Pennington Songbird Lantern Bird Feeder, Red (100511311)

I actually bought this feeder for the price. I wanted something that I could “Frankenstein” into a prototype for a feeder idea that I had in my mind. But I soon realized that it wasn’t what I needed so I hung it full of seed near my current feeder where the small buntings are pushed away by the crows and blue jays. This feeder is more difficult for the larger birds to grapple the border rail and eat comfortably, but it’s ideal for the small buntings and now they have their own table at the picnic.

The top does not lock on to stop the squirrels from opening it. The feeder comes with a cord to suspend it and the squirrels chewed right through it. The seed access holes are small and the perching area is small making it hard for birds to sit on it. The info tag on the feeder says “perfect first time feeder”, which the Pennington marketing team must have come up with as a spin on a poorly designed feeder. I gave it 2 stars for the color and the solid plastic. Once you try this one you’ll realize you should have bought something better!

Easy to fill and cute.

This is a petite feeder, but not tiny. Most feeders hold a quart (32 ounces) of seed. This holds just under a quart’s worth—about 24 ounces. I’m surprised one reviewer seem disappointed because he’s has to fill his feeder about every two weeks. I have eight, assorted feeders, I easily filled every one of them every day. And if I fill them twice, the birds would still come. I gave this four stars, because it does the job as it provides food with the proper dispensing, the top of it is high-quality rubberized type of plastic as opposed to brittle plastic and snuggly fits the clear plastic bottom. You simply pull it off. There are no hinges and once it is off it is detached from the bottom part, easy to fill. Because of its petite size, the perch does not allow large birds, including pigeons, to feast from it, I find that is a great advantage because some little birds never get a chance to eat when so many large birds hog the feeders. Even squirrels hog the feeders at times. I have different size feeders and they each attract different birds because they know what they can get away with and what they cannot. I want to mention, because I was surprised when I saw it, there is no loop to hang the feeder, just about a 10 inch black cord . There’s a little black plastic tab on the cord, similar to what you’d find on a package of sliced bread, but I have not figured out what to do with that. I simply made my own loop and hung it from a tree branch. I still cannot comment on the quality of the clear plastic except to say I like the type of openings along the bottom. Each section is indented which I find is a big plus also. This gives room for the bird’s head to be comfortably placed, instead of merely being an opening and making things awkward for the bird . For the price, even though some say they saw it at the dollar store, it’s worth it. I learned my lesson years ago to not buy expensive birdfeeders. You must keep these feeders clean. Birds can get sick from petrified food. And after a while, I would rather just replace them. You can hose them to get heavy debris out of them, but they need to be soaked in hot soapy water, then thoroughly brushed in the corners, then let them air dry throughly. Every feeder is like that and the birds deserve clean feeders. I hope my review was helpful. Have a great day!