All Weather Feeder
A hands-on review by Diane Porter
Through rain, snow, sleet, and ice, the All Weather Feeder delivers the seed — DRY!
Birds reach up, under the covered feeding port, and pull seed from a cirular slot.
Sheltered!
A covered feeding port keeps rain and snow out. So seed stays dry.
It won't clog us with snow and ice. The seed won't get wet when it rains And you don't have to go clean out caked, moldy birdseed.
 That's a huge benefit to the birds' health and to the comfort of the person who tends the feeder.
Circular perch
You can see all the birds feeding, including the ones on the far side. The perch also catches spilled seed, reducing waste. The birds can find it easily.
Will the birds figure it out?
Yes. I scattered a few seeds on the circular perch to entice the birds to visit the feeder. Soon I saw a chickadee peck up at the "roof" and pull down a seed.
By the next day, the feeder was mobbed by goldfinches, nuthatches, titmice, and cardinals. They had all learned from the chickadee, or from each other.
Shining in the snow
 Bad weather is the beauty of this feeder. When all the natural food and the regular feeders are sealed by ice or snow, birds can still get food from the All Weather Feeder.
It really feels good to look out in terrible weather and see your bird friends getting food.
The cardinals at right were whirling around our All Weather Feeder one evening. It had snowed all day. It was very cold, and it was getting dark. These birds would probably have gone to their roost hungry if it weren't for our All Weather Feeder. I felt really happy to know that they were fueled up for the night.
Easy to clean
The whole feeder comes completely apart. Each piece can be individually cleaned.
Capacity
 The All Weather Feeder comes in two sizes. Photos above are the 4-quart model. It holds a gallon jar's worth of seeds.
There's also a 6-quart model, shown at right, which is the same except for having a longer cylinder.
I fill my All Weather Feeder much less often than other feeders, because it hold such a lot of seed. If we go away for a few days, it doesn't go empty and leave the birds disappointed.
What seeds to offer
- Black sunflower seed
- Safflower seed
- Sunflower hearts
- Mixtures of the above
Don't use striped sunflower seed. It's too large to fit well through the openings.
 I like to use sunflower hearts, because the birds like them a lot. I hesitate to use them in some feeders because when they get wet they spoil easily. But in the All Weather Feeder, the seeds stay dry. I have never had to dig out caked, yukky seeds, even after rain and snow.
What birds may come
At Birdwatching Dot Com, which is in southeast Iowa, we get many species at the All Weather Feeder. Below, I've listed some of the ones we've seen using our feeder. In other parts of the country you would see other species.
- Red-bellied woodpecker
- Northern flicker
- Downy woodpecker
- Hairy woodpecker
- Black-capped chickadee
- White-breasted nuthatch
- Red-breasted nuthatch
- Tufted titmouse
- Carolina wren
- Northern cardinal
- Rose-breasted grosbeak
- Indigo bunting
- Dark-eyed junco
- White-throated sparrow
- American goldfinch
- Pine siskin
- Common redpoll
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