{"id":394,"date":"2016-02-29T14:51:32","date_gmt":"2016-02-29T19:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vampstampnews.com\/wpbirdseed\/wordpress\/?p=394"},"modified":"2021-01-22T09:45:48","modified_gmt":"2021-01-22T14:45:48","slug":"nuisance-birds-at-the-feeders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/birdseedandbinoculars.com\/wordpress\/nuisance-birds-at-the-feeders\/","title":{"rendered":"Nuisance Birds at Feeders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"European
European Starlings Can Be a Nuisance On Feeders<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you are feeding birds, it is probably because you like them. Otherwise why do it? While some backyard birdwatchers welcome all birds to their feeders, for many of us, some birds are less welcome. Nuisance birds on feeders can drive a bird watcher a little crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span>Estimated reading time: <\/span>8<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What Are Nuisance Birds?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Some people don’t like House Finches. Some don’t like House Sparrows. Others draw the line at Brown-Headed Cowbirds. Red-Winged Blackbirds? European Starlings? Common Grackles? Your list may vary. What birds at your feeders do you consider nuisance birds?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Red-Winged
Sometimes a Few is Fine, but a Flock of them is Too Much<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The birds that bug me at my feeders and that I call nuisance birds are the larger, more aggressive ones that show up in force, especially in bad weather when I’m trying to provide for the locals. For example, I don’t mind a Red-Winged Blackbird or two at the feeders normally. But when forty-five show up to clean out the feeders after a snowstorm, leaving nothing for the regulars, I’m not happy. It’s kind of like inviting your neighbors to a picnic and a whole bunch of people you’ve never met show up, fill all the chairs and eat all the food, leaving the neighbors with nothing but scraps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever your list, I think it is often possible to, if not eliminate their visits, at least reduce them. The trick is to figure out what the nuisance birds like and what they don’t like. Then try to set up your feeders accordingly. My approach to this is evolving, but I have found four strategies that help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mostly
Mostly Red-Winged Blackbirds Taking Over the Feeder in the Snow<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

1) Be Present<\/strong> Near Feeders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Big roving flocks are often less tolerant of human activity. They are often more easily startled off than the local birds who are more used to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A huge flock of Red-Winged Blackbirds, Brown-Headed Cowbirds, and\/or European Starlings has a lot of beaks to fill. When they arrive in mass, you could go out and clap, jump up and down and make a fool of yourself to drive them off. Been there, done that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or simply go outside and stand in the feeder area for three or four minutes. Big flocks have better things to do than wait you out. They often get impatient and move on after a few minutes. By doing it calmly, you discourage the flock birds without freaking out the regulars as much. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the weather is bad and\/or the ground is covered in snow, the flock will probably circle back later if they don’t find another good dining spot. So you will probably need to repeat it, but this strategy at least gives the regulars windows of time to eat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mixed
Mixed Flock of Birds Eating Seed Broadcast over Snow<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2) Don’t Widely Broadcast Seed<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Another strategy is to re-think how you offer food. One practice I’ve learned will often encourage a flock is to broadcast seed over wide areas. It’s particularly tempting to do this when snow covers the ground because there are so many birds wanting to eat. It’s quick. It’s easy. But it can bring in the flocks and some of those birds may not be birds you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Birds Need Space<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Birds typically prefer space around them when they eat. I suspect this is at least partly because they need wing-span space around them for landings and take offs. Watch birds eating on the ground. They usually space themselves out. They will poke at each other or move away if another bird infringes in their space. (See how the birds in the picture above are spaced?) So food spread far and wide on the ground is very tempting for large flocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I first got started feeding birds in a big way, it was a winter when the ground was almost always covered with snow. I broadcast seed all across my yard. The result was two competing flocks of birds. One was a mixed flock of Red-Winged Blackbirds, European Starlings, Brown-Headed Cowbirds and Common Grackles. The second group was all the other birds. Only having a couple of feeders at that point, I found that spreading the seed far and wide accommodated both flocks, typically each in a different end of the spread seed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Broadcasting Too Much Seed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are problems with doing this. First, I was encouraging the large nuisance flocks that drove me crazy because I was spreading food out, giving the flock lots of room to get comfortable. Second, when you do this with sunflower seeds, you WILL be sorry in the spring when you find your grass has died off in big bare patches and hundreds of tiny sunflower plants sprout up all over your yard. (Yep, been there, did that too.) Also, seed on the ground, especially in wet weather, can rot and mold. If birds eat compromised seed, they can get sick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Handful
Handful of White Proso Millet<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

3) Reconsider White Proso Millet<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are many birds that like the small creamy colored seeds of white proso millet. In my yard, this seed is favored by Dark-Sided Juncos, White-Throated Sparrows, Song Sparrows, House Sparrows and Mourning Doves, all birds I’m OK with. It is also enjoyed by Brown-Headed Cowbirds and Red-Winged Blackbirds, birds I’d like to discourage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"I
I Put Out A Little Millet for Birds Like the Dark-Eyed Juncos <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I prefer to use millet rather than sunflower seed on the ground because sunflower seed shells make a mess and kill the grass. Instead I offer millet to ground feeding birds. But I’ve learned to be conservative with this seed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don’t buy mixed seed, and instead buy bags of individual seed types<\/a>. When the big flocks of nuisance birds are around, I try to put millet out very late in the day \u2013 maybe an hour before sunset. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By that time the nuisance birds have usually left for their roosts. The smaller birds have gotten used to me putting out a little of this seed at this time of day. The birds that like it tend to eat on the ground. I will throw a few handfuls in a fairly small area, never more than I think will get eaten in that hour or so. (If there is some left early the next morning, that’s usually ok as the nuisance birds often arrive a little later.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Suet
Suet Feeders with Protective Plastic to Discourage Starlings<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4) Selectively Block Feeder Access<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you have larger birds you’d like to discourage on your feeders, consider shortening or even removing feeder perches. Or adjust weight mechanisms if the feeder allows it. (The Squirrel Buster Plus is one feeder that allows this.<\/a>) Cage feeders like The Nuttery Globe Feeder<\/a> or Woodlink Cage Feeder <\/a>can also keep large birds out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your problem is European Starlings or Common Grackles hogging a suet feeder, you can limit them by the way you hang it and protecting it with plastic<\/a>. Or switch to upside-side down suet feeders<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch the birds that are coming to your yard. See what each type of bird eats and how they like to eat it<\/a>. This may give you ideas on how to appeal to the birds you want and discourage the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Then Chill A Little<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It is hard to keep a determined flock of aggressive birds from food that they like. If you put food out in your yard, you only have so much control over who comes to try and eat it. All you can do is try to set things up to favor the birds you want to feed and discourage the ones you don’t want. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it doesn’t work completely, try not to let it raise your blood pressure. Spend a little time watching the nuisance birds through your binoculars. Some of them are really quite beautiful in their own right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What birds bug you in your yard? What birds are on your “nuisance birds” list? What strategies have worked for you and what strategies have not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also See: Common Grackles vs The Nuttery Globe Seed Feeder<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nancie<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you are feeding birds, it is probably because you like them. Otherwise why do it? While some backyard birdwatchers welcome all birds to their feeders, for many of us, some birds are less welcome. 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