Looking for a great gift, but want something different? Like to buy American-made products? Or Minnesota-made? Want quality? Something that will last?
Besides bird feeders and houses, Wild About Birds has a huge selection of gift items, including wind chimes, fragrance lamps, memorial benches and garden decor. Contributed photo
If you answered “yes” to these questions, you may want to visit Wild About Birds, DYK, located in Waite Park.
Wild About Birds has a wide range of gift items for both bird lovers and nature lovers, including bird feeders, bird houses, chimes, lamps, memorial benches, and more. Wild About Birds stocks products with high grade materials. Cheap plastic cannot be found in the store. Instead, you will find lots of glass, copper, brass, porcelain and ceramic.
“Our bird feeders are about 65 percent recycled and 80 percent American made,” said Bill “B.J.” Meierhofer, who co-owns Wild About Birds with his partner, Ann Hiemenz. “This is unusual in this type of business since so many of the feeder come from China.
Feeders at Wild About Birds are clean and durable, many with lifetime warranties. They offer tube feeders by Droll Yankee and Aspects which are made of polycarbonate and have lifelong warranties.
“They can offer these warranties because they are made from the same material used in motorcycle windshields and bulletproof glass,” said Meierhofer.
Quality is important to Bill and Ann, as they only sell products that they use.
“And we are very picky about what we use,” said Meierhofer.
Not only does Meierhofer know a lot about birds, he also handcrafts many of the items sold in the store, including Redwood feeders and birdhouses.
“We are always looking for more sources of Redwood to recycle, especially old siding and fences.” said Meierhofer. “We make our wood products using mostly 65 to 100-year-old Redwood. It is old wood, but you’d swear this was new wood.”
Bill uses longer screws with washers for strength and removable recycled aluminum for the drainage grates. He adds stainless hanging cables or high-carbon American steel flanges for pole mounting. He also puts a lifetime warranty on all pieces he makes.
And when it comes time to fill up the feeders, they can help you with that, too.
“We love the birds, but it’s important to know that birds have no loyalty to man, and they have wings, so, like humans, they go to the food sources they like and will leave you if your neighbor is offering better cover and food,” he said.
Wild About Birds get their seed in weekly, and they only carry 99 to 100 percent clean feed.
“We do not add fillers, like millet or corn, in our mixes,” said Meierhofer. “We have no competition on quality of seed; it’s simply the best around. Some is actually human quality for bakery use. Our feed will attract the best birds to your feeder.”
In addition to great feeders, houses and feed, Wild About Birds also has a great selection of wind chimes.
“We are now the largest American-made wind chime business in Minnesota,” said Meierhofer. “At any given time, we’ll have 85 different wind chimes on the floor. We have Corinthian Bells, Bells of Vienna, Arabesque and Kromatix. All of them are made in the USA, warrantied, tuned and powder coated (not painted) so the finish stays true.”
Wild About Birds has a lot of unique things for your yard and gardens, and many are made in Minnesota.
“Granite birdbaths and stones are a once-in-a-lifetime purchase. Our Next Innovations products can’t be beat for beauty and durability, and they’re made in Walker,” said Meierhofer. “We also have Kay Berry memorial fountains, benches, and stones and Kitra’s glass art from Canada, just to name a few.”
Wild About Birds carries USA-made and warrantied concrete memorial benches and paving stones, as well as unique fragrance lamps.
“We sell fragrance lamps that burn a mostly alcohol solution, so while burning the air they don’t make dust stick like an oil lamp or paraffin candle,” said Meierhofer. “In fact, the Iowa-made candles we sell are top of the line and made from nearly smokeless beeswax and soy wax.
Wild About Birds, located near Fleet Farm and Slumberland in Waite Park, has a huge selection of bird feeders and houses. Contributed photo
Wild About Birds also has many complimentary birding products, including mounting systems and a huge selection of chimes.
“We have shepherd hooks and modular screw-in pole systems from Illinois, and nearly all our metal products come from America. What isn’t steel is copper, brass and bronze; we are proud to sell this type of quality.”
The only American steel shepherd hooks and modular pole systems for hanging feeders and plants available in central Minnesota come from Wild About Birds, said Meierhofer. “We just refuse to use the ‘pot metal’ that comes from China and India for our pole systems.”
The pole systems they offer screw into the ground and just snap together in any configuration imaginable.
Want to see the feeders in action? Stop by the store. They have about 35 feeders outside the store and hundreds of regular winged visitors.
Wild About Birds is located 2077 Frontage Rd. North in Waite Park, next door to Slumberland and just 1/3 mile from Fleet Farm. The store is open weekdays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; and Sundays, 12 p.m.-4 p.m. Their phone number is 320-251-8949.