You can put any kind of food in it, and you don't have to worry about the birds getting wet food. It's hanging from a coat hanger out in the cedar tree, and we fill it about once a week. Glen Osborn won't be hitting home runs with his bat, but the birds in his yard sure have scored on the sacrifice. They usually break down near the handle, so a bird feeder is about all they're good for. Osborn drills three rows of holes evenly spaced around the bat.
Dowels serve as perches.
Carolina wrens, downy woodpeckers, house finches and chickadees all visit the feeder, which Osborn hangs just outside his kitchen window. I'd say they stayed away for 30 minutes or so after I filled the first one. They looked it over pretty carefully. But soon his feeders were attracting a variety of birds. Richardson is a librarian in a middle school, but has been making functional pottery for several years.