Droll Yankees21964205201 787461785928 Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder, Yankee Whipper, 28-Inch, 4 P, Evening Blue

I've had squirrel issues for years as most have. Tried different feeders to little avail. I saw the whipper at several retail stores in the Atlanta area. Retail prices are $120-$130. Seemed a bit expensive to me so I came to Amazon to read some reviews. I purchased one here some 30 days ago. The results were surprising. Firstly, my older generic feeders attracted all bird varieties including large crows which cleaned me out every two days or so. Upon loading up the whipper with black oil sunflower seeds Cardinals and finches appeared immediately. That first week I was enjoying a cup of coffee and looking into my yard when I noticed a squirrel approaching the feeder. He climbed onto the top and sat. Finally, he stretched his entire body down the length of the whipper but could not reach the ports. He then dropped down to the perches and immediately flopped onto the ground. Not to be discouraged he climbed back up and again and sat on top. Minutes later, apparently discouraged, he dropped to the ground and ate some seeds dropped by the birds. Over the next 3 weeks or so I have had no squirrels attempt to feed. Victory!!! This feeder has constant action. Different varieties of birds and many, many cardinals. I did have one crow figure it out. He lodged each foot onto the perches where they contact the feeder and maintained his balance while devouring some seeds. My lab scared him off and I've seen no other crows attempt this. This is a quality product. Well made. I would not hesitate to purchase another and I am considering doing so. Enjoy.UPDATE: 9/10/2012Well, a flaw has appeared. Not a big deal really. My backyard faces an open field. Letting my lab out back this week. I turned on the backyard light and heard the spring on the feeder "spring" as if a bird was flying off of it. Not at 11 PM at night! The feeder was swinging back and forth and I saw a mouse jump to the ground. Mice smaller than cardinal size birds can sit on the perches and feed. It's now happened twice.Final UPDATE: 08/10/2013I have had to take this feeder down. Yesterday morning I let my lab out at 5 AM. Within moments I heard a "ping" of the springs in my whipper. As I quickly turned, I saw a rat move rapidly up the feeder to the top where it sat momentarily. As we know, the top of the feeder is flat allowing rodents/squirrels to sit up there. I discovered the tension in the springs not a deterrent to mice/rats or creative squirrels. While a quality product, it is not effective for what it states to be. I've attracted more animals than I care to who come back to feed each night it appears. The manufacturer should make the cover of the feeder more "conal" shaped. This has been an expensive lesson for me to learn.

This is not my first time with birds and feeders, and I was concerned that I would purchase and have "buyer's regret." I have been disappointed before - primarily because I live on the edge of a highly-treed area. My last feeder worked well, and I liked the number of birds it feed, but over time, I attracted grackles, I think I became the county feeding station. I was inundated with them. While the issue wasn't necessarily the feeder's problem (likely had more to do with my location), it sent me looking for a new solution. The many ways I tried to thwart the grackles simply didn't work.Before I purchased this feeder, I corresponded with the company. One of my concerns was that several of the choices I'd seen in the marketplace that eliminated grackles from getting to the seed (such as the feeders with cages around the food tube) excluded cardinals also since they were of a larger size. Only smaller birds could get through the wires. The Droll Yankee Company explained that the perch system would not allow the heavier birds to feed from it, but the feeder was calibrated to allow cardinals to perch. I also had a couple of other concerns, such as only four perches, whether I would get a lot of seed loss, and how successful it would be for thwarting squirrels (since this problem had been identified by other reviewers).I've now had this feeder for several weeks. To say I am delighted is an understatement. No more grackles, no squirrels and no excessive seed loss. It took the birds a couple of days to warm up to it, but now I'm once again seeing a wide variety of birds on the feeder. Interestingly enough, I see female cardinals eat at it regularly, but see the male cardinals intermittently. I know the males are around, since I saw six of them sitting in a tree recently. Guess they will need more time to trust it. At least I know from watching that the heavier cardinal males can land and eat at this feeder.The price of this feeder was a concern for me, but it's sturdy, stays clean, keeps the seeds dry to the last one, and has eliminated my problems with feeding birds. I plan to buy the "Dipper" for my smaller, thistle-eating birds.This feeder is worth the investment. I am very pleased I decided to buy it and would encourage those of you with similar problems to my own to try it. I also found the communication with the company to be useful, and I feel if I had an issue, I could get it resolved with them.