Keeping Squirrels Off the Feeder! -- Droll Yankee Flipper Feeder
Written: Dec 02 '07 (Updated May 12 '09)
Product Rating:
Pros: birds like it, holds a lot of seed, rechargeable battery
Cons: expensive, only four bird feeding stations, not squirrel proof
The Bottom Line:
Droll Yankee needs to redo its advertising regarding this Flipper bird feeder. Definite considerations before deciding on this one. (Review updated May, 2009)
dlstewart's Full Review: Droll Yankees Yf Flipper Bird Feeder
I needed a new bird feeder. The previous bird feeder was a Droll Yankee that lasted for over ten years. Unfortunately, a rascally squirrel finally managed to chew the metal hole protectors off. It was time to find a squirrel-proof feeder. That's why I bought the Droll Yankee Flipper Feeder – Model YF.
What is a Flipper Feeder
This feeder is cleverly designed to "flip" squirrels off. The perch is battery motor-driven. When a squirrel's weight touches it, the perch spins. The squirrel is ejected from the feeder. However, the perch will hold bird weight without a problem.
Description
This feeder is large. The clear polycarbonate tube is 21" long and 4 3/4" wide. It will hold 5 pounds of seed. The tube is UV stabilized so that it won't yellow with age. It has a flat metal powder coated forest-green cap that fits well. Strong stainless steel bailing wire forms the hanging loop.
The bottom of the feeder is encased with powder-coated die cast zinc in a forest-green color. There are four holes in the metal for birds to feed from, and the perching ring is located at the bottom of the feeder. An interior baffle design allows the seed to flow to the four feeding holes. The battery and motor housing are also located inside the seed tube to protect them from moisture.
Panasonic nicad (Nickel-Cadmium) batteries are already in the feeder. A charging adapter comes with the feeder. It plugs into a standard electrical 120 volts (60Hz) household outlet.
Set Up & Charging
The Flipper Feeder comes with an instruction booklet that covers all four of the feeders in the Droll Yankee Squirrel-proof feeder line. The feeder comes assembled in a cardboard box. All you need to do is charge the battery-driven motorized perch.
Just twist the perch to free it from the bottom of the feeder. Place it on a flat surface near a wall outlet. (I set the perch on a Corningware dish to make sure it didn't mar the kitchen counter.) Plug the round end of the adapter into the top of the perch, and then plug the adapter into the wall outlet. Charge the perching base for no more than 24 hours, and it is ready to reattach to the bottom of the bird feeder. Again, just twist it into place. You'll hear a snapping sound as it locks into place.
Droll Yankee says this feeder requires charging about once very six months. Of course, the charging time also depends upon how much activity the spinning perch sees.
Placing the Feeder in the Yard
When I bought this bird feeder, I also purchased a sturdy wrought iron shepherd's hook to hang it on. However, I noticed that the wrought iron hook was wider than the bailing wire loop on the feeder. The local garden store suggested I use a special S-shaped hook designed for bird feeders. I attached one end of the S-hook over the shepherd's hook, and the other end slid through the bailing wire feeder loop. I was a bit concerned that a high wind might lift the feeder off the S-hook, so I also bought a Droll Yankee Locking Chain to better anchor the feeder to the shepherd hook.
The feeder hangs beautifully from the shepherd hook. It is located near some trees, but not too close. The birds like the shelter of the trees to feel safe from predators.
It is easy to fill the feeder, too. Just lift off the flat cap and pour in the seed. I use a combination of black oil sunflower seed and mixed seed (heavy on the sunflower seed). This feeder holds a lot of seed. It's great that I don't have to fill the feeder as often.
How It is Working
At first, this feeder worked great! The birds love it, and for months the squirrels couldn't defeat the spinning perch. If you want to watch a video of this feeder in action, the Droll Yankee website has wonderful footage of the squirrels trying to gain access to this feeder (http://www.drollyankees.com ... scroll to the bottom of the web page for the video link).
My yard is frequently visited by lots of gray squirrels. I also have a few red squirrels and chipmunks. It's the gray squirrels that cause the problems, though I did have a chipmunk climb the pole a few times and manage to sit on the perch to snack at the feeder!
The gray squirrels have finally figured out that if they rest their weight on the spinning perch enough times, they run the charge down. No charge ... no spinning perch. These rascally squirrels will actually take turns at discharging the spinning perch. Then it's a squirrel free-for-all at the feeder. It's most discouraging considering how much this feeder cost.
Meanwhile, the birds thoroughly enjoy the feeder. It always pleases me to see how much bird activity this feeder sees. The metal green band around the feeding holes is great contrast so that I can easily see and identify the birds. The birds have no problem with the spinning perch. Since the perch is weight activated, the birds do not set it off. I have seen a cardinal, chickadee and titmouse at the feeder at the same time, happily grabbing seeds. Four goldfinches tend to be perch hogs and will position themselves in front of a feeding port to chow down until one of the other birds is able to dislodge them.
The chickadees and titmice first discovered this feeder. It is typically visited by chickadees, titmice, goldfinches, wrens, nuthatch, downey woodpeckers, cardinals and a few sparrows. A few bluejays are able to land on the feeder, but sometimes they are too heavy.
The cleverest birds are the grackles. A huge flock migrated through my area, and they quickly learned how to "beat the system". They are too heavy to land on the feeder without sending the perch spinning. However, they learned how to land with one foot on the perch and one foot on the bird seed opening. This distributes their weight so that the perch doesn't receive enough weight to send it spinning. Thankfully the grackles quickly vacated the area, and none of the other birds have learned the trick.
This feeder has survived windstorms. It has also come through winter with flying colors. The instruction book states that if an ice storm is expected, turn the knob that controls the on/off feature of the spinning perch into the OFF position. This locks the perch. If the perch was to become laden with icicles, it could spin the ice off, causing danger.
Purchasing
This feeder retails for $134.99. I bought it at my local garden store for $129.99. It's expensive!
Summary
So far this Droll Yankee Flipper Feeder is working great for the birds. It is fun seeing the bird population enjoying the seed. The squirrels are persistent in trying to raid the feeder, and sometimes I remove the perch to aggravate them. The birds have no problems grabbing seed from the feeding holes without the perch in place.
Update -- December 12, 2008
The feeder is still in operation and looks great. The squirrels have become even more clever in disarming it, though. At times I wish this feeder had more than four feeding ports for the birds to enjoy (but that would mean more openings for the squirrels). I'm beginning to wish that I had spent my money on something else. This feeder does not live up to its advertising.
Update -- May 12, 2009
This is one of those purchases where I wonder what possessed me to buy it. Definitely not worth the money. I've retired this feeder. The squirrels are far too smart and learned how to run down the battery so that the perch wouldn't flip them.
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