I have owned this feeder for about two months...here are my impressions. First, the quality of the materials used is quite good. The feeder seems to be solidly made. However, the design is terrible, especially when it comes to protecting the seed during rain. Because the sidewalls are wire mesh, rain saturates the seed. This also happens because the "roof", or top cap, is far to small in diameter. Water will literally drop off the edge of the cap and fall directly into the seed tray at the bottom of the feeder. The top cap needs to be twice as large in diameter and the sidewalls need to be made of something solid. Another problem is the bottom seed tray is also to small in diameter, like the top cap. Birds easily kick the seed out and onto the ground. This leads me to the feeding ports, which are far to large. Birds set on the ports/perches and scratch seed out of the ports...and of course it falls to the ground. The feeder holds 8lbs of seed, which is great, but don't expect that all of the seed will be eaten by birds. I connected a seed catcher to the bottom of the feeder and discovered that about 3-4lbs of seed was typically scratched out of the feeder and fell into the seed catcher. Now this is not a big problem if the seed in the seed catcher were to remain dry, because it can be put back into the feeder. But if it rains you will discover the seed in the seed catch, seed in the bottom tray of the feeder, and seed in the feeder itself saturated and germinating. The bottom line is, if you live in a rainy location be prepared to constantly be cleaning the feeder...and wasting seed. A larger diameter top cap/bottom tray and smaller (and fewer) feeding ports could solve this messy problem.

I've been feeding birds for fifty years and this is the best feeder I have ever owned. It's very well built, highly weather resistant, easy to fill, holds a heck of a lot of seed, feeding ports never clog, and the birds love it. As the birds hop from one perch to the next I'm reminded of kids playing on a jungle gym in the park. Birds just seem to be drawn to this feeder and the one I have hanging right outside my Great Room Window is just as active as the one I have hanging on a tree.
The design of the feeder makes it virtually impossible for birds larger than a black bird to land. This is a much appreciated feature when you live in an area where crows, ravens, and magpies are commonplace. The only issue I'm having is keeping the feeders full. Without competition from these larger birds, the number of songbirds coming to partake has risen dramatically. These feeders hold roughly 8 pounds of sunflower seed and it's not unusual for the birds to empty it completely in a day. My bird feeding budget has gone up, but so has my level of enjoyment. A partition in the center of the feeder allows the use of two different types of food, if desired.

I've never been happier with a product and highly recommend it to all birdwatchers.

This isn't just big. It really is Huge.
The black wire net is so dark that we can't see the birds through or around it.
And the birds are having a difficult time figuring out how to use any of the perches. They do eat out of the pan at the bottom.but appear to be flummoxed about the rest of it.

Good solid feeder. Replaced same one that was over ten years old and had rusted along the bottom seed dispenser hole band. Would be even better if they used stainless steel on that dispenser band. Then it might last 20 years or more.

I tried to be cheap and bought a plastic bird feeder for under $20. There was a reason it was so cheap; it broke the first day! (And wasted a lot of leaking bird feed). I decided to buy this as it looked great, and I'm SO glad I did! It is sturdy, easy to clean, and it doesn't waste bird seed especially because of the little "tray" at the bottom. Also, it fits a lot of birds on this bird feeder! I've seen 6 birds plus chowing down at once! It has two separate compartments if you want to put two different types of seed, too, which I use to test out which bird feed they like best. Worth the price 100%. NOTE: this doesn't come with a chain to hang it, I just use the round hook to loop onto my stand.