Customer Reviews

All Weather Feeder 6 Quart

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have used this feeder for almost five years and I love it! I have tried a lot of feeders over the years and this one is the best. It is the only feeder that I don't have to worry about refilling or cleaning out every day or two and I can just enjoy watching the birds. Other feeders allow the seed to get wet and moldy, but all the seed stays dry in this feeder. It's large capacity means you only need to refill it about once a month. The design only allows the birds to take one seed at a time from a small crack, so seed isn't wasted like it can be with a platform type feeder. All sorts of birds feed from it- cardinals, red-wing blackbirds, goldfinches, chickadees, woodpeckers, etc. I've never seen starlings use this feeder. I think it took just a couple days for the birds to figure out how to use this. Just sprinkle some seeds on the bottom platform and they'll get the idea soon enough. New birds will watch and learn from the others to see how to get the seed.

This was my old review in spring 2009: "i tried this bird feeder for couple of weeks with and without the cage, birds still couldn't learn to feed from it. I am puzzled with the positive reviews here. Especially the cage is blocking even small birds from landing properly. I have a regular feeder which has been attracting more.". Things have changed in summer 2009: I had one old bird feeder that birds were already coming. I replaced that one with this one at the "same" location. When same birds showed, they spent the time to figoure out how to feed from this one. Once a few birds learned, the rest copied from them. Now canaries are fighting with each other to feed, works very well, low maintanance.

I couldn't be happier. It is so great not to have the bird seed getting wet from rain and snow. It was really fun watching the birds, one by one, learning how to get the sunflower seed from the feeder.

There are six bird feeders in my yard. This feeder is very popular with the smaller birds in my yard. The Goldfinches prefer the thistle feeders but even they frequently visit this feeder. The primary advantage that this feeder has over all the others, however, is that it is the only one that is truly weather proof. During our raining winter weather here in Northern California, I have to take down the other bird feeders since the feed gets wet and quickly spoils. Another advantage of this feeder is that that the seeds come out from the bottom so it feeds just as many birds when the hopper is low as it does when it is full. The very large capacity of this feeder means I can usually go 3 to 4 weeks before filling it up again. It is also easy to clean although there are more parts to remove than with my other feeders. The only disadvantage to this feeder is that it doesn't work as well with whole sunflower seeds since they are difficult for the birds to get out and often get stuck in the slot. Hulled and cracked sunflower seeds works very well but is considerably more expensive. If the slot opening was adjustable, I think this would be the perfect feeder. Overall, however, I really like this feeder. If I wanted just one bird feeder, this is the one I'd keep.

I love this feeder; I must, since I've paid quite a bit to replace parts of it that have been destroyed by the raccoons that used to constantly knock it down. The problem is that even with the star lock washer in place on top, the hanger on top of the feeder (which screws on) comes unscrewed rather easily -- and it didn't take the raccoons long to figure that out. Anyway, I used rubber cement to glue the star lock washer in place, and I let it spread and build up a little around the washer. The hanger is now somewhat resistant to unscrewing, which is exactly what I wanted. And, if the buggers do knock it done again, at least the star lock washer won't disappear into the undergrowth! By the way, the feeder has held up incredibly well through several falls of up to 20 feet.

I have two feeders -- different types. The birds have not been able to find the seeds in this feeder. I am thinking of replacing it with the same type as my other feeders. It is always busy.

I have tried many feeders over the years and this one is hands down the best so far. I have had both small and large feeders made of metal, plastic and wood.

I've had woodpeckers empty and entire feeder in an hour, trying to get to the already cracked sunflower seeds. I've had squirrels chew through ropes, through wood, and take over a station making all kinds of noise.

I have one other large (3 tube), metal, squirrel proof feeder that I like, but only after I made some modifications so the birds could continue to access seed as the twigs and such piled up at the bottom.

I prefer a large feeder as I go away for days and weeks on end and depending the numbers of birds that visit, this feeder will last well over a week ... easily. Easy to clean, easy to fill, not as pretty as wood but has clean lines. The design looks great to keep seed dry in poor weather, but I do hang mine under an eave.

And the birds love it.

Don't forget the Squirrel cage if they are a pest.

Based on the reviews that I read I bought one of these feeders with the cage, lots of squirrels here. As stated in the other reviews it takes maybe a day or two for the birds to figure out how to feed from this one. Some of the smaller seeds do fall down on the tray when you fill it so they go for that first. After a while they realize that they have to pull the seed down from overhead and then the seed goes quickly. I do recommend smaller seeds. I put some sunflower hearts in it that were ground up but they got stuck and moulded. I had to empty the feeder and clean it out which is very esay to do. There are all sorts of finch mixes on the market that work well in this feeder. The bigger birds like the cardinals cannot get in this feeder so I have a different feeder for them on a pole that is squirrel proof. The chickadees and goldfinches love this feeder. I got the first one for my front deck and found it so popular I got the second one for my back deck. You will love it too.

First, the product. I bought the 6-quart version from this supplier. It's not flimsy, as another reviewer suggests, though I don't recommend you test it as I did: the feeder survived an accidental drop from 6 feet, filled with hulled sunflower seed, and did not crack. Equipped with the optional squirrel cage, the feeder continues to stump some very bright squirrels -- squirrels that figured out how to crack the code on my other high-end, supposedly squirrel-proof feeders almost instantly. (In contrast, my birds are a bit dim: It took them more than a week to figure out where to find the seed on the new feeder.)
Second, the seller. The product arrived ahead of schedule and intact. No complaints there.
Third, the manufacturer. Because of the kind of pole I'm using and the aforementioned brilliance of my squirrels, I would do better with a swivel hook. Discovering this cost me the lock washer that came with this feeder, and sifting through leaves and dirt, I could not find it. On a Sunday afternoon, I e-mailed the company, asking whether I could get a new one. To my surprise, I got a letter back from customer service within a few hours, letting me know the company was not only sending me the lock washer but a swivel hook! What can I say? It's customer service on steroids.
So far, this purchase has exceeded my expectations on all fronts. And who knew the feeder would become my own backyard Stanford-Binet?

Thin, cheap plastic construction that will never stand up to squirrels for more than 5 minutes. Seeds tend to get trapped inside and birds will not be able to figure out how to get to them. Looks much better in the photo than it really is. It's really an indoor seed storage unit, not a bird feeder.