Droll Yankees CPF-M Covered Platform Feeder with Cover for Song Birds and Cardinals

Was trying to attract cardinals and was successful. Unfortunately the fat doves sat in the middle of the feeder and ate all the food so I had to lower the opening. Stopped bird feeding for now after hearing that it makes it easier for Hawks to swoop down and kill the songbirds. Cannot handle that.

With the exception of the metal rod and one nut, all parts are plastic. Unless we were missing some parts, the assembly holding up the dome consisted of a collet insert, a collet knob, and an O ring to hold the dome up. We assembled it per the instructions and put it up. The dome slid down and covered the tray within 5 minutes. The O ring was insufficient to hold the dome up. We ended up wrapping the rod with electrical tape so that the rod diameter was larger than the hole in the collet knob. This could have been solved by the manufacturer by threading the rod all the way up instead of the bottom inch and adding a nut to the kit. I have noticed that the dome wobbles in the slightest breeze and seems to scare the birds. This thing is worth maybe $10 and took a month to get. Live and learn.

I had to get this as a replacement after a hawk tried to feed on my birds.they got away but hawk got stuck and bent the rod.and cracked the plastic.

Droll Yankees makes great products! We have used other feeders over the years, but Droll Yankees feeders have aways been the best. We have their large dome cardinal feeder hanging from a tree near our deck, far enough out from the trunk so our local black bears can't reach it, with the top set low enough that jays and doves can't land on it. The cardinals can barely land on it, but they seem to prefer to hunt for seeds right off the ground or our deck surface.This new feeder is much more streamlined than the big dome feeder. I like it and my wife likes it. Of course, we are not the most important customers. We currently sprinkle the cardinals' seeds on our deck surface, which the cardinals like, but it is messy for us. We mounted this feeder directly to our six inch wide deck railing, with two quarter inch holes drilled through opposing drain holes that Droll Yankees had already placed around the perimeter of the feeder. This should give a firm, flat surface that the cardinals will like - we'll see how it works for them. In any event, their feed will be drier during rain and snow!Our deck is one story off the ground, protected from raccoons and other four-legged visitors by electric fence wires under the lip of the deck. Unfortunately, we do have large, gray vacuum cleaners that are able to jump onto our deck from nearby trees. We will still have to contend with those, but nothing in life is perfect.

At first I was not sure I would like this feeder until I got the full hang of it. Doves could get in there and squirrels to deplete the seed intended for Cardinals and such friends. But, after some experimenting with turning the lock at the top to get the top fairly close to the tray, I have the perfect bird feeder now (so, it is worth the money to me!). After I found just the right spacing, I walked into the house and turned around and a male Northern Cardinal (who must have been watching me), was there enjoying his food without being run out by larger birds and such! It works!!! How close did I put the two parts together just by turning the smart locking knob on top? 2" exactly: the picture I included is at the 2" spacing.