Customer Reviews

Perky-Pet 209 Our Best 30-Ounce Glass Hummingbird Feeder

5 star:		(114)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

I'm still hunting for the perfect feeder. This feeder meets most of my requirements:
1. Reservoir must be glass, not plastic. Plastic reservoirs get cloudy, always look dirty and seem to breed mold and mildew. Glass is easier to clean - just wash with soapy water. Every couple of times I wash it, I add a couple of drops of bleach to the soapy water. Rinse thoroughly with hot water. I've never had a problem with mold buildup in the corners.
2. Must have a perch for the hummers -they prefer it that way.
3. Must have a decent size reservoir to eliminate the need to fill twice daily. When hummers are not quite as active don't fill this one up all the way. Sometimes it should just be filled 1/4 of the way. Ideally this feeder would have a bottle that is slightly smaller. Perhaps a 24 ounce size bottle that is a bit narrower might be better. But then it might heat up more in the sun and begin the habit of growing mold and mildew. This bottle is highly resistant to mold and mildew if cleaned at least once a week.
4. Must be an inverter type to easily see the food level and to hold an adequate amount of food without the need to refill more than every two or three days.
5. Base must be easy to clean without crevices that you can't get to. This is the area where this feeder fails horribly. You cannot disassemble the base and all you can do is wash and rinse.
6. Design of the feeder should not allow Yellow jackets access to the food. Although they may smell it and try to get to it, they can't with this feeder - they quickly give up and leave the food for the hummers. The liquid level in the base is too far from the feeding ports for the yellow jackets to reach. The other Perky Pet feeder that I have (the 24 oz with the hourglass shape) is too shallow and the yellow jackets take over the feeder in the late summer months. This feeder is a much better design.
7. The plastic base should be of a high quality non-porous plastic. This feeder meets this requirement.
8. The ports should not be some silly design to look like a flower. This one barely meets this requirement. At least the plastic flowers are flush with the base instead of sticking up like some of the really cheap feeders.
9. Ideally the glass bottle should be easily replaceable. This feeder does not meet this requirement. What I would really like to see is a design where you can use a standard mason jar and the feeder would have some type of easily cleanable adapter. Or how about using a standard 1 quart vinegar bottle? I saw one like this once, but wasn't sure if the feeder met my yellow jacket requirements.
Happy hunting for your perfect feeder!

Length:: 1:24 Mins

A great feeder. Never any problems. It's not hard to keep clean unless you let the mixture go rancid. Buy bottle brushes when you get this or you'll struggle to clean it, if the mixture goes bad. Our birds will go through this in 1 week!
This is just a couple minutes of video. They'll allow me to stand about a foot away from the feeder and still drink. It's great for pictures. These little guys are really aggressive (Rufous) and one sounds like a tiny version of the Jetson's spaceship. You can hear these guys all day. If you like peace and quiet, don't get a feeder if you live in Colorado and have these guys around. All day the kids, 4 and 6, are getting their books out to read about the birds. Go to hummingbirds dot net to find out about proper cleaning and mixture. What's real funny is watching all the "regular birds" trying to get something from this like the hummers. They're all learning to hover real well.

I have three of these feeders on my front porch now and am thinking of purchasing three more because they seem to be my hummingbirds' favorite feeders. During the months of August and September each year we have between 70 and 100 hummingbirds at one time coming to 15 different types of feeders hanging on our front porch. The Perky Pet 209 30-oz. feeders always seem to be the ones the birds go for first. I also like them because they are large but easy to handle when filling and easy to clean. Other advantages: glass instead of plastic seems to keep the sugar water fresher longer; bee guards are built in and don't fall out; circular perch stays put and doesn't require adjustment. I've tried all kinds of hummingbird feeders and I think this one is the best.

Over the last eleven years I have purchased this item on three different occasions. Nonetheless, I will not buy it this time. Though the feeder's capacity it excellent, cleaning it is absolutely impossible.

As hummingbird enthusiasts know, these creatures are exceptionally sensitive to chemicals. Not only shouldn't you clean these feeders with ANY kind of dish-soap, but you CANNOT clean them with bleach. This can potentially kill the birds. Likewise, hummingbirds are sensitive to mold. Here's the catch-22!! Unfortunately, as noted by other reviewers, this feeder's reservoir does not disassemble, and cleaning this feeder properly is exceptionally difficult, IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE.

One reviewer wrote to use grains of rice to clean this feeder. This is a brilliant idea . . . and if you buy this feeder, try that!! But, please, don't use bleach.

As for me, I cannot stand another year of cleaning this demonic "thing." So, off to the hummzinger dish . . . which is not as attractive, but it is safer (simply because I cannot invest the time in cleaning this!!)

A handy way to clean these type of feeders is to put some grains of rice into the bottle and shake them around. The abrasiveness of the rice cleans the glass and it is non-toxic. Birds ca be very sensitive to chemicals, so this is a safe way to clean the bottles.

This is the best hummingbird feeder if you have lots of hummers. That's because of the high capacity. Also, I absolutely disagree that you cannot or should not use bleach to clean a hummingbird feeder. Actually that's the way to go. Been doing it for 10 years, and never lost any hummers. You just have to be careful to not use too strong a solution, and rinse it well and let it dry before using. [...]
With such a high capacity, and six stations, this feeder is the best. Just be SURE to mount securely, as it WILL break if it falls on a hard surface (remember that high winds can take it down)!

First off, when I opened the box I noticed it had a very heavy glass bottle type dispenser. If you want this for a patio made of concert or stone you are going to be asking for a mess of broken glass to clean up when it falls. Yes it is goning to fall because of the design of the top cap. The top cap is a NOT a screw on. It just snaps into place. The cheap plastic hanger is just a coated wire that doesn't hook to anything under the cap itself. It just sits there under the cheap plastic cap. One strong wind gust and it is a goner.
Then there is as in the other reviews about the cleaning. Yes, it will almost impossible to clean inside the bottle, but I will not have to worry about that since mine hit the deck after just 5 days.
Since I see so many good reviews about this item, I wander if the manufactor has changed the product since they were written. Here is a list of why not to buy this item.
1) 30 ounce HEAVY GLASS Bottle.
2) Cheap Design of a electrical wire hanger
3) A Lite Weight Plastic Top Cap with not enough strength to hold the 30 Onces of nectar, let alone the Heavy Glass Bottle.
4) Bottle Design makes cleaning next to impossible.

It works fine until it's time to clean it. Cleaning it is neigh impossible. The base doesn't disassemble and there are lots of little crevices where mold can take hold. Mine has gone in the trash and I'm looking for one that feeds birds AND is easy to clean. This one isn't it.

I've had this feeder for years and years and have fed many zillions of hummingbirds with it. It doesn't leak, it holds a lot of nectar and as long as you don't lose the yellow flowers for the base bees and ants don't get in (if you lose them you can buy them seperately and replace them) But I'm about to replace this feeder. It is just too much of a pain to clean.

The reservoir is very large and made of glass, which is good. But the opening is very small. Its especially a problem if you forget to keep the nectar topped off and mold grows inside -- be prepared to scrub it out with a long handled bottle brush, and then rinse rinse rinse rinse rinse. Rinse some more.

The base is even worse. It is full of edges and crevices and the only opening is through very narrow openings in the top. It does not dissassemble. How many wasted hours have I spent trying to get the base clean? I've had enough. I'm getting a humzinger dish-type feeder.

Purchased two feeders late lat year. This spring I noticed one of the two now leaks at the seam between the top and bottom portions of the base which is below the liquid level. No abuse or freezing, just leaks now. Soft slippery plastic is impossible to glue so feeder is junk.