Bentonville Entrepreneur Finds Success With Feeder Design

BENTONVILLE

Nathan Lembke has enjoyed feeding birds for much of his life. A lot of the time he found himself gazing at the birds' behinds, or not seeing them at all, as they munched seed from his hopper-style feeders.

What Seed For What Bird?

Black-oil sunflower seed that Lembke uses attracts most types of songbirds. Here are some other feeds to try and the birds they may attract.

Cracked corn: Red-winged blackbird, dark-eyed junco.

Safflower: House finch, purple finch, mourning dove.

Peanuts: Downy woodpecker, nuthatch, chipping sparrow.

Information: See Lembke’s website, www.bellavistabirds…, or visit his Bella Vista birds Facebook page.

Source: Nathan Lembke

So he tried a platform feeder. That let him see the birds better, but Lembke found he had to put seed in the tray several times a day.

Instead of building a better mousetrap, Lembke designed a better bird feeder. Now he sees goldfinches, chickadees and woodpeckers clearly as they feed near his kitchen window. The feeder holds a whopping 5 pounds of bird seed. Gravity keeps the seed inches from the birds' beaks.

His Infinity Feeders are made from recycled plastic. They're rugged and stand up to the elements.

After years of research, designing and improving, Lembke, 48, holds the finished, manufactured product in his hands. He delights in seeing birds land on the feeder he designed and seeing his feeders for sale at stores. On Saturdays, Lembke personally sells them at the Bentonville Farmers Market.

He sees their success right outside his family's kitchen window in Bentonville where two of the feeders hang. Common and uncommon birds flew in for a meal on a pleasant afternoon last Thursday, June 5, at the Lembke household. The feeders look a little like a wishing well, which is what he calls this particular model of Infinity Feeder.

Come And Get It

Here's how the feeders work. As birds eat the seed, the outer box, or wishing-well part of the feeder, slides down four thin metal cables toward the seed tray. That keeps seed always near the rim of the outer box so it's easy for the birds to eat. Before all the seed is gone, the outer box has dropped low enough toward the seed tray that an indicator becomes visible. This tells the human bird watcher it's time to refill the feeder.

What thrills Lembke is that he gets a 360-degree view of the birds. There's no blind spot behind part of the feeder, as can be the case with some feeder styles.

A bonus is that birds seem to like hanging sideways from the thin cables just below the red roof of the wishing well, as well as lighting on the rim.

In the hour Lembke and I spent watching and photographing birds, we saw dozens including woodpeckers, chickadees, nuthatches, one brown-headed cowbird and more. Spring and fall migration is when Lembke sees the most species.

He doesn't criticize other types of feeders. In fact, he owns several styles.

"They all do a fine job of feeding the birds, but sometimes the feeder itself blocks your view of the birds. That's the No. 1 reason people feed birds is to see them," Lembke said.

The design of his Infinity Feeders popped into his noggin about nine years ago. He got busy and built one.

"The first one I made of wood, but it's not good in the rain. Plus the wood expands and the box sticks to the seed tray and won't slide down. "

Undaunted, he made a metal feeder that worked better.

Plastic proved the ticket. When Lembke was satisfied with the design, he started looking for a manufacturer. Lembke, a Walmart vendor, heard that some staff from a Michigan company, Heath Outdoor Products, were in town. The company manufactures bird feeders and accessories. He got an appointment to meet with them and make his pitch.

Lembke was giddy when the reps told him that his design was the first real innovation they'd seen in years in the world of bird feeders. Today, Heath Outdoor Products manufactures the feeders.

They retail for about $20. Bird fanciers can buy one at Wild Birds Unlimited at Pinnacle Hills Promenade in Rogers. They're at Orscheln or Atwoods stores. Buy one from Lembke and talk birds with him this Saturday on the Bentonville square at the city's farmers market.

Feathered Diners

Lembke, an Arkansas master naturalist, has learned a thing or three after feeding birds much of his life.

He makes his own bird-seed mix that is mostly black-oil sunflower seed. He mixes in a smidgen of striped sunflower seed and a dash of millet.

"With the black oil seed, you get just about all the common birds," Lembke said. The bottom of his Infinity Feeders are sized so a suet cage can be attached to draw in woodpeckers and other suet eaters.

He keeps a pair of binoculars on his kitchen table, but doesn't really need them. His two feeders are only a foot or so from the glass pane.

Lembke recommends people hang their feeders within 3 feet of a window, or more than 10 feet away from one. The close distance prevents birds from gaining a head of speed and crashing into the window. Farther than 10 feet seems to be far enough to reduce bird-window collisions.

"Put your feeders where they're easy to fill," he said. "If you have to get up on a ladder or something to fill them, you're not going to stick with it."

It takes birds some time to find a feeder once it's hung, Lembke coached. The time may be a few days or up to a week or more.

"For kids, watching birds at a feeder might be their first encounter with nature. It might spark an outdoor interest later in life," Lembke said.

The war on squirrels may seem never-ending to people who feed birds. Put feeders at least 4 feet away from anything a squirrel can jump from, Lembke suggested. Squirrel baffles available at retail stores help prevent squirrel invasions.

One book that's always on the entrepreneur's kitchen table is a bird field guide. It's at his fingertips and is particularly handy at migration time when uncommon birds might visit his feeders. A field guide shows various feather colors a bird may display at different times of year.

For Lembke, it's satisfying to watch birds come to a feeder he designed himself. The show outside his window is like art, he says.

"The views, they're always changing. The picture changes every minute."

Outdoors on 06/12/2014

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