Bird Feeder With A Weight-Activated Cage

$24.99

Weight on the perch slides the whole cage down over the ports — and an adjustable spring lets you set how heavy is too heavy.

Weight Slides The Cage Down Give It Eighteen Inches Powder-Coated, And You Can See Inside The Hook Is In The Box

Quantity

1

Free U.S. shipping · 30-day returns

There is a particular sound a squirrel makes on a bird feeder, and once you have heard it from the kitchen you stop enjoying the view. This bird feeder answers it mechanically rather than with spikes or grease: the whole outer cage is hung on a spring, and when something heavy settles on a perch or on the frame, the cage slides down and covers all six feeding ports. The weight leaves, the cage rises, the ports open again. Nothing to reset.

The spring is adjustable, which is the part worth setting properly on day one. Wind it toward the light end and a big jay will trip the bird feeder as readily as a squirrel; wind it the other way and only real weight closes the ports. Chickadees, finches and goldfinches never register either way.

Here is the condition that comes with it, because it is on the manufacturer's own diagram and you should know it before you order: this bird feeder needs at least 18 inches of clear air around it. Hang it under a branch, against a fence top or eight inches off a porch rail and a squirrel simply braces on the fixed thing and lifts its weight off the cage — the mechanism never triggers. That requirement is exactly why we call it squirrel-resistant rather than anything stronger. Hung properly, in open air, it works well. Hung badly, it is an ordinary bird feeder with a spring in it.

The build is plain metal under a powder coat, in a dark bronze with leaf cutouts pressed through the panels, so the seed shows through the sides as well as the ports. The bird feeder holds 2 lb in a clear reservoir you can read from a window. The six ports on this bird feeder have U-shaped wire perches rather than straight bars, which small birds grip more securely and which are harder for a heavy animal to stand on properly.

A 12-inch metal hook comes with it, so there is nothing else to buy before the bird feeder goes up. Find a branch or a pole with 18 inches of nothing all around it, hang it there, and give the birds a week to find it.

Weight Slides The Cage Down
Give It Eighteen Inches
Powder-Coated, And You Can See Inside
The Hook Is In The Box

One size, nothing to choose — but there is one placement rule that decides whether this feeder works at all.

Clearance – at least 18 inches of open air all around it; this is a requirement, not a suggestion
Capacity – 2 lb of seed in a clear reservoir
Ports – six, each with a U-shaped wire perch
Mechanism – the outer cage slides down over the ports under weight; the spring is adjustable
Material – powder-coated metal cage, clear seed reservoir
Hanging – a 12-inch metal hook is included

Measure before you hang it. A branch that puts the feeder a foot from the trunk, or a hook that leaves it brushing a fence top, undoes the whole mechanism.

Type: hanging weight-activated caged feeder
Capacity: 2 lb of seed
Ports: 6, each with a U-shaped wire perch
Mechanism: outer cage slides down to cover the ports under weight; adjustable spring
Clearance required: at least 18 inches of open air around the feeder
Material: powder-coated metal cage over a clear seed reservoir
Squirrel handling: squirrel-resistant — weight-activated closing cage, subject to the clearance above
Mounting: hangs; a 12-inch metal hook is included
Seed: black-oil sunflower or mixed seed

Free shipping on every U.S. order. No minimum.
Delivered in 5–9 business days after a 1–2 day handling time.
30-day returns – if the fit isn't right, send them back.

Something heavy lands. The ports close.

THE MECHANISM

Weight Slides The Cage Down

Weight on a perch or on the metal frame pulls the whole outer cage down over all six feeding ports, and it lifts again the moment that weight leaves. The spring is adjustable, so you decide how heavy is too heavy.

Weight Slides The Cage Down
Weight on a perch or on the metal frame pulls the whole outer cage down over all six feeding ports, and it lifts again the moment that weight leaves. The spring is adjustable, so you decide how heavy is too heavy.

THE FIT REQUIREMENT

Give It Eighteen Inches

The manufacturer specifies at least 18 inches of clearance around the feeder, and it is not optional. Anything a squirrel can push against lets it take its own weight off the cage, and then nothing closes.

Give It Eighteen Inches
The manufacturer specifies at least 18 inches of clearance around the feeder, and it is not optional. Anything a squirrel can push against lets it take its own weight off the cage, and then nothing closes.

BUILT FOR OUTSIDE

Powder-Coated, And You Can See Inside

A powder-coated metal cage with leaf cutouts over a clear reservoir holding 2 lb, so the seed level reads at a glance from indoors. The coating is what keeps it looking like this after a winter of rain.

Powder-Coated, And You Can See Inside
A powder-coated metal cage with leaf cutouts over a clear reservoir holding 2 lb, so the seed level reads at a glance from indoors. The coating is what keeps it looking like this after a winter of rain.

NOTHING ELSE TO BUY

The Hook Is In The Box

A 12-inch metal hook is included, which is the difference between hanging it the day it arrives and hanging it the following weekend. It also gets the feeder further out from the branch, which is useful given the clearance it wants.

The Hook Is In The Box
A 12-inch metal hook is included, which is the difference between hanging it the day it arrives and hanging it the following weekend. It also gets the feeder further out from the branch, which is useful given the clearance it wants.

WHAT COMES WITH ITFree U.S. shipping30-DAY RETURNSSecure checkout

Hang it in open air. Then leave it to the small ones.

01

Weight Slides The Cage Down

Weight on a perch or on the metal frame pulls the whole outer cage down over all six feeding ports, and it lifts again the moment that weight leaves.

02

Give It Eighteen Inches

The manufacturer specifies at least 18 inches of clearance around the feeder, and it is not optional.

03

Powder-Coated, And You Can See Inside

A powder-coated metal cage with leaf cutouts over a clear reservoir holding 2 lb, so the seed level reads at a glance from indoors.

04

The Hook Is In The Box

A 12-inch metal hook is included, which is the difference between hanging it the day it arrives and hanging it the following weekend.

How we compare.

What a moving cage on a spring does that a fixed cage or a bare tube cannot.

Ours

A plain tube feeder

A fixed-cage feeder

Outer cage slides down over the ports under weight

Adjustable spring sets the trigger weight

Six ports with U-shaped wire perches

Powder-coated metal over a clear reservoir

12-inch metal hanging hook included

Seed level readable from a window

Frequently asked
questions.

The questions people actually ask before buying one.

Well, if you hang it right. The cage slides down and covers the ports under weight, and the spring lets you set the trigger point. But squirrel-resistant is as far as it goes: it needs at least 18 inches of clear air around it, because anything a squirrel can push against lets it hold its own weight off the cage.

Because the mechanism only works when the animal's full weight is on the feeder. A squirrel that can keep its back feet on a fence, a branch or a rail never loads the cage, so the ports stay open. Eighteen inches is the manufacturer's own figure.

Yes. The spring is adjustable, so you can set it heavy enough that only a real weight trips it, or light enough that large birds do as well.

Chickadees, goldfinches, house finches, nuthatches, titmice and cardinals all use the U-shaped perches comfortably. Small birds are far too light to move the cage.

2 lb, in a clear reservoir. Black-oil sunflower or a mixed seed both work well in it.

Yes, a 12-inch metal hook is included.

Powder-coated metal, in a dark bronze finish with leaf-shaped cutouts pressed through the panels. The coating is there for rust resistance as much as for looks.

Free U.S. shipping and a 30-day return window. Hang it, watch it for a week, and send it back if it is not what you pictured.