Clingers Only Bird Feeder (Green)

Comment: True to the description, this feeder attracts small birds only. Squirrels and larger birds (even robins) are unable to score from this feeder. Chickadees love it.

Comment: This is the best designed feeder for clinging birds that I've been able to find. It is far superior in quality and ease of cleaning compared to the Becks Chickadee Bird Feeder. This Songbird Essentials "Clingers Only" feeder is very easy to open or completely disassemble (if desired) for cleaning and easy to fill. It is made of sturdy, thick plastics that have weathered some pretty severe storms where I live.

The gold finches, house finches and chickadee's love to visit these feeders. Even sparrows have an occasional go at them.

I would not call these (or the Becks feeder) guaranteed to prevent larger "non-clinging" birds from feeding at these stations. Grackles and Starlings (I hate them) are smarter than some people give them credit. I have seen both species fly up to the feeder, grab hold of the rim from which the clinging birds hang, rotate under and use their tails to brace themselves on the bottom of the feeders. While hanging upside down in that fashion, they crane their neck over the rim and eat the seed. However, this is very rare. Most don't study the situation that long, especially if there is easier food to be had at another feeder. So I would call this feeder very resistant to larger, non-clinging birds.

In all, I recommend this feeder to those who want to give their finches a feeder to provide them within something more substantial than thistle as well as a feeder for the chickadees to enjoy their favorite, black oil sunflower, with very little harassment from the bully birds.

Comment: This was an impulse buy at Wild Birds Unlimited, but I've been really happy with it.

The stated intention is that it's for smaller birds that can cling to the rim of the feeder tray, discouraging larger birds from using the feeder and bullying the smaller birds away. I'm happy to report that it does exactly that!

We regularly have goldfinches, purple finches, and chickadees visiting this feeder, and the cardinals are able to enjoy the seed that is dropped below. No more starlings, grackles, and other large birds consuming everything in sight.

One unexpected feature of this feeder is its strength against racoon invaders. Even though we have it on a tall shepherd's hook, racoons have pulled it down several times. They haven't managed to open the top (it screws on with a quarter-turn), but they weren't able to break the feeder by pulling it apart either.

This is an economical feeder that is durable, works as advertised, and is quite a bit of fun to watch for the birds that it attracts. Definitely recommended!