Nature's FeastAll Seasons Sunflower Heart Feeder

I have had an older version of this for a couple of years and the birds love it. Recently I bought an additional one thinking it would be the same as the one I already had. However it looks similar but it not nearly as good.The mesh of the new one is much smaller that the older version and a consequence of this is the birds do no not use it nearly as much.The older feeder had a mesh big enough for the birds to easily remove a whole sunflower heart form the feeder but on this new feeder they cannot do so. When our visiting goldfinches eat a sunflower heart they take a whole heart out take a bite out of the middle and the remainder of the sunflower heart falls to the ground where it is eaten but the ground feeding birds. The other finches also like to remove the sunflower hearts also but are now unable to do so.Yesterday our older feeder was totally emptied by the birds but the new one only has a few cm's out of it.On these feeders there is a piece of wire to enable to easy removal of the base for cleaning, I would recommend removing this and replacing it with a couple of screws. The reason for this is that birds can get their legs trapped between the wire and the base of the feeder. On a couple of occasions I have found the lifeless body of a goldfinch hanging from the feeder by this wire. On most occasions the birds eventually, after much struggling as they hang upside down, free themselves but sometime they do not.

I already have 2 of these feeders & they are very popular with many species that feed by clinging e.g. goldfinch, blue tits, great tits, coal tits, long tailed tits, nuthatch, siskins. A couple of points to be aware of though if you've not had one before:-1 Whilst there is no claim as such, the feeder is not squirrel resistant. My local squirrels actually removed the spring-loaded clip which secures the base of the feeder so I had to wire it on. The squirrels can quite easily get to the sunflower hearts through the mesh, so I hang my feeder inside a Guardian cage which is squirrel proof.2 I question the statement that a seed tray can be attached to the base. I have yet to find a seed tray with a screw long enough to reach the recessed thread in the base of the feeder.A very substantial, well made feeder.23 February update - I am pleased to report that I have found a tray to fit this feeder. It is the metal Chapelwood tray which has a long screw with a hook. It fits perfectly - hallelujah!!

I have had many, many varieties of sunflower heart feeder over the years and this is by far the birds' favourite and the easiest to fill and clean. The rough mesh is much easier for the birds to get a good grip and the feeder is large enough for up to a dozen tits and finches to feed comfortably together. A determined squirrel can chew a hole in the mesh if he has a bit of a head start through a little damage, especially if a woodpecker has bashed out a bigger hole. The base detaches easily for thorough cleaning so it is simple to stop rotting seeds accumulating at the bottom.The large loop holder may need extra securing if on a simple hook as crows and squirrels can learn to lift it off so they can get at the seed on the ground.

Birds love it and that's important. I've had gold finches, sparrows, blue and great tits and green finches on it and even woodpeckers! Easy to fill up and fairly sturdy. They're definitely not put off by the colour. Counted 7 gold finches on it at one point this morning! The length means that if it's filled up many birds can feed at the same time. Would buy again.

Nicely constructed and attractive feeder but the mesh seems a little too large and allows Sunflower Hearts, which it claims to be a 'dispenser' for, to fall out too freely. Probably better suited to whole sunflower seeds. Would be a 'five' with a smaller mesh.

The metal on the sides of the tube is a bit scratchy and the tits struggle a bit to get the sunflower hearts out, I might just have a batch of large size seeds! Not used at all by other types of birds, they can't get a grip. Very sturdily made. A bit hit with the great tits who seem to be the most popular users

We have found that it is well made, is easy to fill, keeps the sunflower hearts contained and the birds seem to love it. Would buy it again.

exellent a little bit on the expensive side but in full use