Perky-Pet Red Cardinal Bird Feeder C00322

Wow, a strong flat packed bird feeder! Looks good, is well made and the manufacturers have thought of everything. It’s not going to warp, or get gnawed by squirrels. We already have a thriving bird-feeding community, but have never offered sunflower seeds – until now. They love them. Great product.

I bought this birdfeeder to replace an open tray style feeder that had been attracting a lot of cardinals but also it’s fair share of red winged black birds. As pretty as black birds are, they gobble up food too quickly, especially in a open feeder & also scareshier birds away. This feeder works great at still attracting the beautiful cardinals & many other songs birds that like to perch & eat, but it also seemed to do the trick at discouraging the blackbirds. It holds a TON of seed, so you don’t have to refill as often. If you are a big bird feeding enthusiast, you will probably want to get a tube feeder as well for the smaller birds, like goldfinches & nuthatches that like to have a more substantial perch. Goldfinches also are shier birds & don’t like to compete with others at a busy feeder. But this is a great one for the medium sized birds like cardinals, chickadees, titmice & some finches. And it is just shallow enough at the edge to discourage bully birds like blackbirds & grackles. Very sturdy, easy to fill & weatherproof feeder that keeps birds fed for many days without having to top off. You can’t go wrong with this feeder. It’s worth every penny.

BEFORE ANYTHING MORE…THIS IS MADE FOR BLACK OIL SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND ONLY THIS TYPE OF FEED. THE HOLES IN THE SCREEN WILL NOT WORK WITH OTHER LARGER SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND MILLET WILL FALL THROUGH THE HOLES INSIDE IF YOU USE CONVENTIONAL BIRDSEED. THIS LATER WARNING HAS A POSITIVE SIDE. ROCKING OF THE CAGE RELEASES SMALL AMOUNTS OF MILLET AND OTHER SMALL SEEDS TO THE GROUND FOR GROUND FEEDERS IN A METERED WAY. IT HAS THE BEST BALANCE OF LIMITED SQUIRREL FEEDING ONE CAN FIND.

This is a very interesting design and I was surprised when it came as it is just a flat pack. When you lift on the hanger hoop it just opens up into the feeder as shown in the pictures.It is well made, finish is durable, filler hole is easy to access and large enough to fill without a problem from a cup or scoop.
We have a squirrel problem and notice that although they can reach from the hanger and try and eat they have to get seeds one at a time with great effort and cannot chew through this steel. So no guilt about not feeding the squirrels and no anger from them pigging out…they have to work hard for one seed.
All of the negative reviews about this not working are by people who did not read nor they do not know what black oil sunflower seeds are. It works great for the product it is designed for…better than any feeder at any price I have used…and I have bought feeders up to $150 with all kinds of squirrel guards, long wire isolation lines, rotating baffles in the lines holding the feeder, etc.
What makes this work is that squirrels can get a very small amount of feed for a lot of work and will decide, as our acrobatic friends have, to just eat what they find on the ground.
If you want to feed a large variety of birds then I think this will still work fine just be prepared that the smaller feed will meter to the ground through the holes in the bottom plate with very limited feed remaining in the tray. Birds get their meal on the ground or through the wire mesh screen…not the tray.

I love this feeder! I live near Denver, CO, so we don’t actually have cardinals out here, but I bought this feeder in the hopes that I could attract some of the more colorful birds in the area. It took about a week for anything to find it, but once they did, it became an absolute bird magnet! House finches and goldfinches are particularly common to see at our feeder, and they don’t have any problems getting to the seed whatsoever. Just make sure that you’re getting Black Oil sunflower seeds and not another kind. After looking through other reviews complaining that the holes are too small for the seeds, I’m guessing that other types of sunflower seeds were used, many of which are much larger than the Black Oil variety.

It is also very resilient to thieving squirrels, which had also become a regular visitor to my feeder. Although they haven’t been able to leave even a scratch on this feeder, I would highly suggest hanging it somewhere out of their reach, as they can get through the sunflower seeds incredibly quickly and leave a lot of other damage in their wake (particularly if you had hung the feeder in a tree, as I had. Scratches everywhere!).

Finally, the only downfall I’ve found for this feeder is the weight. Being made of metal, it is a little weighty to begin with, and it becomes even heavier once filled with seed. A small birdfeeder crook WILL NOT cut it with this feeder. I originally got one that stakes into the ground, and it bent nearly in half as I attempted to hang the full feeder on it. I eventually had to support the crook on a tree branch in order to hold the feeder up properly! I have since gotten a more heavy-duty pole on which to hang the feeder and plan to move it soon.

In short, it’s a lovely feeder with gorgeous color and a sturdy structure. It attracts favorable birds quite well, and the birds are able to easily feed on the seeds if it is filled with the correct type. Just keep it out of reach of squirrels in order to save money on seed, and find a sturdy place to put it, and you’ll be good to go with this feeder!