Patent ID: 6158385
Filing Date: 2000-12-12
Classification: A01K

Abstract:
A bird feeder for feeding birds and for deterring squirrels from feeding therefrom, said bird feeder comprising:a reservoir for holding bird seed, said reservoir having an upper end and a lower end;a lid member for sealing said upper end of said reservoir, said lid member including a continuous lip member adapted so as to engage said upper end of said reservoir;a plurality of conductive lid plates secured to an upper surface of said lid member;at least one feeding opening defined by said reservoir for providing access to the bird feed;at least one feeding roost engaged with each of said at least one feeding opening, said at least one feeding roost defining a roost opening in register with one of said at least one feeding openings and further having a conductive perch;a bottom member defining a chamber, said bottom member disposed proximate said lower end of said reservoir;at least one conductive bottom plate secured to an upper surface of said bottom member;a correction circuit disposed in said chamber of said bottom member;a power supply electrically connected to said correction circuit; anda high voltage transformer having at least two positive conductors and a negative conductor, said high voltage transformer having a negative terminal and at least two positive terminals, each of said at least two positive terminals having a unique voltage output magnitude, and wherein said feeding roosts are divided into at least two groups of said feeding roosts, each of said at least two positive conductors being placed in conductive contact between one of said at least two groups of said feeding roosts and one of said at least two positive terminals whereby each of said feeding roosts is selectively biased with a voltage, said negative conductor being placed in conductive contact between each of said at least one conductive bottom plates and said negative terminal such that an open circuit is formed between each of said feeding roosts and each of said conductive bottom plates and between each of said two groups of said feeding roosts.