Perky-Pet 399 Patented Upside Down Thistle Feeder
$15.99
Price: $15.99
(as of Feb 01, 2025 04:24:27 UTC – Details)
Perky-Pet 399 Patented Upside Down Thistle Feeder
Holds up to 2 lbs of thistle seed or finch mix
Six Upside Down feeding ports with perches designed to allow goldfinches to feed undisturbed
Includes a weather resistant cap and feeding tube
Customers say
Customers are satisfied with the design of the wildlife feeder. However, they have concerns about its sturdiness and hole size. They mention that it’s made of very flimsy plastic, starts to fall apart after four weeks, and the perches tear easily through the thin plastic tubing. There are mixed reviews on bird love, value for money, functionality, squirrels, and capacity.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
8 reviews for Perky-Pet 399 Patented Upside Down Thistle Feeder
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Lonny D. Stark –
Was skeptical, but now I’m a believer
The first thing to remember is that this is ideal for birds such as goldfinches that like to eat thistle seed and are capable of hanging upside down when they feed. If you don’t have many of these birds in your area, this feeder is really not going to work well. Instead, get a more traditional feeder for most other birds.Admittedly, this thing is cheaply constructed, but I don’t think the birds care, and you don’t need a steel tank to hold thistle seed, after all. As you first fill it, placing a paper plate under the feeder will catch the small amount of thistle seeds will fall out. Once filled, the seeds are kept in place by the magic of gravity and friction, so very few will leak out when it is in use.Now for the gold test (or goldfinch test, to be more accurate). I installed it on Wednesday, three days ago. I was highly skeptical that it would work, but it cost less than 15 dollars, and I figured that I could retrofit it if I needed to. No need. Today, the local goldfinches have found it and are visiting regularly. Yes, they easily hang upside down and take seeds out of the incredibly tiny holes. And the sparrows and other birds simply leave it alone.
Lee H. –
Stops pesky sparrows cold! Goldfinches seem to love it!
My wife wanted a goldfinch feeder for Mother’s Day, so I went to my local store and told them that I needed a feeder and food that would not attract sparrows, which we have a lot of in our backyard, especially when we are feeding Baltimore Orioles with grape jelly. They sold me a metal mesh feeder with small holes over the full length, along with Nyjer seed mixed with sunflower seed pieces. At first it was great — goldfinches aplenty and few sparrows. WIthin a month, though, the sparrows totally dominated the feeder and would chase off the goldfinches. It also attracted cardinals (which was fine), mourning doves and house finches. On the advice of the experts at the store, I switched to pure Nyjer seeds and it didn’t help. Eventually I was going through 1.5 pounds of seed every other day and the birds were making quite a mess in our back yard, especially on the furniture. My wife asked me to take the feeder down.I did a little research, including asking an AI or two what to do. The best suggestion I found was to use an upside-down feeder, which seemed logical to me, because the goldfinches are quite acrobatic, especially when they are feeding on our echinacea in the late summer and fall.So, I ordered the Perk-Pet 399 and set it up and BAM! problem solved. The sparrows were gone within two days and never succeeded in feeding from it. The mourning doves don’t know what to make of it. The goldfinches put on quite a show as they twirl around on the perches and they seem to appreciate the absence of sparrows, though they do fight among themselves from time to time. The pictures I took tell the story — this feeder works! The photos are proof of my experience with it.One other thing I like is that there is zero mess when filling the feeder. WIth the mesh feeder, a lot of seed poured out from the sides and was hard to manage. The are very few holes in this feeder and they are tiny, so nothing at all spills out. There are also no horizontal surfaces to collect bird droppings, so it stays looking neat. I’m 100% thrilled with my purchase, which was less than 1/4 the price of the mesh feeder!
ZoomAddict –
When CONS are understood very few will buy this feeder…
Here is why this product rates one star:If you have birds other than goldfinches on your thistle feeder they will figure out how to hang upside down and feed on this one (just like the goldfinches do in the picture of this product). They are plentiful here in north Georgia and took most literally less than an hour. At first it baffled most of the non-goldfinches. Then after watching their gold cousins they jumped on and let themselves “fall” upside down and just hung on and went to feeding. Didn’t look as natural for them but sure didn’t keep them from feeding (and keeping the goldfinches from feeding since their are more non-gold finches). So if you are buying this product to allow only the goldfinches to feed it is a waste of money. In general I’m a Perky Pet (the company that sells this feeder) fan, but they know full well this feeder does not “allow goldfinches to feed undisturbed” and continue to include this false advertising (aka lying) in their description and pictures. Guess most looking to exclude other birds keep buying it without reading these reviews. Glad you are not one of them dear reader ;-)Using anything but 100% thistle seed in this feeder is also a waste of money if you have squirrels. This feeder is made of very flimsy plastic and if they want the seed in it they will in short order chew on the plastic at the holes to get to the seed inside. As the other reviews here indicate the thin plastic will take the squirrels only a day or two to turn this feeder into their own personal feedbag (and destroy the feeder in the process). When using 100% thistle this normally won’t be a problem, as squirrels do not like thistle but will destroy the feeder to eat the other seeds in bags labelled “Goldfinch seed” (since it is a blend of seeds, not just thistle).There are other disadvantages but the last point I’ll make is this is a very flimsy feeder in general. If you are looking to buy something this disposable to feed all the finches & thistle lovers there are lower cost alternatives right here on Amazon.IMO this product isn’t a best buy regardless what your feeder purchase goals, which is to say informed buyers should make a better choice.
Joanne –
Perfect exactly what I wanted and the finches love it too
Jules –
Long time arriving but very good
Raymond M. –
Excellent pour la nourriture des chardonnerets.
Suzan A –
A bit expensive for what it is but the goldfinches like it!
Alain Coulombe –
Very good