Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This feeder is, in the proper context, the perfect prop for any parent wishing to teach their kids both about the intelligence of birds and about how to properly channel anger into positive activities. "The proper context" in this case is something along the lines of "common grackles are emptying my feeder and I want little birds to have a chance." Spoiler alert: it won't work. This feeder is not grackle-proof. No feeder is grackle proof. I am convinced that I could hang a hermetically-sealed diamondglass tube of seed and the grackles would figure out a way to empty it in 2 hours. If you have grackles, just bite the bullet and get that 2nd mortgage to pay for bird seed. The little finches and sparrows and whatnot will have to fend for themselves. My other feeder is an otherwise-excellent Brome Squirrel-Buster - one of the kind where the outer screen-and-perch is spring-loaded to drop down when too much weight is applied. With a little modification (adding weight) the trigger weight can be lowered to exclude grackles but admit everything from the slightly-smaller redwing blackbird on down to tiny sparrows. But the grackles, they're wily critters and they have figured out that if they flap their wings while resting on the perch, they can take enough weight off that the magic food portal appears. Two hours later the tube is empty. One website recommends removing the perches because grackles don't like to hang from vertical surfaces, but little finches will have no problem. Clearly the grackles in my area are descended from bats or something because they will hang upside-down if they have to. Removing the perches was no barrier to them whatsoever. Another two hours, another tube of food. So I elected to buy this GrayBunny caged feeder thinking there's no way a grackle can fit through the cage. I will note for practical review purposes that this feeder is cheaply built, but serviceable. Same thing you'll find at the local big-box home store, but cheaper here at Amazon. The lid snaps down securely, though I doubt it will keep rain out if there is any wind. The tube is quite small, at least compared to the Brome Squirrel-Buster. It holds about 1/3 as much seed - maybe 3 cups or so. But hey, it'll only be little sparrows and finches eating so it will last all day at least, right? No, not right. A grackle has no problem at all jamming its head through the outer cage and their grabby little beaks are quite long enough to reach the seed. Feeder was empty within an hour. So I tried blocking off the cage openings right in front of the ports, figuring it would stymie the grackles, but the finches could enter through a different opening and maneuver to the seed ports. A) The one finch I saw trying to eat could not figure out how to get into the cage, and that gave me the sadz. B) The dozen or so grackles that swarmed the thing took 5 seconds to figure out they could jam their heads into an adjacent opening and still twist around to reach the seeds. At the moment I have given up. Both the Brome and the Gray Bunny are up and open for pillaging by the blue-headed horde. My mortgage application is at the bank, and the dump truck is due to deliver this week's seed shipment later this afternoon. The grackles have won this round.