Is there something we did wrong our cardinals are eating under the feeder and act like they can't get on it.
151610
IF you have it hanging, it needs to be protected from predators & squirrels; IF it's pole-mounted, as long as the feeder is high enough to keep predators away (& hopefully has a baffle of some sort under it to keep squirrels from climbing up). Also make sure that the seed is good (not moldy). BTW - are you using Black Oil Sunflower Seed? Our Cardinals (as well as numerous other species) love it & are on the feeder constantly. We found that the (usually) super cheap "Wild Bird Seed" has so much filler in it that no one wants it & there's a lot of waste. Many Cardinals & others will ground-feed, as well.Good luck! IF you have it hanging, it needs to be protected from predators & squirrels; IF it's pole-mounted, as long as the feeder is high enough to keep predators away (& hopefully has a baffle of some sort under it to keep squirrels from climbing up). Also make sure that the seed is good (not moldy). BTW - are you using Black Oil Sunflower Seed? Our Cardinals (as well as numerous other species) love it & are on the feeder constantly. We found that the (usually) super cheap "Wild Bird Seed" has so much filler in it that no one wants it & there's a lot of waste. Many Cardinals & others will... » Read More IF you have it hanging, it needs to be protected from predators & squirrels; IF it's pole-mounted, as long as the feeder is high enough to keep predators away (& hopefully has a baffle of some sort under it to keep squirrels from climbing up). Also make sure that the seed is good (not moldy). BTW - are you using Black Oil Sunflower Seed? Our Cardinals (as well as numerous other species) love it & are on the feeder constantly. We found that the (usually) super cheap "Wild Bird Seed" has so much filler in it that no one wants it & there's a lot of waste. Many Cardinals & others will ground-feed, as well.Good luck! « Show Less
151611
Hi Michael, We have two of these feeders. We love them so much. The squirrels cannot eat from them. The first year we had the feeders, the cardinals and blue jays disappeared. We thought it was because of the wildlife that was in our year constantly. However, they did return with more cardinals than ever. It took them a while to adjust to the new feeders. They would hover and then fly to a near by tree. Now they are very comfortable and have adjusted fine. Don't give up.
2148093
There is a spring on each side of the feeder. Slide the spring out of the slot for adjustment to light, medium, or heavy. I have mine set on heavy but medium setting will work for cardinals. Hope this is helpful.
1770590
Yes, we have had blue jays and cardinals get into it. They can't lift the lid like the squirrels or chipmunks do, but they can get their beaks in and pick one out if its close enough. Yet the ones we have don't get much, the squirrels pretty much run it.
992151
We don't have very many starlings here. Had a couple of flocks migrating through and they didn't get on the feeder, just ate the seed on the ground spread by the other birds.
825872
I have heard cardinals prefer to eat from a flat surface type or feeder that is open so this type of feeder they tend not to got to. Grackles and startling can eat from it okay though. Cardinals always eat the fallen seed off the deck at my place.
532396
I haven't had a squirrel problem but larger birds like Cardinals are unable to access food without any adjustment to the pin.
1280657
Cardinals didn't bother with this feeder, they preferred the bird seed feeder. However I had 3-4 different kinds of woodpeckers, chickadees, yellow and purple finches, and lots of other kind of birds eating from this feeder, these birds preferred the suet feeder.
2206507
Not a bit...cardinals feed at mine all the time. They're usually the first ones there in the morning and the last ones there at dusk. We've even had normally ground-feeding birds like juncos and grackles feed regularly (the grackles are PIGS). apparently the tray is just large enough that these birds feel comfortable.
1868664
Sorry, I can't really help you. I didn't have that problem during the short period of time my feeder was in use. It was destroyed by a hungry bear shortly after I installed it! I guess if there is a space where a small bird could get into the feeder, it's a possibility. It's been quite a while since I had my feeder, so I don't remember much about it. You might want to call the Perky Pets folks -- they might be able to shed some light on the problem. They are an old, well-established bird-feeder company!
425314
Yes the feed gets stuck and our birds didn't like it because of limited space for them to stand.plus it constantly turned around.
271807
I would make sure that the food is fresh. When I fill the feeder a small amount of food falls through. The only way I know the birds are feeding, is the decrease of the food in the feeder.
1122570
If you can operate a #3 Phillips screw driver you can tighten down the lid so a squirrel can't get in. If you want a squirrel proof feeder get one of those cylinder mesh feeders inside a cage. I have one and after one try the squirrels just totally gave up on it. But, the Cardinals were too intimidated to feed inside the cage. Hundreds of wrens and the usual suspects, but no Cardinals. So I bought a no-no Cardinal feeder and hung it right next to my squirrel proof cylinder cage, and whithin an hour the cardinals started feeding at it. To get to the no-no cardinal feeder the squirrels have to first jump on the cage feeder and they have just given up. If you can operate a #3 Phillips screw driver you can tighten down the lid so a squirrel can't get in. If you want a squirrel proof feeder get one of those cylinder mesh feeders inside a cage. I have one and after one try the squirrels just totally gave up on it. But, the Cardinals were too intimidated to feed inside the cage. Hundreds of wrens and the usual suspects, but no Cardinals. So I bought a no-no Cardinal feeder and hung it right next to my squirrel proof cylinder cage, and whithin an hour the cardinals started feeding at it. To get to the no-no cardinal feeder the squirrels have... » Read More If you can operate a #3 Phillips screw driver you can tighten down the lid so a squirrel can't get in. If you want a squirrel proof feeder get one of those cylinder mesh feeders inside a cage. I have one and after one try the squirrels just totally gave up on it. But, the Cardinals were too intimidated to feed inside the cage. Hundreds of wrens and the usual suspects, but no Cardinals. So I bought a no-no Cardinal feeder and hung it right next to my squirrel proof cylinder cage, and whithin an hour the cardinals started feeding at it. To get to the no-no cardinal feeder the squirrels have to first jump on the cage feeder and they have just given up. « Show Less
2148621
Interesting question.1. If there's plenty of "natural" food, the birds won't go near a feeder.2. One trick is to spread some seed on the ground under the feeder.
1487793
See Bob's answer below. Also, FWIW, I have a problem w/ raccoons coming to eat the seeds the birds drop on the ground, so I rigged a light-weight, plastic (plant) tray to hang underneath the feeder (from the Cardinal ring) to catch the seeds. Being able to adjust the sensitivity of the 'closing' option of the feeder allowed me to tighten the spring so that the weight of the tray wouldn't close the feeder's holes. Also, I thought I was going to have to clean the tray of all the dropped seeds, but other birds sit on the edge of the tray and eat the seeds for me. I punched numerous small drain holes in the tray so rain water would flow through. It's a great product. See Bob's answer below. Also, FWIW, I have a problem w/ raccoons coming to eat the seeds the birds drop on the ground, so I rigged a light-weight, plastic (plant) tray to hang underneath the feeder (from the Cardinal ring) to catch the seeds. Being able to adjust the sensitivity of the 'closing' option of the feeder allowed me to tighten the spring so that the weight of the tray wouldn't close the feeder's holes. Also, I thought I was going to have to clean the tray of all the dropped seeds, but other birds sit on the edge of the tray and eat the seeds for me. I punched numerous small drain... » Read More See Bob's answer below. Also, FWIW, I have a problem w/ raccoons coming to eat the seeds the birds drop on the ground, so I rigged a light-weight, plastic (plant) tray to hang underneath the feeder (from the Cardinal ring) to catch the seeds. Being able to adjust the sensitivity of the 'closing' option of the feeder allowed me to tighten the spring so that the weight of the tray wouldn't close the feeder's holes. Also, I thought I was going to have to clean the tray of all the dropped seeds, but other birds sit on the edge of the tray and eat the seeds for me. I punched numerous small drain holes in the tray so rain water would flow through. It's a great product. « Show Less
939030
Bully birds are unable to reach the shaft holding the seeds. However they still hang on the frame and feed from the seeds on the tray after scaring away the birds I would like to see at the feeder.
30573
The reason that we bought this feeder is to provide a feeder for smaller birds where the larger birds can not get to the feed. So far it has worked perfectly. Blue Jays and other large birds have not been able to feed at this feeder. I have not seen any Cardinals feeding at it either but we don't have that many Cardinals feeding at our Yankee Flipper feeder either.
1694610
Only small birds like finches can get in. The other birds eat the stuff that falls to the ground