Penguinlady's Full Review: Perky Pet Hummingbird Feeder
When I first began feeding hummingbirds, many years ago, there weren’t too many choices available among feeders. So, not knowing much about what I was doing, I just grabbed the first one I saw, which was the Perky Pet Glass Hummingbird Feeder #203-CP. Many years later, I’m still using it, although with one inadvertent modification.
FEATURES
• The Perky Pet Glass Hummingbird Feeder #203-CP holds eight ounces of nectar.
• The bottle is made of heavy-duty glass and has a pinch-waist shape.
• The base and cap are heavy-duty red plastic.
• The base has four feeding ports, each marked by a large plastic flower and a yellow bee-guard.
• It has a perch screwed to the underside of the base, to give the hummers a break while they feed.
NOTE: The Perky Pet Glass Hummingbird Feeder #203-CP differs from the Perky Pet Glass Hummingbird Feeder #203-C only in that it has a perch, which the latter doesn’t.
• Permanently attached to the cap is a red-plastic-covered wire that you can form into a loop for hanging.
• This feeder sells for about $12.99.
WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT
• I like the heavy-duty glass and pinch-waist shape. Cylindrical bottles can be hard to grip when wet, so this shape makes it much easier. And the glass is so heavy that when one of my Perky Pet bottle feeders fell off the second-floor eave of my house, the base broke but the bottle didn’t.
• The 8-oz. size is very useful. While it’s tempting to buy the larger ones, hummingbird nectar has to be dumped and replaced every few days, especially in the summer. Unless you live in an aviary or sanctuary, even the most voracious hummers can’t empty a big feeder in that time, so a lot of nectar goes to waste. All the feeders I’ve been buying recently have been smaller.
• The feeding ports are marked by red plastic tubular flowers. Hummingbirds like to feed from tubular flowers - salvia, fucsia, bee balm, honeysuckle, foxglove, penstemon and the like - and are especially attracted to red. Most hummingbird feeders have flat yellow flowers to mark the feeding ports. The red plastic tubular flowers on this one, however, make it more attractive to hummers, and they empty this feeder faster than any of the other bottle feeders I have hanging.
• Perches are important for hummingbird feeders. Yes, they can hover almost indefinitely, but they spend more than 80% of their lives airborne, so why not give them a break while they’re feeding? As flimsy as the perches are on this model, at least they’re there, which is more than some feeders can boast.
• A bee-guard is essential, especially if the feeder has any yellow on it. Lots of feeders have yellow plastic flowers on them, but hummers can’t see yellow, only red. Bees and wasps, however, are attracted to yellow and will drink from those feeders unless they have bee-guards on them. Most don’t; of all the Perky Pet feeders I’ve seen, this is one of only two that does. The bee-guard is a mesh cage that sticks far enough out of the feeding port that a bee can’t get to it, but the hummer, with his longer bill, can. Just don’t ask me why the bee-guard on the Perky Pet Glass Hummingbird Feeder #203-CP is yellow...
• The heavy-duty glass bottle is easy to clean. I fill mine with hot-hot-hot soapy water, add a few garden pebbles, shake it vigorously, and rinse, rinse, rinse. Then add some bleach, shake again, and rinse, rinse, rinse. The heavy glass makes it possible for me to be sure it’s completely sterile before I refill it.
• Replacement parts are available from the Perky Pet, www.PerkyPet.com. They are priced as follows:
Perch & Screw = $1.50
Red Knotted Wire $0.50
Set of 4 Yellow Bee Guards = $2.99
Stem Cup ONLY w/insert = $2.00
Stem cup w/ perch = $3.50
Threaded Cap = $1.50
Threaded Cup insert = $0.50
Be aware, though, that while PP says they accept American Express in payment, they are having trouble with that on-line, so if that’s the card you want to use, you need to call in your order.
WHAT I’D CHANGE IF I COULD
• The perch is pretty flimsy. It’s a thin plastic cross-piece with a perch on the end of each arm, and attaches to the bottom of the base with a screw. The whole structure is poorly designed. There’s no reason for it to be attached with a screw, since the only place you want the perches is in front of the feeding ports, so there’s no reason to make it moveable. The perches have broken off three of the four arms on mine, so I just took the whole thing off and am waiting for a new one to come from Perky Pet.
• Given that hummers can’t see yellow, there’s no reason to have yellow on this feeder. Especially, it doesn’t make sense to make the bee-guards yellow - first you attract the bees and then make it impossible for them to feed...? I have no desire to have bees and wasps in my feeders, but then why attract them in the first place?
• As is the case with Perky Pet bottle feeders, the base is virtually impossible to clean. It’s made of a single piece of plastic that you can’t take apart. And it has all sorts of convoluted little barriers that you can’t get to through the small hole in the top. You can’t use boiling water or bleach. So the best I can do is soak it for about 15 minutes in hot soapy water and then attack it with toothbrushes, old mascara brushes, and Q-tips or anything else I can find that might get in there. But I have no idea how much gunk is left inside.
• Most bottle feeders that have reservoir bases waste between a half and full cop of nectar, depending on the size of the base. You fill the upside-down bottle to the brim and screw on the base. Then, when you flip the feeder right-side-up for hanging, some of the nectar flows into the base, where it's invisible. Hummers don't come to an empty, or empty-looking, feeder, so that nectar will go to waste.
A FEW IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT FEEDING HUMMINGBIRDS
I include this information in all my hummingbird feeder reviews, so forgive me if you’ve read it before. I think it’s pretty important.
• Make sure you empty and clean your feeder thoroughly every couple of days, regardless of how much nectar is still in it. Use the hottest water you can, and bleach; a lot of gunk collects in very little time. And nectar is a perfect breeding ground for bacteria.
• Use commercial nectar mix or make your own with one part sugar to four parts water and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Never use honey, molasses, maple syrup, corn syrup, or artificial sweeteners - just plain sugar. Some people boil their home-made nectar to kill bacteria and then cool it to room temp before filling the feeder. Red food coloring is optional - the jury is still out. The diehard feeder-folk preach against it, but as far as I know, there are no studies of the long-term effects of red food dye on the birds. Just make sure there’s some read somewhere on - or in - each feeder.
• Carry it to where you want to hang it, quickly flip it right-side-up, and “burp” it to remove the air bubbles that form at the feeding stations. I do that by gently tipping it in all four directions until I see the bubbles rising in the nectar. If you don’t do this, the birds won’t be able to access the nectar through the bubbles. But you’ll spill some nectar, so do this over grass or a hosable surface.
• Once you decide to start feeding the hummers, be consistent. They will get used to feeding from your feeder and will come to depend on you. So don't let them down.
• Hummingbirds are terrifically territorial and aggressive, so you'll see incredible aerial dive-bombing fights around your feeder. I have seven feeders right now and they still fight over them. I think they take pleasure in their amazing flying abilities, so don't worry about it.
SUMMARY AND VERDICT
Here are some good sites for hummingbird information:
www.hummingbirds.net - general information but no products for sale
www.wbu.com/ed.hummer - information and products
www.birdnest.com - products
www.thenaturestore.com - products
www.fatruby.com - products
There are lots more, but these are good places to start.
The Perky Pet Glass Hummingbird Feeder #203-CP is one of the first feeders I bought, and it’s still going strong, except for the busted perches. I especially like the small capacity, the red plastic flowers, and the fact that it has perches, flimsy as they are. I’ve recently discovered another line of feeders that I like much better - but which aren’t yet on the Epinions database - and will gradually phase out my bottle feeders. But until I do, this is a favorite, despite its flaws.
4 feeding ports - leaf perches 16 oz. capacity Top fill and clean hummingbird feeder Wide mouth top makes it easy to fill No fuss no mess sports bottl...More at Ace Hardware
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