Put a nectar feeder up in an Australian backyard and the lorikeets find it within a day. They are loud, they hang upside down, they bring their mates, and they will sit on the perch ring arguing with each other while you watch from the kitchen window. The problem is never attracting them — it is the ants, which find the sugar water just as fast and turn the whole thing into a black line marching up the chain. This feeder solves that with a water moat built into the lid, so the ants get to the edge and stop.

Why It Stands Out

• The ant moat is built in — fill the ring on top with water when you fill the feeder, and ants can't cross it. No sticky tape on the chain, no grease, nothing to replace.
• Eight ports — lorikeets feed in groups and they squabble. Eight stations means more of them drink and fewer of them fight over one hole.
• A full perch ring around the outside — they land, sit and feed rather than hovering, which is what Australian nectar birds actually do.
• The base comes apart in two pieces — you can get a brush into every corner, which matters more on a nectar feeder than on any other kind.
• Screw-seal lid — it threads down onto the reservoir rather than clipping, so it stays put when a dozen birds land on one side.
• Red right through — the colour nectar birds come to, moulded in rather than painted on, so it doesn't fade off.
• Small enough for a balcony at under 10 cm across, and it hangs off the included hook from a branch, a bracket or a pergola beam.

Where to Hang It

• Off a branch within sight of a window — the whole point is watching them, so hang it where you'll actually see it from inside.
• Under the eaves or a pergola beam, where rain won't dilute the nectar and the sun won't cook it by midday.
• Near a grevillea, bottlebrush or banksia — if those are already flowering in your garden, the birds are already there and the feeder just gives them a second stop.
• On a balcony, off the railing bracket, where there's nothing else for them in a unit block.
• Away from the washing line and the outdoor table. Lorikeets are messy and they aren't subtle about it.
• Two metres up or higher, clear of where a cat can reach from a fence or a branch.
• In dappled shade rather than full western sun, so the nectar stays fresh for longer between fills.

How It Works

1. The reservoir holds the nectar and feeds it down to the base by gravity as the birds drink.
2. Eight ports in the base let them reach the liquid, with the perch ring giving them somewhere to stand while they do.
3. The moat in the lid is simply water — ants walk down the chain, reach the water, and go no further.
4. The lid screws down onto the reservoir, and that seal is what stops nectar weeping out of the ports when the feeder swings.

How to Set It Up

1. Make the nectar: one part white sugar to four parts water. Warm water to dissolve it, then let it cool completely before it goes in.
2. Use plain white sugar only. No honey, no brown sugar, no food colouring — the feeder is already red, which is all the attraction the birds need.
3. Fill the reservoir, screw the lid down firmly, then fill the moat ring on top with plain water.
4. Hang it and leave it alone for a few days. Birds are cautious about anything new; it can take a week before the first one commits.
5. Top the moat up whenever you water the garden — it evaporates fast in summer and an empty moat is just a ring.
Tip: fill it only a third full to begin with. A full feeder in a hot week goes off before the birds get through it, and you tip most of it out. Once you know how fast your visitors drink it, fill to match — small and fresh beats full and fermenting every time.

NB: nectar is sugar water and it does not keep, especially through an Australian summer — plan on emptying, rinsing and refilling every two to three days in the heat, and every four or five when it's cool. That rhythm is the whole job of owning one. Hang it in shade rather than full sun and the nectar lasts noticeably longer between changes. The moat needs topping up more often than the feeder does.

Care and Maintenance

• Take the base apart every clean and get a bottle brush through the ports. This is the one job that can't be skipped on a nectar feeder.
• Rinse with hot water only. No detergent — residue in the ports puts birds off.
• Check for cloudiness or black specks each time you walk past. That's your signal to change it early.
• Scrub the moat too, not just the reservoir. It collects dust and dead ants.

Specifications

What's Included

• 1 × Nectar bird feeder with hanging hook