“The chickadees sat in the branches and watched the grackles eat. That’s what a big feeder does to small birds.” — Why a 72-year-old bird rescuer from Asheville is selling her last hand-cast feeders at a special price, before her workshop closes forever.

At seven every morning, Vivienne Ballard walks out onto her back porch with a coffee cup full of sunflower seeds. She pours a small handful into a little white dish that hangs from the dogwood tree. Then she steps back and waits.

She never waits long. A Carolina chickadee drops out of the branches, lands on the rim, grabs a seed and is gone. Then a goldfinch. Then two juncos. Not a single big bird among them.

Vivienne is 72. For 31 years she was a licensed songbird rescuer in the hills around Asheville. People brought her birds in shoeboxes. In her sunroom she raised 4,112 of them back to health, and she kept a notebook on every one. There are 31 notebooks on her shelf.

“Most of the birds I ever saved weighed less than a letter. That tells you who needs the help.”

The birds that never got a turn

The most common thing Vivienne saw in those 31 years was not cats or windows. It was small birds that had gone hungry right next to a full feeder.

She saw it in yard after yard. A big feeder goes up. The grackles and starlings find it within a day. They are ten times heavier than a chickadee, and they don’t share. The little birds sit in the branches and watch.

On a cold night, a chickadee can lose a tenth of its body weight just keeping warm. In the morning it has to eat, and quickly. If it can’t get to the seed, it has a very hard day ahead.

“A chickadee weighs eleven grams. A grackle weighs a hundred and twenty. At a big feeder, the little ones don’t even get to land.”

“The first one was ugly as sin. The birds didn’t care.”

In 2011, Vivienne decided to make a feeder for the small birds only. She turned the one-car garage next to the house into a workshop. It smells of resin and sunflower seeds. Through the window she can see three of her own feeders hanging in the dogwood.

Each feeder takes her about four hours, spread over two days. She pours it, lets it set for a full day, sands every edge by hand and paints the little hair bun with a fine brush. Then she hooks on the three gold chains.

And the little dancer in the middle? That one is personal. On the mirror in the garage there is a black-and-white photo from 1962. It shows Vivienne at nine years old in her first dance class, arms stretched wide. She quit dancing at twelve. But she never forgot what her teacher told her that day: “Arms out, Vivienne. Make room.”

“She meant room on the stage. It took me sixty years to figure out what it’s really for.”

What 4,112 songbirds taught her about a feeder

Most people who get one of Vivienne’s feeders write the same thing first: “It’s smaller than I thought.” She smiles at that. It was never an accident.

• “The Small-Feet Rim”: The wavy rim is narrow on purpose. A chickadee or a finch holds on easily. A grackle can’t get a good grip. “The little ones finally get to eat in peace,” Vivienne says.
• “The Three-Chain Sway”: The dish hangs from three thin chains and is very light. When a heavy bird lands, it tips and swings, and big birds don’t like that. Under an eleven-gram chickadee, it hardly moves.
• “The Half-Cup Rule”: The dish holds about half a cup of seed. That is enough for one day, so the seed is always fresh. “Old wet seed makes birds sick. Fill it every morning, and tip it out after a rain.”
• “The Open-Sky Dish”: No walls, no roof. A bird in the open dish can see all around while it eats, so it spots a hawk in time. “A bird that can’t see out won’t eat in peace.”

The morning her brush started to shake

What Vivienne will miss most are the quiet mornings in the garage. The radio on low. The chickadees calling outside the window. The first feeder of the season coming out of the mold.

Last winter, the arthritis settled into both of her thumbs. She can still pour a feeder. But the fine sanding on the rim and the tiny brushwork on the dancer need hands that don’t shake. Since March, hers do.

“I can still fill a feeder. I just can’t make one anymore.”

This summer, after 31 years, she did not renew her rescue license. The last bird left her sunroom in July. The molds are cleaned and put away. 212 feeders are left in the garage. There will not be any more.

“I want them hanging before the first frost”

Vivienne could ask a lot more for her last feeders. Everyone would understand. She won’t.

She doesn’t want them on a shelf or in a box. She wants all 212 hanging in real gardens before the first frost, so that on a cold morning a chickadee somewhere can eat without fighting a grackle first.

“I can’t take in birds anymore. But I can still feed a few thousand of them. Just not from my own yard.”

Vivienne doesn’t use a computer. Her neighbor’s daughter Joelle first came over in 2019 with an injured junco in a shoebox, and she kept coming back every Saturday to help. When Vivienne told her about the 212 feeders, Joelle took a photo of one in the dogwood and built the page where you can order now. Vivienne still packs every box herself, with a handwritten card about which birds will most likely come first.

What bird lovers say about Vivienne’s feeders

• ★★★★★

  “I hung it on the porch on a Tuesday. By Thursday I had chickadees on it every morning, and the grackles that empty my big feeder tried once and gave up. Exactly what she said would happen.”

  Sharon M., Hendersonville, NC
• ★★★★★

  “It’s small, so read that part. But that is the whole point. I fill it with a cup of coffee in my hand every morning and watch the goldfinches. Best part of my day.”

  Dennis R., Roanoke, VA
• ★★★★★

  “Bought it for my sister, who danced as a girl and feeds the birds every day. She read the card Vivienne wrote and called me right away. Beautifully packed.”

  Carol P., Knoxville, TN

Three questions people ask before ordering

Where can I buy one of Vivienne’s feeders?

Only through this page. Vivienne’s feeders are not sold on Amazon, Temu or in any store.

How long will they be available?

Only while supplies last. The molds have been put away for good, and there are 212 feeders left. When they are gone, there will be no more.

What if it’s not right for me?

You have 30 days to try it in your garden. If you are not happy, just send a short email and you will get your money back. No questions, no hassle.

More from people who hung one this fall

• ★★★★★

  “Light, but sturdy. The three chains keep it nice and level, and it looks lovely hanging from my maple. The wrens love it.”

  Martha G., Lexington, KY
• ★★★★★

  “I bought one and then went back for a second for the other side of the yard. Two little dishes, twice the chickadees. My husband says I have a bird restaurant now.”

  Linda W., Greenville, SC
• ★★★★★

  “My mother is 86 and can’t walk out to the big feeder anymore. This one hangs in the dogwood outside her kitchen, where she can see it from her chair. She counts the juncos for me on the phone every evening.”

  Patricia H., Charlotte, NC