Brome 1024 Squirrel Buster Plus Wild Bird Feeder with Cardinal Perch Ring

Comment: This is the first bird feeder I have ever bought, so I don't have a lot of personal comparison shopping. However, my next door neighbor has a big open bird feeder in her backyard (as well as bird bath), which attracts many many birds, but mostly grey pigeons/doves, squirrels and even a racoon! She fills her bird feeder daily with cheap low quality seed I imagine. I wanted some bird action in my backyard, but wanted to be more selective with the creatures I attract. Now I may be first time bird feeder buyer, but I research everything and sure enough I researched this issue too, including the types of bird in my neigborhood and how to keep out those pesky squirrels and racoon. Well, at first, I don't know if I had the weight adjustment set wrong acccidently, because I didn't get any birds for the first few weeks. Then I changed the positioning to a differet branch a little lower and started getting tons of birds. The squirrels tried the feeder daily for about a week and finally gave up. However, I noticed that the big grey pigeons/doves were monopolizing the feeder and intimidating the prettier blue jays. So I figured out how to change the weight adjustment so that the heavier birds would not be able to get food out of it, and sure enough, the squirrels and grey pigeons mostly wait around on the floor to get any throw-away seed from the smaller birds. There are a few pigeons who still manage to sit on the perch but I don't think they can really get the seed out themselves, but I think it's more an ownership stance. I may fudge with the weight adjustment a bit more, but I actually like the blue jays so I don't want to make the weight threshold so low that the blue birds can't feed. Aside from the blue jays, I have seen a cardinal feed on my feeder many, many times, as well as a beautiful finch and wood pecker. I love it and I'm thinking of getting a second bird feeder and setting it to an even smaller weight threshold to see if I can attract more smaller birds, like the finches, sparrows, etc. I love this bird feeder and love the birds I can see daily from my window. I have a 2 year old and I try to show her the different birds and tell her their names, which makes it a lot more fun than look, honey, there's a grey pigeon again!

Comment: I've owned every type of Droll Yankee squirrel proof feeder. The motorized ones do work, but I got tired of constantly forking out $40 for replacement batteries. Additionally, when the batteries do wear down, the seed is a sitting duck. Therefore, the squirrels keep coming back. This Brome feeder works even better... because it works every time, time after time. It is a very high quality product at half the price of the DY. Easy to fill, easy to adjust the tension, easy to clean... it is just a superb design. I bought two and love them. You will NOT be disappointed!

Comment: My first Brome Squirrel Buster feeder was torn apart by a bear. Before the bear got it, it was great. The adjustable drop mechanism allowed me to set the tension just light enough to handle a few birds on the feeder but still close when even the small red squirrels would get on it. I found the pices of it after the bear attack, made some repairs to it and reassembled it. It worked great until the next bear attack. Only this time, the bear carried it away.

After both bear attacks, I had to replace the poles that held the feeder because they were bent to the ground and flattened (3/4 inch galvanized electrical conduit). I now have a new Squirrel Buster feeder that I bring in every night and put back on the pole every morning.

Even if a bear destroys this one, I will replace it with this same feeder.

Comment: This a marvelous feeder and works exactly as described. The birds seem to love it - all sizes and kinds; and the squirrels have given up and stay on the ground looking for seeds the birds have dropped. Our neighborhood raccoon is a bit more successful, but he never gets very much. If you want new insight into the phrase "pecking order," this feeder is the one you need!
As always, Amazon's selection was extensive, and the shipping prompt and careful.

Comment: I have had this feeder for a little over a week now. I love it! Previously I had the Yankee Flipper from Droll Yankees. I had some problems with it, the motor quit working, and the squirrels would empty it (5# of seed!!) in a little over a day. AND I have about 6 other feeders in my yard! This feeder only seems to have to be filled every 3 to 5 days. I have seen Cardinals feeding from it, which they would not do with my Flipper. (I'm not knocking Droll Yankees, I have several other feeders of theirs and they are a good product overall). I am enjoying this so much, I might purchase a second one. It's very sturdy too, which is very necessary.