A couple of years ago, I purchased a Squirrel-Be-Gone Bird Feeder, produced by Perky-Pet. It’s their feeder that touts Flexports (access ports for birds to reach the seed), which are clear plastic (silicon?) diaphragms with the starburst openings for birds to access seed. You see one just above the perch in the photo above. I became so fond of the first one, that I purchased another, and yet more – eventually owning four.
These feeders are easy to fill, work as advertised relative to squirrels, and hold a lot more grain than many other styles. And as I was to discover, they are constructed in a way that the user can dismantle for cleaning and repair. They not only come apart easily, but go back together with minimal trouble.
However, since we live close to a marsh, as soon as the Red-Wing Blackbirds discovered our feeders, we were mobbed. These are aggressive harvesters. Within days of their arrival, the feeders began to lose quantities of seed, emptying in less than a day. Most of those seed were wasted, pouring out onto the ground. Investigating the losses, I discovered the birds had destroyed the “Flexports”
On dismantling the feeders, it was apparent I could readily replace the ports, if available. So I contacted the company and had a series of very pleasant conversations with staff. I could return the feeders (if purchased within the year) for full replacements. but there was no way to acquire replacement Flexports. Because several of my feeders were a year old, and I had no receipts, I decided to attempt a repair.
My first attempt at repair involved adding teeth back to the Flexports, gluing heavy-duty rubber in place. In a series of trials I learned the opening had to be sufficient to allow access for the various kinds of birds.
Enlarging the opening to satisfy my clients, however, I discovered the core issue, the reason so much grain was escaping. Turns out the weight of seed pushing down the sloped walls of the canister generates a flow of grain that pushes through the top of each compromised Flexport. Lacking the capacity to restore the Flexports, which depend on soft, flexible materials to contain the grain and provide access for beaks, it became clear I would need to abandon that approach. Inspecting design of more standard bird feeders that do not depend on Flexports, I realized my best option would be to remove the Flexports and devise some system to deflect seed form sliding down the wall of the canister and pouring out the openings.
Basically, this meant rigging a mechanism to funnel grain to form a central pile, one that would spread to fill the bottom of the feeder and would make grain available so birds could access feed through the four openings. I considered installing some kind of shunt or canopy over each opening (which is a common feature of bird feeders), but was discouraged by the prospect of managing this with my hands inside the tapering plastic canister. With the basic idea of funneling the flow of grain, I decided to experiment with positioning a wide-mouth funnel, the sort made for canning, which would divert grain to the center of the feeding area.
Having an old aluminum canning funnel available, I discovered that it fit PERFECTLY down into the feeder, directing seed to the center where grain refills the lower cavity without forcing contents out the openings where Flexports had been. With the funnel in place, I then covered the lower third of each opening using a long piece of duct tape with the upper edge folded. The tape formed a lip around the shallow basin that contains the supply of seed birds could access.
Once the feeder was reassembled, I learned it was necessary to adjust the edge of the folded tape to ensure the birds had working access to the seed. Importantly, the spring-loaded Perch must function still, denying access to squirrels (which would certainly claw the tape to bits). Three months on – the birds have mastered the new design and the feeders continue to work without wasting grain.
Below I’ll show step-by-step photos of the process, hoping the manufacturers will consider options, either a re-design of the seed vault, or marketing the Flexports as spare parts available for replacement.
The Retrofit:
You’ll have to lift the top (the brown conical roof) of the feeder in order to access the Brace, which holds and centers the suspending cable in place by locking into the top of the seed Canister. Inspect the Brace and you’ll discover that twisting it just a few degrees counterclockwise aligns tabs molded into the Canister with recesses in the Brace, thus freeing it for removal.
With the hanger and brace removed, you can clean out the Canister. Turning it upside-down, note the Perches and bottom plate are one unit, secured by 4 screws. Be aware those screws anchor the Perch and plate to a spring-mounted plastic base, which is the squirrel-proofing mechanism. To remove the Perch and make repairs, you’ll have to take out these small screws. I recommend using a magnetized Phillips driver, and even use a magnetic tray if you have it. The screws are small, and slip easily from the hands (at least from mine).
Once the Perch and bottom plate are removed, you are left with the Canister assembly, which includes the four Flexports and the spring-loaded brown, plastic Base. (The Base is shown below, held in place with my fingers. You will probably need to pull this base up and hold it in place when re-attaching, at least for the first screw to catch)
Using a blade of some kind, just pry out the Flexports. They pop out easily, leaving four arched openings in the Canister.
If replacement Flexports were available, it would be simple to install them and re-assemble the feeder. Lacking that, I have added the funnel (to keep seed from flowing out the openings) and a girdle of heavy tape (with the top edge folded so as to strengthen and eliminate the sticky surface.)
Installing the funnel is pretty simple. If you have access to a 5″ aluminum funnel, that might fit perfectly. I had one in my supplies, but they no longer seem to be available, so I purchased plastic canning funnels, which are a bit larger than the aluminum one, and have to be trimmed down to lodge in the base of the canister. I also trimmed the spout, since there has to be a gap below the spout to allow free flow of seed to the center.
With the funnel in place, I recommend adding two strips of tape inside the Canister to keep the funnel properly positioned. (This was unnecessary for the aluminum funnel, since it nested perfectly on the ledge at the bottom of the canister.)
Finally, reassemble the perch, which means pulling on the spring-loaded Base so the first screw can be installed. Note, the tape adds a bit of thickness, so make certain the Perch remains free to move; it still has to function to discourage squirrels.
That’s it. I retrofitted four of these feeders over the past few months, and they continue to function well without spilling excess seed.
Link to this Page: https://botanyincontext.com/retrofitting-a-squirrel-be-gone-max-bird-feeder/