Bird feeder help

The black birds and starlings are raiding my bird feeders and running my little song birds off. The starlings come in flocks and wipe out 3 feeders in a matter of an hour. Is there anything I can do? I know they need to eat too and I don't mind feeding them, but boy, can they eat. I am scared my little song birds will not return. Any suggestions? Thanks.

What kind of birdseed are you using? These guys LOVE corn and especially black sunflower seeds. They don't like safflower seeds. You could try changing over to a different feed to see if that helps get rid of them. My dad used to discourage the black birds and starlings by shooting one or two of them and leaving the dead birds lying there. THe songbirds would come but after a little bit the starlings and black birds wouldn't. They saw what happened to their pals. Try using a different kind of seed.

put a chicken wire cage,with holes too small for bigger birds to get through, around the feeder and change your seed mix to something like parakeet mix(not Budgie mix)

Good pointer, Mark. I'd forgotten about that tip. You can buy feeders with cages around them that keep out the larger birds, but this solution would definitely be cheaper!

I have a great bird feeder in fact I now have five of them.

I bought it at K-Mart and saw some at Home Depot.

Don't know the name of it, sorry.

It's dark green, holds 5# of seed. It has an adjustable spring on it. There's a glass front on it so you can see how much feed is left. The little birds can sit on the ledge and just eat away. It will stay open for cardinals.

If you can't find one, I'll journey over to Home Depot and see who makes it.

Let me know.
sandy

Here's an example of the kind summerwind is talking about http://www.plowhearth.com/product.asp?section_id=2008&department=3060&search_type=category&search_value=1107&pcode=87

The squirrel-proof feeder is great for the birds. Can adjust to allow different size birds to feed. Kept the squirrels at bay for 3 yrs before they figured out how to feed from it. I have used almost all feeders made and really like this one, atleast the squirrels can not destroy it as they tend to do with others.

Thank you all for such great suggestions! That bird feeder sure looks nice, but wow, is it pricey;-). I will try the chicken wire method that Mark suggested. I filled the bird feeder with a different kind of food then what I was using and right under the bird feeder I put a tray of cracked corn/millet/oat mix that I feed my chickens. The blackbirds seem to really like that and leave the other feeder alone.

Lisa:
One other thing...buy metal feeders if you have a lot of squirrels around. Squirrels are terrible about chewing up plastic feeders. They get hungry and the feeder's empty, they chew it up to try to find more seed. I fixed their little wagons by getting a tube feeder with metal pieces around the seed openings. They'll get quite a toothache chewing on that!

Hello Justmelisa
Butterfly gardner,Right on thats it!

I got mine for 39.00 but, I have seen them on sale for 29.00

This is a late post but.....
sandy

We even had grackles eating our safflower seeds a couple seasons ago. Now we have black oil sunflower seed in both our feeders, but there's been hardly any activity! Considering how cold it is, and the fact that there's some snow, this really surprises us.

I have a number of feeders and it has been in the teens for days now, I have to fill all but the woodpecker cage and the little cage I put suet in once a day!! The goldfinch empty the thistle feeders in a matter of hours! It is unbelievable (darn, no spell checker)! We also put out corn for the blue jays and other assorted ground feeders. It is fun to watch them dig through the snow to get their food.