Quick Answer: The best mason jar bird feeder for most people is the Nature’s Way Mason Jar Hummingbird Dish Feeder (around $11 list, often on sale for less) — a clear glass dish with four feeding ports built for hummingbirds, not seed. The Wild Wings Glass Mason Jar Hummingbird Feeder (around $7.48) is a cheaper colored-glass alternative. If you actually want to feed seed-eating birds, the Perky-Pet PP784 Mason Jar Wild Bird Seed Feeder (roughly $23-$35 depending on retailer) is the one true mason-jar-style seed feeder, holding up to 1 lb through eight ports. And if you’d rather reuse a jar you already own, a DIY mason jar feeder hardware kit (around $10) gives you a tray and adjustable hanger — you supply your own jar.
“Mason jar bird feeder” is a search term with a hidden naming trap. Type it into Amazon and almost everything that comes up is a small glass hummingbird dish — not the seed feeder most people picture when they imagine a classic wide-mouth jar hanging in the yard. There’s essentially one real exception on the market, plus a cheap DIY route for anyone who wants to repurpose an actual jar from their pantry. Here’s how to tell them apart before you buy the wrong one.
Mason jar feeders by the numbers
- About 96 million Americans watch birds, per the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation — a large and growing share of them start with a small, inexpensive feeder like a mason jar dish rather than a full backyard setup.
- Change nectar every 3-4 days in hot weather, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology — and a 4.5-6 oz mason jar dish holds far less reserve than a full-size hummingbird feeder, so in peak summer heat it can need a change every 2-3 days just from evaporation and spoilage.
- The seed-holding Perky-Pet PP784 costs roughly 3-5x more than the small glass nectar dishes ($23-$35 vs. $5-$11), even though both are marketed under the same “mason jar bird feeder” search term.
- DIY hardware kits are typically under $10 for one tray, and cheaper per-unit in a 3-pack, but ship with zero jar included — the adjustable wing-nut hanger fits most standard regular-mouth canning jars, though fit on off-brand jars isn’t guaranteed.
Our top picks at a glance
| Feeder | Best for | Holds | Capacity | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nature's Way Mason Jar Hummingbird Dish | Best overall | Nectar | 4.5" dish, 4 ports | ~$11 |
| Wild Wings Glass Mason Jar Hummingbird Feeder | Best budget nectar | Nectar | 6 oz, 4 ports | ~$7.48 |
| Perky-Pet PP784 Mason Jar Wild Bird Seed Feeder | Best for seed | Seed | 1 lb, 8 ports | ~$23-$35 |
| DIY Mason Jar Feeder Hardware Kit | Best DIY / reuse-your-own-jar | Seed (BYO jar) | Fits most regular-mouth jars | ~$10 |
1. Nature’s Way Mason Jar Hummingbird Dish Feeder — Best Overall
Nature's Way Mason Jar Hummingbird Dish Feeder
- Clear glass dish styled as a mason jar, 4.5 inches in diameter, with four feeding ports for multiple hummingbirds at once.
- Wide opening makes it one of the easiest hummingbird feeders to fill and brush clean — no narrow neck to fight with a bottle brush.
- Flat dish design sits on a shepherd's hook or hangs from a bracket, and the all-glass build won't cloud or yellow the way plastic feeders can over a season.
Setting up a hummingbird station before the season gets busy? Try Amazon Prime free for 30 days and the feeder, nectar mix, and a cleaning brush can all be on your porch by the weekend. The Nature’s Way earns the top spot because it’s a genuine mason-jar-style dish, not just a jar-shaped plastic feeder — the wide mouth that makes it easy to clean is the same wide mouth that makes a real glass mason jar appealing in the first place. It’s a dish feeder, not a jug, so expect it to need more frequent nectar top-offs than a full-size hanging feeder.
2. Wild Wings Glass Mason Jar Hummingbird Feeder — Best Budget Nectar
Wild Wings Glass Mason Jar Hummingbird Feeder (6 oz, Teal)
- Compact 6 oz glass jar in a tinted antique finish (teal is the common color), with four flower-shaped feeding ports.
- Wide opening for filling and cleaning, with all parts removable for a thorough scrub between nectar changes.
- Smaller capacity than the Nature's Way dish, so it suits a single-hummingbird spot more than a busy multi-bird station.
If you just want a low-cost, decorative nectar jar and don’t need the largest capacity, the Wild Wings undercuts the Nature’s Way by a few dollars while keeping the same wide-mouth, fully-removable design. The tinted glass is more decorative than the clear Nature’s Way dish, which matters if the feeder is going somewhere visible like a porch rail rather than tucked into a garden bed.
3. Perky-Pet PP784 Mason Jar Wild Bird Seed Feeder — Best for Seed
Perky-Pet PP784 Antique Wide Blue Glass Mason Jar Seed Feeder
- The rare mason-jar-style feeder actually built for seed, not nectar — holds up to 1 lb through eight oval feeding ports.
- Antique-finish blue glass jar with a twist-off design for easy filling and cleaning.
- Priced well above the nectar dishes above, and retailer prices vary widely — we've seen it anywhere from roughly $23 to $43 across different sellers, so it's worth comparing before buying.
This is the model to buy if you searched “mason jar bird feeder” expecting to feed finches or sparrows rather than hummingbirds. It’s the only mainstream product that matches that picture — a real seed-holding jar with multiple feeding ports — and the tradeoff is price: it costs several times more than the small glass nectar dishes above, even though all of them share the same product-category name. Check current prices across a couple of retailers before buying, since we found more spread on this model than on most feeders in this guide.
4. DIY Mason Jar Feeder Hardware Kit — Best DIY / Reuse Your Own Jar
DIY Mason Jar Bird Feeder Hardware Kit
- Ships as a base tray with feeding holes and a wire hanger only — no jar included, so you provide your own regular-mouth Ball or Mason canning jar.
- The hanger uses an adjustable wing nut, letting it clamp securely around different jar heights and diameters without the feeder tipping.
- Fit isn't guaranteed on every off-brand jar, since the kit is designed around standard regular-mouth canning jar dimensions.
This is the cheapest route into a mason jar feeder, but the listing title can be misleading the same way the search term is: you’re buying a tray and a hanger, not a complete feeder. If you’ve already got real canning jars on hand from pantry storage, it’s a genuinely good deal; if not, factor in the cost of a jar before comparing it against the complete, ready-to-hang options above.
How to choose a mason jar bird feeder
- Decide nectar or seed first. Almost everything under this search term is a hummingbird nectar dish. If you want to feed seed-eating birds, you need the Perky-Pet PP784 specifically, not any of the smaller glass dishes.
- Expect more frequent refills on small dishes. A 4.5-6 oz nectar dish holds far less than a full-size hummingbird feeder, so budget for changing nectar every 2-4 days in hot weather per Cornell Lab guidance, not once a week.
- Check for a bee guard if insects are a problem. Not every mason jar nectar dish includes one — look for it specifically in the listing if bees and wasps have been an issue at your other feeders.
- Going the DIY route? Confirm your jar is regular-mouth. The adjustable hanger kits are built around standard regular-mouth Ball/Mason jar dimensions; wide-mouth or off-brand jars may not seat securely.
- Compare retailer prices on the Perky-Pet model specifically. We found a wider price spread on the seed-holding PP784 than on any other feeder here, so it’s worth a quick check across sellers before buying.
For a sturdier hand-blown glass option built to last years in full sun rather than a small decorative jar, see our glass hummingbird feeder guide. If a mason jar dish is your first hummingbird feeder, our best hummingbird feeder pillar guide covers full-size options once you’re ready to scale up, and our when to put out hummingbird feeders guide covers timing for your region.
The bottom line
The Nature’s Way Mason Jar Hummingbird Dish Feeder is the best mason jar bird feeder for most people shopping for hummingbirds, with the Wild Wings Glass Mason Jar Hummingbird Feeder as a cheaper colored-glass alternative. If you actually want to feed seed-eating birds, skip the nectar dishes entirely and get the Perky-Pet PP784 Mason Jar Wild Bird Seed Feeder — just expect to pay several times more and to shop around on price. And if you’d rather reuse a jar sitting in your pantry, a DIY hardware kit gets you there for about $10, as long as it’s a standard regular-mouth canning jar.