Suggestions for birdfeeders that are squirrelproof?

[Rob'in'To]

Hi Mar (Kokanee)...  if you skim my post just above some of the food(s) I use may help you as well...  like use just Safflower in a feeder that your Cardinals will enjoy and I doubt the Grackles will touch.

[JW Mills]

I stretched a line from my cherry tree to the house and hung a suet feeder about 8 ft from the tree.
On the line I installed a freewheeling double-cone thingy (technical term!) on each side of the feeder.
It's not pretty but it works.
At first the squirrels were quite persistent in their efforts to get past the cones but now they don't even bother trying.
 

[kokanee]

Hi Mar (Kokanee)... if you skim my post just above some of the food(s) I use may help you as well... like use just Safflower in a feeder that your Cardinals will enjoy and I doubt the Grackles will touch.

Hi Rob'in'To,

We'll give the Safflower a try!
I've never seen safflower at CTC or Lowe's before, will I need to go to a Bird/Nature store for it?

Thanks,
Mar

[Rob'in'To]

Yes, a specialty bird feed store would be required.  I don't think I have seen it elsewhere for sale.  A Squirrel might try it but I guarantee it won't like it and eat anymore.  Hopefully one won't have a temper tantrum over you putting safflower out.

[Bill & Jaye]

Interesting reading what some have tried and what the experiences are.  I especially like the "double cone thingy"  especially the name  :lol:

Now here is my 2 cents.
We use the Squirrel proof feeder with the weight sensitive perch.  We got it as a gift but I think it came from Lee Valley.  We have tried a variety of feed in it and the only birds that seem to use it are the finches and sparrows.  As for squirrel proof, it seems to do the job.

The feeder we get the most birds on is on a pole with a big metal cone.  The cone was made to keep the squirrels AND racoons off it.  Our biggest problem is racoons.  Not squirrels.
Like many others have said, our squirrels now seem mostly content to take what ever is knocked on the ground.

[kokanee]

Yes, a specialty bird feed store would be required. I don't think I have seen it elsewhere for sale. A Squirrel might try it but I guarantee it won't like it and eat anymore. Hopefully one won't have a temper tantrum over you putting safflower out.

Hi Rob'in'To,
Thanks for the tip, we've had some good results!  Initially we eased them into the safflower by mixing with some sunflower.  Now that we've gone full safflower, we've hardly seen the squirrels and the grackles lost interest too.  Our cardinals are now back and feeding, and the other smaller birds go back and forth from the nyger to the safflower. Strangely enough a couple of grackles were still around, and a bonus they were chasing away the squirrels that did come by... we didn't understand why the grackles were still around and behaving like that until one day my husband noticed a grackle from the second floor window, and it was about 3 feet from the top of a blue spruce in our backyard.  He got out the binocs and sure enough there was a nest.... so a few weeks later a couple of grackles are still around but not eating our seeds :-)  I'm hoping they leave after the little ones are able to fly.  They have made some good entertainment chasing a hawk that soars above and nipping at the squirrels. :-)
I still have quite a bit of the sunflower seeds, so maybe later in the summer I will try using some, or store it well and keep it for the winter.
Thanks again for your suggestions!  
Mar

[Raven11:11]

We set up ours recently and actually had to modify it structurally - my father is a retired Millwright - so he made a few changes to it so all birds could feed .. we could patent this design and make a mint.