Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I put this feeder out around mid/late February. Details follow the summary Pros: Interesting concept. Cons: Where to begin? Starling proof? NO. Durable? NO. Easy to clean? No Easy to fill? No Squirrel proof? Maybe Details. The concept is terrific. Having the individual perches set to close if more than about 2.5 ounces is on the perch is a great start. Other weight-based, squirrel-proof or large bird proof feeders I've used (or am using) close the entire feeder if a certain weight is added to the perches. Bully bird proof. Nope. Other starlings must be heavier than the ones in my area or they are far dumber. It took only several days for the starlings to figure out how to manipulate the system and drain the feeder. Some had no trouble feeding because they did not trip the feeder spring mechanism. Others learned to land on the perch, flap their wings until they lifted enough weight for the feeder to open. Snag the food. Stop the wing flapping. Feeder would close. Repeat. Squirrel-proof. Uncertain. I have not seen any squirrels breech the feeder, but the starlings spill enough feed (from this and the other feeders) on the ground that the squirrels probably don't need to bother trying to get into the feeder. My guess is, given the poor quality of the feeder, that persistent squirrels might wear out the closing mechanism in time. Cleaning/Filling. Inconvenient at best. To open the feeder to clean or load, you have to hold it upside down, lift the lower weather guard out of the way, and depress two plastic tabs on the base of the feeder that fit into holes on the feeding tube. They have to be depressed at the same time. They are difficult to depress. You have to press hard with your thumb and an opposing finger to open the feeder and hold the tabs in long enough to wiggle the base off the tube. As soon as the base comes loose, any remaining seed in the base goes flying. You need to fill the feeder upside down, line up the tabs on the base with the holes in the tubes and wiggle and push the base around to get it properly closed. Cleaning it requires the same steps. The diameter of the tube isn't large enough to get a hand/arm into the feeder. A bottle brush isn't long enough to reach the full length of the feeder. Durability. Poor quality. It's already broken. One of those dreadful plastic tabs you have to hold in to open the feeder snapped off. Our weather has not been especially cold over the past month and I generally let the feeder warm up a bit before I try to open it so being brittle from excess cold isn't the cause of the break.