Droll Yankees BUF16 021964101343, Finch Feeder, Bird Lovers, Bottoms-Up, 16 H, yellow

Only goldfinches can get to this seed as they are able to hang upside down. It's nice and sturdy and easy to clean.

This is a high quality feeder from Droll-Yankees as you'd expect. I agree with, and a huge thanks goes out to, the reviewer who share his fix for the "slick" perches (but I'm going 1 star higher because the holes in mine were fine). I experimented with this (with-and-without tape, on one side or the other) and the finches are much "calmer" in their feeding with the perches taped. An Alpha still might chase someone away, but there are more birds at the feeder and much of the bickering between the birds is verbal from the perches.The birds also stay upside-down for longer and, weirdly, feed at a steeper angle. Without the tape the finches that got the "hang" of it (so sorry) would calmly hang, but their tails stuck out at 20-30 degree angle (0 or 180 degrees is the horizon and 90 perpendicular), and with the tape at a 50-60 degree angle. I think they must have been bending their necks back to get to the holes. They truly don't mind eating completely upside-down...they're upside-down at least half the time on the thistle sack.UPDATE: Tape kept coming off. Replaced perches with 1/4" dowels cut to 5 3/8". $1.59. Perfect.

Build quality and materials are excellent.This is my second one. As noted in some other comments the smooth finish of the perches does appear to deter some of the less persistent finches.

I have several "finch" feeders in my backyard and between the finches and sparrows, they clean out these feeders in 2 days. The sparrows bully the finches and push them off the feeders. I have seperate feeders for the sparrows, but they prefer the thistle seed.I purchased the Droll Upside Down Finch Feeder so the finches would have a place to eat in peace. So far so good. The finches found this feeder and they figured it out rather quickly. The sparrows noticed the new feeder also, but they can't figure it out and the ones that have tried to hang upside down, just can't do it. As soon as the clumsy sparrow leaves, the finches return and eat in peace.I'm going to replace the other feeders with this Droll Yankees Upside Down Feeder and I'll keep one of the sock feeders as that one seems to have 6 or 8 birds on it all the time. Hopefully the thistle seed will last longer now and the sparrows will start to use their own feeders. The doves, orioles, and hummingbirds all have their own stations, so hopefully in the next week or two, there will be a happy co-existance among our avian friends.A couple things to mention. The label around the clear feeding tube is now glued to one end of the paper. You can easily take off the label without it sticking to the clear feeder tube. The feeder itself is very well made and should last for years. The stainless perches did need some tweaking. They're very nice polished stainless steel rods that go through the clear tube to provide a perch for the feeding finches to hang from, but because they are polished, the finches have a hard time griping in order to hand upside down. I fixed that by using some 150 grit sand paper with adhesive backing. I simply cut a piece that would wrap around the stainless perch. The adhesive is strong enough to hold and now the finches have a firm grip on the perch and can hang upside down as long as they want. Ah, the sounds of happiness outside as I write this. All is good.

This is sturdy, as all my Droll Yankees feeders are, but finches have come pretty quickly to my earlier versions that were not upside down. Disappointing, but maybe they will eventually come. I wish I’d ordered the right side up version.

Birds flock to it. But after a while, want to go back to the sock. Told my son's G F, remove the sock. Birds will figure it out. They will not starve. She leaves the sock in place. Instructions say, remove the sock. Oh well. It does the trick and keeps the larger birds from eating all the Finche's food. The goldens are able to eat from this feeder, but are accustomed to the sock.When sock gets wet, food gets wet. Food spoils. She cleans and replaces the food. This is a great feeder. Much less expensive from this vendor than at company website as well as other locations. Easy to clean, easy to fill/refill. Easy to hang from existing hangers. All around, if you are tired of spending money on bird food for golden finches and having sparrows gobble it down in a day, money you save on finch food, will pay for the difference between this feeder that works, verses wasting your hard earned money on a piece of crap that irritates the hell out of you.

I purchased this feeder in an attempt to combat the house sparrow domination of my feeders. The house sparrows around my residence - despite what guides and other sources may tell you - are not at all turned off by thistle seed and appear to be perfectly happy devouring it all day long. The goldfinches, who were previously shut out by the sparrows, have returned after quickly figuring out how to access the seed. They are quite adept at hanging upside down and feeding. This isn't completely foolproof however. The sparrows did figure out the seed is dispensed below the perch and will sometimes sit on the perches for a while, tilting downward, grabbing one seed at a time and then coming back up. Many times they do a complete circle and fall off. Mostly they seem to realize that the energy expended is not worth the seed they actually get and they will fly off. I am hoping they do not adapt and become successful at hanging upside down though I fear it is likely. The only thing I regret is now the house/purple finches don't use the feeder (if you like those birds...which I do), but I guess that is the price you pay to get rid of the sparrows. Overall, this is recommended.