Meripac Complete Window Feeder

Updated after months of use. This is a great feeder. So good in fact that I bought two! If I was picky there are a couple of niggles. Firstly the water is not easy to change, the birds are a nightmare for dropping seeds and nuts and whatnot in there so it needs cleaning every couple of days. The problem with this design is that you can't clean the water out easily without the cleaning the seed also. You dump it all or nothing, which feels a little wasteful as I never let the feeder get completely empty. The other isn't so much a niggle as a positioning issue. It's great at attracting birds, but not always the birds you want. I've had a couple of magpies and pigeons who figure a way to jump on top of the feeder to get at the fatballs. Which meant I've lost the green edge off the top of one. The second feeder I placed in a different window, unfortunately given the large ledge below it, the seagulls loved that one! Their trick eventually was to just stand under the feeder, jump up and whack all the seed out!. One of them even stole one of the fatball holders off it also. So I guess that the story here is that positioning is everything. Good news is that I've put some fatballs in another feeder that the magpie can get to a little easier, so it seems to have left the window feeder alone now. So good side of that I guess is that the suckers work well, it can hold the weight of a plump pigeon or decent sized magpie pretty well. Bad side is that birds are tricky little things and will probably find a way to mess with your setup. You will have to check the suckers periodically, I've noticed they are good for a couple of months usually but I'd just re-stick them every few weeks or monthly. Finally, I've added some pics of this years youngsters who have been using the feeder the last 6 weeks or so. ______________________ First review. I've had this a few days now and I've got to say I'm made up with it. It's a nice sturdy and well-fitting design. The suckers seem to be nice and strong too. I'd initially placed them a little wonky and taking one of them off the window to reset wasn't an easy task! The blue tits around here love it. I've seen other birds with the food I've got in there but the blue tits don't seem to bothered if I'm around and working. They are probably just a little braver. Anyway, back to the review I think this is good value for money and does exactly what it says on the tin. I had visitors within hours of putting it up.

This was for my mum who already feeds half the wildlife in the area from her garden steps, which is great to watch but you have to stand at the kitchen sink to do it (and that means doing the washing up for her!) So I thought it would be great for the living room window, so we could sit and relax with tea and cake (much nicer). So far just the robins have ventured on it but when they sit there it is just like a Christmas card, really lovely to watch. Alas, I called one day to be told "I've been mugged", the panic filled my mind, then "flipping squirrel has stolen the fat ball!" Well that was a relief! I have told her never to initiate another call with that unless I actually need to panic! She watched him clamber up onto the windowsill, pull the ball of the spikes and shoot off up the garden, she chased out the back door but he was long gone! Hilarious! She is now using the string to tether the ball to the feeder! I want to set up a webcam! All in all, it is sturdy, sticks to the window and gives a lovely framed cameo of the birds as they feed. Well worth the money!

I've had one of these up for 11 months now, on a window in my third floor flat. It's survived storms, gales and torrential rain so I think it's pretty robust. I've had a huge variety of birds visit on the feeder - robins, chaffinches, goldfinches, blue and great tits, starlings. And also jackdaws and crows who gobble everything in sight after working out how to hang onto the tray while stuffing their faces. Particularly if I put out mealworms or fatballs. I've learned to take it in at night in summer or I get woken up at 5am by crows thumping onto the thing for breakfast. The fatball holder is the weakest part of the design. It would be great to have a better way to provide fatballs. If I put an unwrapped fatball on the spikes the starlings knock it off in minutes. I've tried tying the netting from the fatball to the holder too but the starlings can rip the netting with their beaks and bigger birds have worked out how to lift the whole thing off (this is where the lanyard attaching the tray to the window handle is really handy!). I found the last one under a tree half-way across the carpark, with the netting still attached, but no fatball. I'm now getting a hook with suckers to attach a separate fatball feeder to my window - I've given up on the spiky holders for this. It's such a simple thing, but it's a complete joy to have. I've never seen birds so close before.

For less than ten pounds this is a good little feeder. I use a fair amount of feeders and this is one of the cheapest I ever bought. I have to note that it is more attractive to a broader range of birds than nearly any other type I have used. After seeing some of the reviews on here I kept my eye on it, and I found I had birds deciding to use this one after only 21 hours. Now after a week or two there are birds on it at least every minute or so during their feeding spells. Lick your finger and use that to moisten the suckers and it's just not going anywhere, it'll stay put, and that was the case when loaded on one occasion with a starling and on another occasion with a greater spotted woodpecker which find this attractive - no accounting for the sense of some birds as it's a tight fit for those two lunatics on this great little feeder. It's well made, and simple to assemble. I also noted a few new species (Siskin) have arrived and a few old favourites (Robin, Greenfinch & Chaffinch) have returned since using this feeder. I intend to purchase more of this type provided they stay below ten pounds. I'm wanting to replace a number of "CJ" feeders with them, as getting the spare parts is becoming a frustrating and increasing problem with my CJs these days sadly.