Affiliate Disclosure

Affiliate Disclosure

Perch & Feed contains affiliate links. This page explains what that means, which programs we work with, and how we keep recommendations honest.

The short version

Some links on this site are affiliate links. When you click one and buy something, we may earn a small commission. The price you pay doesn’t change. We only recommend products we have used, tested, or vetted against authoritative sources, and we tell you at the top of every article whether it contains affiliate links.

The long version

Which programs we participate in

Perch & Feed is a participant in:

  • Amazon Associates, when approved, our primary general-purpose program. Most feeders, seed, and bird baths sold on Amazon route through this program.
  • Vortex Optics affiliate program, direct, for binocular and spotting scope reviews
  • Nikon Sport Optics affiliate (via CJ Affiliate), direct, for premium optics
  • Optics4Birding / Eagle Optics, direct, specialty birding optics
  • Duncraft (via Pepperjam), specialty bird feeders and accessories
  • Wayfair, bird baths and outdoor decor
  • REI Co-op, gear, when applicable

Each program is disclosed in the specific article where its links appear. We do not run cross-site affiliate banners; placements are contextual to the article topic.

How we choose what to recommend

We recommend gear based on, in priority order:

  1. First-hand use. Hannah has been feeding birds in a small backyard for ten years and has tested most of the feeders, scopes, and seed blends we cover. If she has used something for a year and it has held up, that’s a recommendation. If it has fallen apart, broken, or attracted the wrong birds, we say so.
  2. Authoritative third-party review. Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s reviews, Audubon’s gear guides, Optics4Birding’s expert breakdowns, and peer-reviewed analyses for technical claims (eye relief, lens coatings, magnification).
  3. Bird-friendliness. A “cheap” feeder that lets seed get wet and grow mold is not a recommendation, regardless of price. A binocular that’s too heavy for an hour of yard observation isn’t either.

We do not recommend products based on commission rate, affiliate-program perks, or anyone-paying-us-anything. The optics anchor of this site (Vortex, Nikon) pays better than Amazon for an equivalent click, but we won’t recommend a Vortex if the Amazon-sold alternative is genuinely better for the reader.

What we won’t recommend (or be cautious about)

  • Bird traps, glue traps, or anything that injures the bird. Period.
  • Window strike attractants. Anything that draws birds toward windows without proper anti-collision measures.
  • “Smart” feeders that haven’t proven they survive a season. New tech-y feeders are interesting but we wait for at least a year of weather data before recommending one as a primary feeder.
  • Sub-$15 binoculars. Below this price the optics are bad enough that the experience hurts more than it helps. We tell beginners to start at $80 minimum (Nikon Aculon or similar) or hold off entirely.
  • Bulk seed that’s mostly milo or red millet. Most backyard birds reject these. Bargain-bin “mixed bird seed” with these as the top ingredients is a waste.

Editorial independence

Our recommendations are written before affiliate links are added. No brand has ever paid Perch & Feed to write about a specific product, and we will tell you if that ever changes (it won’t; that’s not the model here). We do not accept “review samples” with an expectation of coverage; if a brand sends us a product, we will say so explicitly and not promise anything in return.

If a recommendation turns out to be wrong, a feeder we praised breaks, a binocular has a known defect we didn’t catch, we update the article. We keep a running list of corrections at the bottom of any updated piece.

A note on optics specifically

Optics is a category where commissions are higher than most birding gear (4 to 8 percent at the major optics affiliates versus 3 percent at Amazon). This creates a real incentive to over-recommend $400+ binoculars. We resist this by leading every optics review with the question “is this even the right price tier for the reader,” and recommending the cheapest tier that meets the use case rather than the most-expensive-we-can-justify.

The honest truth: most beginner backyard birders are better served by a $100-150 binocular than by a $400+ one. We write that way.

Bird welfare commitment

This is a backyard birding site. The birds are why we exist. We will not recommend any product, technique, or setup that demonstrably harms wild birds, even if it would be commercially advantageous to do so. Specifically:

  • We recommend cleaning hummingbird feeders every 3 to 5 days (every 2 in hot weather) because mold and bacteria in old nectar kill hummingbirds. Cheap feeders that are hard to clean get a downgrade.
  • We do not recommend platform feeders without a strategy to keep them dry; wet seed grows aflatoxin, which is fatal to songbirds.
  • We will not write about practices that have been shown to spread avian disease (mass feeding stations during salmonella outbreaks, for example).

Questions

If you have a question about a specific recommendation, a sponsorship policy, or a correction, email hello@perchandfeed.com.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-11.