This Affordable Aldi Bird Feeder Feeds Birds In An Oddly Satisfying Way

"Satisfying" is a concept that's been weirdly influenced by YouTube videos of people doing unseemly things with garlic presses and sometimes hydraulic presses. But everyone can understand the charm of serving a cardinal a snack on a tiny chair. That's just what a few products — bird feeders shaped like tiny rocking chairs, picnic tables, and benches — currently on offer in Aldi's "Aisle of Shame" do.

The Aldi Aisle of Shame, where you'll find various non-edible home goods, is all about things you didn't know you need, like an inflatable hot tub or maybe underglow lights that make your bed look like a JDM car from the "The Fast and the Furious." (At least one of those Aisle of Shame products is a real thing.) For a mere $9.99 each, you can converse with a robin on a rocker, pigeons on a picnic, and a blue jay on a bench. We've seen bench feeders before, as a DIY wood pallet project, but isn't this easier?

Any reasonable person would see a hybrid Adirondack and rocking chair as some sort of trap, but birds aren't reasonable people. In fact, they're not people at all. But you're not really anthropomorphizing with these bird chairs. It's not as if you expect the jays and titmice to kick back in a recliner, watch reality TV, and pick the fat from a suet feeder. They're just eating birdseed (unless you're into zinging squirrels with that cayenne-infused stuff that looks, and is priced, more like a hipster snack). And yes, it can be a great source of satisfaction to watch birds eat from furniture-shaped bird feeders.

"Match your bird feeders to the birds you're trying to feed" might be the least surprising advice you've ever gotten, but sadly, not every bird will be drawn to these little seats. It's not that they're restless or their sciatica is acting up, but that not every bird loves tray or platform feeders like these. You're likely to attract grackles, grosbeaks, juncos, and towhees (who names these things?), along with blackbirds, doves, jays, pigeons, and quail. Skittish birds will tend to shy away from the openness of tray feeders.

You might think of tray feeders as a kind of undifferentiated buffet that the humans in "Wall-E" might have enjoyed. But, unlike buffets (one hopes), tray feeders tend to collect bird droppings quickly, and are open to the weather and therefore prone to soggy, sprouting, and spoiling food. Because of this, it's important to empty, clean, and refill the feeders often. The Aldi feeders have steel mesh bottoms for good drainage and easy cleaning. Some birds like purple martins won't usually eat at feeders, as they prefer whole insects like crickets and mealworms ... with, it is assumed, a little Dijon mustard and caviar.

Of course, you can (and should) attract birds to reused lids from old pots and pans or repurposed empty soup cans used as bird feeders. But unless you can picture birds as tiny humans eating from a 55-gallon drum, it might not be quite as satisfying as the seating feeders.