Help!!! Over run with unwanted birds!

[bmc]

Every spring my feeders get over run with what I call "undesirables". Starlings and grackles clean them out on a daily basis. Besides breaking out the shotgun

what can I do to keep these birds away. We live in town and there's swamp/lake on 3 sides of town. I'm not sure what seed I'm using at this time, but is there a certain type that the smaller birds like and the "undesirables" don't?

Brian

[Steve Foss]

You can buy a tube feeder designed for thistle (niger) seed, which goldfinches and siskins and some other small birds like, but that have openings too small for grackles and starlings to be interested.

Another possibility is to add a second or a third feeder. While it might just serve to attract more starlings and grackles, more often it gives the other birds better opportunities to get some seed.

About the only seed I ever used is black oil sunflower. In spring and fall, I also scatter cracked corn on the ground for migrant sparrows and juncos. Black oil is still pretty inexpensive, about $10 to $12 for a 50 lb bag in most places. Niger, on the other hand, is $1 per pound or more.

Short of shooting the grackles and starlings, you'll not get rid of them until they're ready to leave. The above measures may simply give the other birds a better chance at getting fed. I know it's hard to put up with the bullies.

[WCS]

You can try using straight safflower seed in your regular feeders. The grackles don't like it, but some larger birds like cardinals and grosbeaks still eat it. Don't buy a large bag because it won't go very fast. Like Steve mentioned, use the thistle feeders for the smaller birds. I am not sure if starlings eat safflower or not.

[Tenpoint]

I also have had some success with safflower seed. I had to quit feeding sunflower seed in the summer, because the blackbirds would eat me out of house and home. With the current snow even the grackles and blackbirds ate it though.

[BLACKJACK]

I guess I look at it as part of birdfeeding, you're going to get the 'bad' birds with the good birds. Its kind of like putting out corn for deer and saying you don't want to feed any to the coons and squirrels. If you stop feeding, then you miss a lot of the action this time of year, birds in their brightest colors, territorial displays, etc. I also live by a swamp and this time of year I get plenty of redwing blackbirds, but you know they're not so bad, sit on your deck and listen to them sing. Notice how grackle feathers shimmer green, purple, etc. in the birght sun.

My wife's treadmill overlooks one of our birdfeeders and she commented how last night the ground was almost moving with all the birds. Yes some were blackbirds and grackles but their were also juncos and goldfinches and nuthatches and downy woodpeckers and - you get the picture, the good come with the 'bad'.

One hint, stick to the cheaper foods like 50 pound bags of sunflowers, beef suet is lots cheaper than peanuts, and thisle seed in tubes will only feed the small birds. By just feeding sassflower you'll drive too many good birds away.

[roadkingclasic56]

I agree that the less desirable birds are just something you have to put up with for a time. My wife and I have really enjoyed watching the feeder the last week and a half. It's great to see the summer birds returning. During the snow storm the birds really fed heavy. When you looked out at the small birch trees in the yard there were purple finches, gold finches, redpolls, chickadees, juncos, and nuthatches sitting in the branches. What a colorful display. It was almost comical to see the starlings trying to take cover under the little roof on one of our seed feeders. All of the winter birds didn't mind the driving snow but the starlings were all puffed up and holding their feet up and the little birds were feeding all around them. My wife doesn't like the grackles, black birds, and starlings in the feeder and does her share of shoooing them away which provides another avenue of entertainment. We also had a pair of american robins feeding in the lawn just before the snow storm. We have had a brown thrasher at the feeder all winter long. They need to be fed a little different than the others being ground feeders but it was fun doing things a little special just for that bird. They have a beautiful song. To top it off, my wife walked out the door this afternoon on her way to work and there was a female pheasant under the feeder.Living where we do this was a treat. I suspect it got away from someone but it was still fun to see out there. Love the feeders this time of year. Great entertainment.

[bmc]

Thanks for the replies guys. On my one feeder, I think I could wrap a piece of chicken fence around it and keep the "undesireables" out, but I'll have to see. I do enjoy watching all the different birds, but just wish the starlings and grackles would go away. I love stepping outside and hearing the redwing blackbirds singing. While at work this evening, I saw a robin all puffed up getting some left over berries out of a tree. I bet he was thinking, "I shoulda' stayed a bit farther south for a while!"

Brian

[Dotch]

To some degree the grackles and starlings are part of the cost of doing business. I've pretty much refrained from shooting the grackles but every once in awhile the starlings get my dander up, especially if they're driving away the woodpeckers on the suet and my air rifle is handy. The new windows on the house lend themselves well to snuffing out this introduced species. I like the red-winged blackbirds too even though they were pests in the sunflower fields we once scouted. Bobolinks were once pests in rice fields too but now many are lucky to see a bobolink. Seed mix doesn't seem to matter much on starlings or grackles here. The starlings feed primarily on suet and the grackles love sunflower. They don't care for safflower other than to dump it out of the feeders and there are plenty of other things to eat. The birds that really tick me off though are the house sparrows. Everything you read by the "experts" tells you to avoid feeding cheap seed blends with lots of millet and cracked corn and to feed sunflower as they won't eat that. Obviously our sparrows did not read that info. Confection or black oil sunflower, makes no difference.

[Meaney]

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what can I do to keep these birds away.

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Do what I do, just enjoy their company! they need lovin too