Yes, that’s right. At last – a genuinely squirrel-proof bird feeder.

We must have spent hundreds of dollars on bird feeders over the years… Our main aim has been to keep the squirrels from hogging the bird feeder so they get all the bird food and the birds get none. And this bird feeder, the SquirrelBuster Plus from Brome Bird Care, actually works.

The main feature of the SquirrelBuster Plus is that the perches are supported on a spring so that when a squirrel lands the spring stretches, the perches are lowered and in the process access to the feeding ports is blocked off. Songbirds are too light to trigger the mechanism. Simple really.

The squirrels soon learn that they simply can’t get at the food. And the structure is so robust that although they start to chew at it they get nowhere and just give up. They can’t get the top off either as it’s cleverly locked in place.

So the squirrels just sit sadly on the rail nearby watching the chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, woodpeckers and other birds get their fill – knowing there’s no point trying.

 Some people don’t want larger birds getting at the food either and the spring can be adjusted so that larger birds like jays and grackles are also locked out. But we have it set so that only the squirrels are barred. Which is clearly not the case with another so-called squirrel-proof feeder we tried (see picture).

In fact, our feeder has been attracting so many birds this winter that they squabble to get at the seed. We should think about getting another.

We also have problems with bears so we’re careful about leaving the feeders out in summer. But sometimes the bears get to it – I think it was the fourth attack before the feeder the manufacturer sent us to try was too broken to re-assemble. We just went and bought another. Though now I hear you can get spare parts! What a service!

Oh, and you can even take the whole thing to pieces and put it in the dishwasher!

The manufacturer doesn’t sell direct, but North American bird lovers can order a Squirrel Buster Plus bird feeder from amazon.com.

British bird lovers can order the Squirrel Buster Plus bird feeder from amazon.co.uk