Patent ID: 8025030

Claim:
A bird feeder comprised of: a. a dispensing component comprised of: 1) a housing adapted to confine a quantity of particulate bird feed material with reasonable protection from the effects of rainwater, 2) release aperture means associated with said housing for permitting controlled removal of said feed material by birds, 3) a refill port located in an upper region of said housing, and 4) adjustable closure means associated with said refill port, and b. a refilling component comprised of: 1) a compartment for holding an amount of said particulate bird feed, and comprised of upper and lower portions with intervening circuitous sidewall structure having a downwardly convergent region, 2) a hollow stem downwardly emergent from said convergent region as a continuous integral extension thereof and having a downwardly tapered size and shape adapted to penetrate the refill port of said housing, and 3) flapper valve means interactive with said stem portion and biased in a normally closed state and adapted to automatically move in opposition to said biasing effect to an open state upon contact with said refill port to permit gravity flow of said feed into said housing, and 4) an elongated handling staff extending between a lower extremity and an upper extremity pivotally joined to the upper portion of said compartment.