Songbird Essentials Mealworm Feeder Blue/Grey

Suction power??? WTF, Amazon? It's new so I can't evaluate sturdiness. It's not wood, so maybe it won't rot, But the too clever design makes it awkward to fill and clean. Also, the access holes may be too big, as are the gaps at the tops of the sides. The Carolina wrens hop up onto those side gaps and into the feeder from there. Same with the regular access holes. Bluebirds frequented my previous meal worm feeder, but not this one. Manufacturer needs to go back to the drawing board. This one is a loser.

beautiful blue color, easy access to fill with mealworms, large viewing area

The media could not be loaded.  I am so happy with this purchase. I put the feeder up about 5 days ago. I added only about 1/2 cup of mealworms to see if it would work. I also used some peanut butter smearable suet around the holes and pushed some mealworms into that so the bluebirds would be attracted to the new feeder faster. I noticed bluebirds eating the suet around the holes the second day it was up. Today I saw a pair of bluebirds taking turns inside the feeder eating the mealworms. I should have bought this when I saw it a few years ago. The starlings are smart and I did not want them to devour my expensive bird food. The starlings have bullied the smaller song birds around my feeders so that now I only put out safflower seeds. I've tried so many feeders for the bluebirds but this one actually works. I read the other reviews and know I will probably have to add some modifications to prevent squirrels from chewing around the holes and large birds from figuring out how to access the food...I'm OK with that.

Very well build, and going to be easy to clean.

The feeder is well constructed. I would have liked to have a hook not a chain so the feeder did not get knocked askew. My main concern is it took my bluebirds several weeks to get in. The glass really confused them. Then once a bluebird did make it in it panicked. It kept hitting the glass trying to get out. It was so sad. I kept rooting for it to figure it out but after several minutes it did not. Maybe I’m too soft but I cloud not watch a bird in distress for another minute I had to let it out. Needless to say we will not be using this again. It’s a shame. I really wanted it to work.

The feeder is well built and nice. Sadly, the plastic piece they use doesn’t go anywhere near the roofline so squirrels and birds just slide over the plastic into the feeder and gobble all my meal worms. THIS FEEDER DOES NOT STOP LARGE BIRDS OR SQUIRRELS. Now the new part of the review. I took some silicone and sealed the plastic to the frame so large birds and squirrels cannot get at the meal worms. I have this feeder primarily for blue birds and I now have very many. They are fun to watch inside the feeder happily eating my mealworms while their mate sits on top as lookout then they switch then fly away. It’s non stop all day every day. The squirrels have gnawed away at the entrance hole so that now a little larger birds can get in. They should have a copper sheet around each hole and this product would be perfect. I recommend anyone wanting to attract and view blue birds to get this feeder It is by far my favorite out of five feeders I have in my yard. Just order a tube of silicone sealant when you order it because you have to put that on it to keep it rain resistant and to make large birds and squirrels able to eat all your meal worms. If I bought another I would go ahead and modify it with a ultra thin copper plate over the outside part of the entrance hole. This way squirrels can’t enlarge your hole.

Filled with mealworms. Bluebird spent 30minutes trying to get in and the gave up. Later saw bird in feeder and it was a sparrow. He figured out how to fly in one end, eat, and fly out the other end. And he did it multiple times. Dumb bluebird, smart sparrow.

Very well made beautiful craftsmanship