Yankee Flipper Squirrel Proof Birdfeeder Review

We get a lot of birds in our back yard, they really love to hide out in my huge lilac bush.  We wanted to be able to feed the birds, but we did not want a feeder that would have squirrel knocking food all about.  So we got a Yankee Flipper Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder. This is not a  cheep bird feeder, it sells for around $80.00 but we got it on sale for a little over $50.

This bird feeder has a 21 inch long tube, and a 4 3/4 width.  It is made of clear polycarbonate and is UV stabilized so it keeps its color and does not get yellow or dull with age and with the constant beating of the sun, and other weather.  This birdfeeder is quite clever and a little bit high tech for a bird feeder anyways. The birdfeeder is complimented by a forest green powder coated flat lid that is made of metal, and a forest green die cast zinc bottom. 

The birds have 4 holes with which to eat from.  The feeder is held by a strong stainless steel bailing wire forms the hanging loop.  Loading the feeder is very simple just open up the top and pour the seed in.  It holds 5 pounds of seed which is nice since you don't have to change it that often.

How Does It Keep Of Squirrels?

Now this is why you pay the big bucks for this feeder it actually has a motor.  The perch of the feeder actually can detect the weight of a squirrel.  When it detect the weight it spins and ejects the squirrel from the feeder.  It tends to know the difference between the weight of a bird and the weight of a squirrel because it does not spin or attemtp to eject birds from it.

Of course when there is a motor there must be some way of keeping it charged.  This feeder comes with Panasonic nicad (Nickel-Cadmium) batteries are already in the feeder.  So you don't have to worry about putting them in correctly.  When they run out of energy you charge them with the charging adapter that is included.  The charger connects in to an normal household outlet.  There are instructions included on how to charge the bird feeder so I will not go in to that, but you will need to charge it before the first use.  Don't worry you should only have to charge the feeder once or twice per year, unless you have an extremely active squirrel population. 

How Is it Working?

So far our feeder is working well.  We don't get a lot of squirrels in our back yard though but we do get a few and I have watched them become impatient with being thrown from the bird feeder and more or less give up. I have read other reviews though where the squirrels have gotten quite clever and wore the motor down.  But for us so far so good, no problems yet.  We have had ours for about 5 months and the motor is still running fine on its first charge.  It also seems unaffected by the weather.  It has come through both snow and at least a few rough thunderstorms.  It shows no damage anywhere. 

I like birds but I don't know the names of all of them that we get here, but I have seen Robins and Cardinals at the feeder.  The feeder stays pretty busy during certain times of the day.  I actually like to watch the squirrels get on the feeder, because they are so shocked when it ejects them.  It does not hurt them but it does suprise them.

This is a really expensive feeder and we all know times are rough write now. But I wanted to be able to feed the birds without the squirrels eating all the food.  I have another cheaper feeder that I let the birds and the squirrels go to town in.  This feeder works really well for us so far, although I know some people have had some problems with really clever squirrels.  Perhaps the squirrels go for this less because they can go to the other feeder without problems.  But so far for us, so far so good.