Songbird Essentials Suet Palace

Only 3 stars, yet I'd buy this again. (already have) Why? Because I had to modify the unit a bit.In front, the feeder opens/closes via a very easy to use, sturdy spring clip. The cage is well made, coated, with no sharp edges.Some larger birds do manage to get their heads through the outside, but they don't get enough to reward their efforts and quickly stop bothering.But, it was a very bad design idea to attach the support chain, directly ( and only ) to the lid. Which is attached to the cage by two, thin pieces of wire. Wire, too thin for the job. Especially when the nice flat roof, ( which doubles as a rain guard) acts as a wind sail in the slightest breeze.I upgraded the chain (thicker) and attached it directly to the feeder and not the roof. Now, when the feeder is "blowin in the wind", the cage has the support it needs from the heavier chain, which now supports the weight of the whole unit. The roof is still held on by thicker wire and the original front clip.With these minor modifications, I think I'll have a sturdy feeder that will last many an Alaskan winter. I'm.... NOW ... very pleased with it.I use the top of the feeder (flat roof) as a platform feeder. I use hulled sunflower, dried meal worms or some such... as round seeds will roll off. Larger birds, snarfing on the flat top, don't inhibit little birds from using the suet feeder. The little guys actually seem to relax when they're inside eating. Almost like they know they can let their guard down for a few minutes.The plus sides outweigh any negative. As long as you are aware of the issues this feeder presents, and find them as minor as I do, get it. You won't be disappointed. Holds two blocks of suet.

Okay, this is an ongoing heartache for months. Its not an issue about cost of food. I would not mind spending any amount of money to feed all the neighborhood critters...we have squirrel stations, its been an open door yard. Well that had to end when the STARLINGS arrived. Not only do they mob the yard...hog all the food, denying the little birds the food they need to live through the cold nights...ambush and viciously attack native birds...but I've actually seen them group-attack and drive away many other species and I know that just in my yard they've killed baby blue jays, baby robins and most recently an adult song sparrow. Even the red-bellied woodpecker alpha male fights back but cannot stand against eight or ten of these beasts.So I'm done negotiating with terrorists.Tried the upside down suet feeders: folks, they CAN and DO eat upside down. All it takes is one to do it and they all learn. Next I hung steel tent pegs as vertical baffles from the upside down grate: they hung on them and ate anyway. Same with thin coathanger baffles. Same with 12" roughsawn vertical cedar baffles. Drilled out holes in a log and hung it upside down. They clung to it by digging their claws into the drilled holes. I cried. Put suet away. Felt so bad for my carolina wrens (who can have 100% mortality this far north without some reliable food) my woodpeckers and sapsuckers that I ordered the Suet Palace. Well its only day one...but Carolinas have been in and out to chow down already; and even better two scout Starlings showed up, pounced all around the thing, and landed disappointed (at which point they pecked the hell out of each other. Charming as ever.)I do have the floor metal in place below the suet, so even when one starling dug one toe in he had no other place to land a second foot and dropped down. It is hung on a metal pole about eight feet high. I think hanging it higher is key and they can't really hover and switch their legs up in midair like a woodpecker or nuthatch can, then can only flip and grab onto horizontal wire if they have a short hop. May go out and add another three feet to the pole tonight. Am hoping if it works well enough to be able to lose the plate. I do not have squirrel suet or feeding problems as I feed straight safflower in all bird feeders, and use either Pennington or C&S Hot Pepper Suet. The squirrels have their own food boxes and never bother with the hot suet and only minimally with the safflower. Incidentally the starlings don't seem to eat the safflower, all they do is rudely throw it out of the feeder now and then. I will update as needed, but crossing my fingers that I can feed all my birds and have a safe and peaceful yard at last. If this works I'm buying three more.I found it fairly well built, the top is indeed held on by thin rings but I would reccommend hot pepper suet to prevent any problems with local mammals. It will stand up to birds just fine.ADDENDUM: Day Three: Those sad sad starlings don't even come into the yard anymore. We are thrilled to see so many more of our native birds throughout the day; we didn't realize how much they were driving them all away. For us, an all around success!

Very pleased with the Squirrel Resistant Suet Palace. For years squirrels have raided my other "squirrel-proof" feeders, causing a lot of waste of suet. I have had this new one for about a week now, and it has put an end to squirrel raids! At first I wasn't sure that the woodpeckers would figure out that the best approach was to cling on the bottom of the feeder and get at the suet that way, but as you can see in the picture, they were doing that by the end of the first day. Small birds go through the cage and sit inside to get access to the suet. I didn't care for the long hanging chain (held the feeder about 14" down from the top of the hanging rod), so I just doubled up the chain. Works great!I still have to take all of my feeders, including this one, inside overnight due to the charming family of raccoons living in the woods behind my house. They are charming, with their little bandit faces, but can ravage bird feeders, emptying them in one night or even dragging them away into the woods, never to be seen again. I don't expect ANY bird feeder to stand up to that assault, and I'm not about to leave my new prize suet feeder out overnight to test my theory. If you want to feed clinging-type birds, in my experienced opinion this is the best suet feeder you'll find!

We've had this cage for over a month and it had worked like a charm. The small birds can get in and out with ease and the larger woodpeckers can hang from the bottom and eat around the blocking plate.

Was easy to assemble and arrived with all the needed parts. Saw several starlings giving it a try and all of them have failed so far! The smaller birds can still get in easily. I've definitely had fewer birds coming to eat suet after I put it up, but they may just need some time to get used to it. The ones that do come are using it just fine. The biggest issue for me would be how flimsy the chain holding up the feeder is. The feeder is quite heavy, and the chain is not very strong. I am already seeing some of the links stretching, and I worry that they could let go. I am on the second floor so I have had to position it carefully so there is no chance of it falling and hitting someone below if the chain does give out!

Solid construction and it got rid of the blue jays eating most of it,we will see what happens when the other larger birds show up. Any woodpeckers got it sorted out in no time including finches

well made-solid construction