EcoClean Dinner Bell Review & WBU Giveaway!

Since moving house in June, I've been trying to get the hang of back yard bird feeding here in Florida versus what I was used to in northern Illinois. I made the mistake of keeping unsealed bags of bird seed in the garage (hello meal moths), of offering nyjer bird seed in summer (no takers), and of using uncovered feeders in the rainy season (leading to a wet block of spoiled seed). I've gotten rid of the moths but I'm still working on using different feeders to offer appropriate seed to the regulars.

The EcoClean Dinner Bell Feeder from Wild Birds Unlimited is just what I need in our yard now. The small open feeding tray is covered with a sturdy, over-sized, clear plastic dome. The dome can be raised or lowered depending on the type of birds you'd like to attract. I've left it about as high as possible to offer the contents to any bird who wishes to visit. The dome protects the seed from the elements, which means the seed stays fresh longer when it rains. The tray has small drainage holes, which would be especially handy in case I ever decide to use the feeder without the dome.

Easy to assemble

The EcoClean Dinner Bell is sold disassembled; assembly was extremely easy and only involved screwing the dome and the tray onto the metal wire.

A versatile feeder

This feeder came with a bag of Bark Butter Bits, which I have been offering along with some other general wild bird seed.

The EcoClean Dinner Bell is also compatible with WBU's seed cylinder system, and is appropriate for almost any other type of bird food. The following video from WBU shows birds feeding on live mealworms and on a seed cylinder, both from this great feeder:

Bark Butter Bits are small suet balls (kind of like Dippin' Dots for birds!). Bark Butter is known to attract over 100 species of bird (wow!) and these little balls of suet are perfect to offer a small amount to our small-but-growing group of back yard birds.

Cleaning is easy

According to WBU, the EcoClean products "feature a patented technology that inhibits the surface growth of damaging bacteria, mold and other microbes. This protection won’t wash or wear away, and it uses environmentally friendly technology." This means that there's no need to use bleach when cleaning this feeder. And cleaning is a breeze with this open feeder. While it's extremely easy to completely disassemble the unit for cleaning, it's not really necessary with such an open-style feeder.

WBU giveaway!

In addition to providing me with the feeder-bark butter combo for review, WBU has generously offered my blog readers the chance to win a product of choice (valued up to $50) from their great catalog of back yard birding supplies and gifts.

Here's how to enter the giveaway:

1. Mandatory entry: Visit http://shop.wbu.com/ and then leave a comment on this blog post telling me which product you'd like to win (up to $50)
2. Get one extra entry by becoming a fan of Wild Birds Facebook Page. Leave an additional comment on this post to let me know you've done this.
3. Get one extra entry by signing up for the Wild Birds Unlimited Newsletter (sign up in the sidebar box here: http://www.wbu.com/). Leave an additional comment on this post to let me know you've done this.

So go ahead and browse through the WBU online shop catalog and pick out your favorite product. Here are some links to feeders and seeds to get you started:

Wild Bird Feeders
Window Bird Feeders
Finch Feeders
Thistle Bird Seed
Hopper Bird Feeders
Black Oil Sunflower Seed
Peanut Feeders

This contest is open to anyone with a U.S. address. The winner will be picked via random drawing next Tuesday, December 20th, so all entries must be received by 11:59PM EST on Monday, December 19th. Good luck! Even if you don't win, visit http://shop.wbu.com for great holiday gifts! For standard shipping, place your order before 9AM PST for holiday delivery.

I'll leave you with a Wingscapes BirdCam image of the very first visitor to my EcoClean Dinner Bell: a Carolina Chickadee - keeping dry along with all that seed in the rain!