In the spring of 2024, I purchased the Droll Yankee Flipper bird feeder for my bird feeding station. At the time, it was $150 and the most expensive feeder in my rapidly growing collection (I don’t have a problem!). I was hesitant to make the purchase. Who spends that much money on a bird feeder?!?
Fast forward a year and a half (at the time of me writing this) and I have no regrets. The feeder has paid for itself in bird seed that remains out of the clutches of squirrels, it’s well-liked by my local birds, and it’s stood up to all sorts of weather with no visible wear and tear. Oh, and the feeder is incredibly popular with birds! Just today I saw my first ever Purple Finch stopping by bird feeding station. It only took me 5.5 years to see one.
Anywho, seeing a lifer today inspired me to write up a post singing the praises for this bird feeder. If you’re new to the hobby or are looking to add to your bird feeding station, it’s my opinion that you can’t go wrong with the Droll Yankee Flipper, especially if you want to stop squirrels from eating your bird seed.
Disclaimer: Some links found on this page are Amazon affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, I might earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. No, I’m not sponsored by this bird feeder. I just really like it.
The Droll Yankee Flipper is a unique squirrel-proof feeder. Most use a weight-sensitive system to close their ports when a squirrel hangs from it, but this feeder starts spinning when they hang from the bottom, leading to hilarious situations of squirrels clinging on for dear life while being spun around.
My weird, but satisfying, experience with this feeder is that I’ve yet to see a single squirrel even try to hop on it. I’ve never seen a squirrel spun around! So, my life is lacking in humor. Whatever. I can’t explain why my local squirrels seem to have no interest in hopping on. Maybe they can sense that something is off or perilous about the feeder? Regardless, it has a 100% success rate of keeping squirrels out. They don’t even try.
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This is rough math…but I’d estimate squirrels can go through $15 worth of bird seed at my feeder each week (conservative guess). I’ve had the Droll Yankee Flipper for 16 months. So, I estimate it’s saved me at least $270 in lost bird seed. I always tell folks that investing in a squirrel proof feeder has perks, one of which is that you save $$$ long term on bird food. I suppose I can use the savings to continue fueling my bird feeder addiction, but I’m thankfully out of closet space. Perhaps I should invest in Nvidia stock instead? Thanks for helping my retirement account, bird feeder.
If I had to pick any negatives about this feeder…it’s that it’s so popular that I have to fill it almost every week. I usually go through two pounds of bird seed in it. Thankfully, my full-time career has been going well and I have a well-built budget for bird seed. That being said, I’m open to accepting bird seed sponsorships in exchange for free product. I’m kidding, or maybe not.
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The weight sensitive ring is well-calibrated so birds don’t set it off. I’ve seen fat Cardinals and Blue Jays using it with no problems. In my limited time of using it, here are birds I’ve seen enjoying the feeder:
- American Goldfinches
- Black-Capped Chickadees
- Downy Woodpeckers
- House Finches
- House Sparrows
- Northern Cardinals
- Pine Siskins
- Red-Winged Blackbirds
- White-Breasted Nuthatches
Here’s a link to purchase the feeder here.
Shopping Options
I purchased my feeder from Amazon, at about $150. I believe it was on a slight sale/discount at the time and it could be listed higher over time.
Here are some other places you can buy the feeder from. It’s worth looking around to check prices!