just the top rail a brown color. White works great for the porch and the other deck surfaces and they look good for at least a year when it’s usually time to wash them again, but the rail gets dirty again quickly due to all the trees here in the backyard.

Just wanted to share this method for feeding the birds in case your porch/decks are up high, too. The birds bring me so much joy, I can’t imagine not seeing them here on the feeders each day. Happy Birding!

Swing Arm Hanger to Hold Feeders Off Deck or Pergola

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Comments

  1. A great idea so you can enjoy your visitors.

  2. Jenny Trawford says

    I love your website . I have brought a little USA style home to my porch in the UK although sadly we do not have Racoons over here !

    • Jenny, I didn’t know that, that the UK didn’t have raccoons! I remember someone from Australia once told me that they do not have squirrels there. Both raccoons and squirrels are really common here, so we tend to take them for granted. I wonder what kinds of animals you have that we don’t have here. 🙂 Raccoons are a mixed blessing. They are super cute but have also been known to set up house in people attics, which is a BIG problem. lol

  3. I read several years ago about putting Vaseline on the poles to keep the squirrels and raccoons from climbing on them. It really does work and last almost a whole season…I just put some on my poles this morning.

    • Yeah, I have heard that helps. I should probably do that with some of mine, only knowing me, I’d stick my hand in while filling the feeders. lol

  4. Hi Susan
    I frequent our Wild Birds Unlimited quite a lot. They have the best for birds.
    I truly enjoy watching them at the feeders too.
    They have great poles, seed, fountains etc.
    Tweet Tweet

    • They do! I absolutely love the one that’s close to me. The owners are wonderful! And they have the best seed! lol I like your sign-off!

  5. Enjoy any posts about your birds and feeders. Also noticed that spring has sprung in your blog header–yay!!!

  6. Cyndi Raines says

    Yes birdies are so fun to watch. I even have a feeder at work in a group of trees outside my window. Love watching them. Nice stress reliever.

    • I so agree, Cyndi. It just makes my heart sing to see them coming to eat and to see them bringing their babies in the spring and early summer.

  7. Our house does not sit on a level lot either. Our back porch is elevated also and we our trying different ways to see our feeders. We have looked at the arms but were afraid there would be too much bird activity on the porch. Doesn’t sound like you are having a problem with this.

    • The birds don’t come on the porch, but it’s screened. I don’t think they would if it wasn’t screened because they don’t come down onto the deck very much either. Sometimes I put meal worms out in a bowl on the deck rail, so they will come to the deck rail, but they pretty much stay on the feeders. I think they just naturally prefer to be out away from the house.

  8. Marlene Stephenson says

    I love my birds and any ideas anyone can give me to use for them. I can sit and watch birds for hours it’s so soothing.

  9. Hi, Susan,
    Just yesterday I got into the bird feeding business. I’ve had one little bird whom I have named “Henry”. He was coming every day to my backyard, would sit on a garden decoration I have and start chirping. LOUDLY. I finally got some birdseed (he was eating cat food I leave out for some ferrel cats) and I also bought a small feeder that sticks to my french door window. Today , he stayed down on the ground, looking up at the feeder, and never ventured to it. I don’t know how long it will take before he knows that the food is for him! Oh, and don’t worry about the cats: they watch him every day and have not been aggressive at all. It’s amazing how I look forward to his visit! Rosie

  10. We have put up hummingbird feeders on our back deck. A family of wood peckers learned how to stick their tongues into the holes and drink the sugar water. It makes the hummers so mad. They will dive bomb and hover around them chirping. It is so entertaining.

  11. I love your birding/wildlife posts! I do have a question about the swing arm…..have you ever had the wind blow against the feeders and cause the swing arm to move? Is it stiff enough to stay in place (or “locks”)?

    • Thanks, Lynn! It has a screw type device thing at the base that allows you to tighten it in place. Then when you wish to fill it, you just turn the little screw/knob thing, and it loosens so you can swing it around toward the deck to fill it. I never tighten it, though. Maybe 2 or 3 times each winter after unusually strong winds, I’ll find where the wind pushed the two feeders near each other but that is very rare. But you can tighten it to prevent it from moving at all, if you like.

  12. We solved our messy Bird feeder problem by repurposing an old flag pole. We simply used a zip tie to attach the bird feeder to the end of the pole, and now it hangs well out from our deck. Our deck is a whole storey up as well, which is good because the deer would eat all the bird seed otherwise 🙂

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