Droll Yankees Whipper Bird Feeder

This is not my first time with birds and feeders, and I was concerned that I would purchase and have "buyer's regret." I have been disappointed before - primarily because I live on the edge of a highly-treed area. My last feeder worked well, and I liked the number of birds it feed, but over time, I attracted grackles, I think I became the county feeding station. I was inundated with them. While the issue wasn't necessarily the feeder's problem (likely had more to do with my location), it sent me looking for a new solution. The many ways I tried to thwart the grackles simply didn't work. Before I purchased this feeder, I corresponded with the company. One of my concerns was that several of the choices I'd seen in the marketplace that eliminated grackles from getting to the seed (such as the feeders with cages around the food tube) excluded cardinals also since they were of a larger size. Only smaller birds could get through the wires. The Droll Yankee Company explained that the perch system would not allow the heavier birds to feed from it, but the feeder was calibrated to allow cardinals to perch. I also had a couple of other concerns, such as only four perches, whether I would get a lot of seed loss, and how successful it would be for thwarting squirrels (since this problem had been identified by other reviewers). I've now had this feeder for several weeks. To say I am delighted is an understatement. No more grackles, no squirrels and no excessive seed loss. It took the birds a couple of days to warm up to it, but now I'm once again seeing a wide variety of birds on the feeder. Interestingly enough, I see female cardinals eat at it regularly, but see the male cardinals intermittently. I know the males are around, since I saw six of them sitting in a tree recently. Guess they will need more time to trust it. At least I know from watching that the heavier cardinal males can land and eat at this feeder. The price of this feeder was a concern for me, but it's sturdy, stays clean, keeps the seeds dry to the last one, and has eliminated my problems with feeding birds. I plan to buy the "Dipper" for my smaller, thistle-eating birds. This feeder is worth the investment. I am very pleased I decided to buy it and would encourage those of you with similar problems to my own to try it. I also found the communication with the company to be useful, and I feel if I had an issue, I could get it resolved with them.