Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

PUBLIC SERVICE MESSAGE ABOUT THIS FEEDER, WHICH I HAD TWO OF (purchased here) AND HAVE REMOVED: I’ve made an unfortunate observation this year. As many of you know, since the 1990s house finch have been known to contract mycoplasmal conjunctivitis (formerly mainly confined to domestic poultry and gamebirds) and spread it like wildfire to other finch. They usually go blind and ultimately die. I first noticed house finch with conjunctivitis two years ago and pulled all feeders. It skipped over me last year. This year (a little over a month ago) it came back and spread like mad. But before taking everything down I decided to pay close attention in hopes of understanding the spread better, because I bleach baths and feeders regularly. When the birds become infected they're able to function for a while, even without vision (with limited sight they follow the sound of other birds to feeders). You can see them desperately wanting to join the other birds but after awhile are relieved to simply stumble upon a branch to rest after fluttering around aimlessly. They fall prey to blindness, starvation or predation. I’ve captured and taken seven disabled finch to a local wildlife rescue. Most have survived but I asked them not to release them back here until I solved the problem. Before dismantling the feeders I observed the disabled finch feeding from within inches. If you’re quiet, they don’t know you’re there. I quickly realized that with feeders with small, round feeding ports (tube feeders), a finch's eyes often rub against the upper part of the aperture. It's in the shape of their heads and beaks in relation to the size of the opening. I observed that for various reasons other birds approach the food differently and avoid contact. A healthy finch will then come feed and rub its eyes against the contaminated area. I wondered if only blind finch rubbed their heads to scratch the irritation, or as a blind person might reach out for the door jamb for orientation. I reluctantly fought the impulse to pull everything to further observe before coming to any conclusions. With binoculars from a close, raking angle I did observe healthy birds also scrape their heads against the opening. This is definitely a vector for the spread of this infection. Given the prevalence of house finch conjunctivitis, tube feeders might not be the best choice for feeders finch might visit. Mine were not the only birds brought to the rescue center, and the others were from two areas nowhere near me. I've replaced all finch feeders with metal mesh feeders, which more closely simulate a natural feeding posture. They’re not caged (squirrel proof like this one), so I’m going to install baffles. Squirrels don’t bother the mesh feeders much but it’s only a matter of time before they realize they can chew through the metal mesh. For the moment I’m greasing the poles. That will work for a few days before you have to reapply. If you ever saw a blind finch struggle, you'd understand that it's well worth the effort. I also swapped out any feeder a finch might visit to ones with no chance of a finch’s face rubbing against anything. Some hoppers have a sloping edge above the feeding area. I avoided these as well. One week after removing all tube feeders and feeders that force a bird’s face to come into contact with any surface, my yard is definitely conjunctivas free. I’ve waited a while before claiming this victory. I did not want to mislead anyone. There may be other factors but I feel confident that tube feeders were the issue here. If you notice a docile finch, or one that doesn't seem to be on the same page as the rest of the birds, perhaps it lingers too long when you step outside, it's eyes will get red and swollen (see picture), or it looks rumpled (anything odd - two kept bobbing their tails), pay close attention and at the first sight of this infection, ditch any ported feeders. Bleach all bird baths (I’m down to once a week from every day). FYI, I'm in the northeastern US. Update: It's been a month since writing this and I have had no more conjunctivitis here. I had this disease in my yard for a long time despite all the cleanliness I could muster and all it took to eradicate it is remove tube feeders with round feeding ports.