I was looking for a durable, reasonably priced bird feeder that wouldn't break, was easy to clean (especially with that weird purple finch eye illness going around), and easy to fill. (I looked at Walmart, Farm and fleet, and even bought other feeders that were not pricey only to have the squirrels destroy the plastic, or to have the mechanisms fail within one season.). I ended up purchasing Wild Birds Unlimited squirrel proof feeder, and after a couple of weeks loved it so much I bought another. Have had them for at least 2 years with a vigorous bird population visiting and many frustrated squirrels (both perch and clinger type birds love it). I just bought a third. They are about $50, but well worth it in my opinion. read more