Black birds-starlings

[harvey lee]

Seems every year I have a ton of black birds and starling eating my cardinal food.

I have tried different feeders and I can fill the feeder and those birds come in by the herds and eat until it is gone.

How does one get ride of them as I am sick of feeding them?

I can leave the feeder empty for a week and refill and they are back within 30 minutes. Seems to go on all summer.

[walleyehunter80]

how well do you handle a shotgun?

[harvey lee]

Pretty good but my neighbors would not like that with kids running around. Even thought of the pellet gun but my neighboirs house is 20 yards from my feeders.

[pulsar_nx]

You could try a squirrel proof feeder. I've got a green metal one that has a weight adjustment that makes it difficult for them. Only problem is that the cardinals aren't to fond of my feeder and usually feed on the ground.

[kg2]

Most of the stuff in "cardinal food" attracts those types of birds. Stick with safflower for cardinals if you get those black birds.

[harvey lee]

That's what I have been using for the past month kg.

[kg2]

Well that is a bad deal. They leave my safflower alone. I do have a distraction feeder with the cheap stuff on the back side of my 15' tall berm. I also have 2 rows of lilacs on top of the berm. Most of the bully birds stay back at the cheap feed. I do get some going for my BOSS, but my BOSS is in smaller feeders where they have a hard time perching on. (I do have to worry about HOSP at the BOSS feeders, especially in the fall-winter time.)

[MN Shutterbug]

I mentioned this to a birding friend last spring and she told me that by summer time, the grackles (blackbirds), leave town and head for the woods and return in the fall. I recall that last year, they disappeared mid june and never showed up again in the fall. I think they wait until the young are old enough to go with them. There are still some prety young ones around here, but it shouldn't be much longer. It might be a little later this year, due to the cold spring. However Tom, if you live close to the woods, you may be stuck with them all summer.

[MN Shutterbug]

Blasted things are still here. I was down to 3 - 5 a few days ago so I filled up all the feeders once again. I looked out the window this morning and there were close to a dozen. Word must spread fast. This might go on til the end of the month.