Spent a few months testing out various bird feeders and seed combinations. I finally settled on a system that works pretty well... and just in time for social distancing and the year of cancellations! I have a Brome Squirrel Buster Legacy setup for small birds, a Squirrel Buster Plus for medium to large birds, and a Squirrel Buster Peanut Plus for the nut lovers.
So far I have attracted Painted Buntings, Blue Jays, Yellow Rumped Warblers, Northern Cardinals, House Finches, Boat Tailed Grackles, Mourning Dove's, and the ever mischievous Eastern Gray Squirrel. The latter took me a few weeks to successfully deter from the feeders. Now they try them for a few moments and then go about searching the ground for dropped seed. I had to make a modification to the Squirrel Buster Legacy to prevent the Grackles from using it. By adding PVC coated wire mesh I was able to prevent them from landing with one foot on the feed tray; this allowed them to shift their weight to the non moving interior tube.
I suggest the Brome Squirrel Buster feeders to anyone looking to attract some birds to their yard and needing a squirrel proof bird feeder. You must mount them at least 15 inches away from anything a squirrel can hold onto while straddling the distance to the feeder. Test out your bird seed and modify as necessary... I now mix my own from a big box hardware store and a local pet store. FYI, I am not affiliated with or sponsored by Brome... I purchased the feeders myself after a lot of research.
My only recurring problem is the Muscovy ducks... I have two juveniles that learned they could sit below the feeders and get easy meals. The problem is that they also demolish and crap on everything around my patio. I have resorted to chasing them off with an RC car. I started with 5 problem ducks and now only regularly have two... so hopefully they will learn to go be ducks in the pond!
All footage was filmed with a Panasonic G9 and Pana-Leica 100-400mm lens.