Have to take down all the feeders again.

I feel bad about this but I'm being so overrun with Starlings and Grackles that hardly any other birds are coming to the feeders.

I had tried strictly putting safflower seeds out but as soon as they realize thats all there is to eat then they just start swallowing that.

I've also tried taking the feeders down before (for 9 days!) but I noticed they were coming by at least 3 times a day to check on the situation. Starlings are so smart.
I hope that this will at least help to cut down on their numbers. I haven't seen any wrens, titmouse and others for quite a while and I assume its because of this swarm of blackbirds all the time.
Wish me luck!

Oh I'm so sorry - what a bummer! I hope things get back to normal for you soon.

pelletory, I had this problem not too long ago. Luckily for me I am home full time sooo first when they are all out there eating everything and making such a racket I grab my "blowing machine" (electric leaf blower) and aim for the sky. It scares them and then I bang on pots with a metal spoon. Of course all my neighbors think I am the crazy lady on the block! It took a while but the flocks finally left my yard. And my regular birds were all watching! Try it!

Oh, Pelle - I am so sorry . . . Grandmaggie's ideas sound good - worth a shot?

Grandmaggie,

I did something similar when we lived in a house with a tiered fountain in front of the door. The crows (and occasional hawks) would sit and drink from the fountain, or take a bath. Since our parrots had a view out the door, I wanted to discourage this. Each time I saw them, I would grab a noisemaker a former tenant had left in a drawer and tear out the front door. All the houses on the street were set back, so no one could see me, but they could sure hear me and I bet they thought I was crazy, too! Anyway, it did work and didn't take long, either.

I have the same problem with the Grackles and they just seem to keep multiplying.

We have the same problem with Grackles, Starlings and Red Wing Blackbirds. I too take down most of my feeders. I only leave the niger seed, and put BOS in the ground feeders for the squirrels. The birds still go for the sunflower seeds, but the squirrels do a pretty good job of chasing them away. For us this goes on for about 3-4 weeks.

Cowbirds are the enemy in my backyard, Pelletory. I think I'm looking at taking down the seed feeders for a while. They've been going through a tube feeder full of seed a day. I'll leave the hummingbird feeders, suet cake and mealworms out since they don't mess with any of that so I guess the cardinals and finches will be the few birds to miss out for a while while I try to rid my yard of cowbirds. The finches will at least have the thistle seed. Poor cardinals will be SOL.

I have those darn cowbirds too, no starlings though! The Garckles here have even figured out how to eat the suet I have out! they cling to the trees or the cages and just pick way!! I couldn;t believe my eyes!!!

Yup... if it ain't the CUSS WORD squirrels it's the cowbirds. No grackles, thank goodness. But my mom fights them in Missouri as badly as I fight the cowbirds here.

We have the squirrels bad this year, and usually have starlings and CROWS for a short time, but we don't use feeders, so it doesn't last too long.

Crows, starlings, and cowbirds. They are all here now - I hate the idea of not having feeders up, but maybe I'll just do the thistle, hummingbird nectar, and some suet (unless the starlings figure a way to get it).

Darn anyway.

I'm taking mine down tonight. I had pulled one of the feeders yesterday and changed out 2 of the feeders food with safflower so that the Cardinals would have a good bit to eat. I will feel bad for the RBW and Blue Jay, they'll miss their peanut silo but hopefully this will make for a better situation. I'm even going to take the 2 sets of arms off the pole system. I will leave the thistle feeder and hummingbird feeders up since thats on another pole further away.

Thanks for all the advice. Grandmaggie, I would try your way but I work and I also think neighbors that I don't know would call the police on me for making such a racket. My neighborhood is pretty quiet.

I'll let you know if this helps.

Yes I remember coming home from work and all the feeders would be devastated! I put them away put them back and so on. But now I am home full time so I can monitor the situation. And I have only one neighbor so I can bang away and scare them off. I hope it gets better for you, pelletory! :)

My nemisis this year is Doves! They are always hanging around waiting for me to fill the feeders. They eat so fast that they can empty out a feeder in no time. The Cardinals, Chicadees, etc. don't like coming around with them here. I quit putting out feed for a few days, and it doesn't help. They are so dense that unless I clap my hands or make a move toward them they won't fly away. Now I saw a Starling this week, that is all I need!
This pic was in January and it was freezing, that is when they first showed up. There were about 13 in this pic. I felt sorry for them and didn't discourage them at first! Wrong thing to do!

WOW!! Unfortunately platform feeders are the worst to have around doves. I was thinking of just using mine for fruit from now on.

I had the same problems with grackles and crows, and then I got the cage feeder pictured here from Wild Birds Unlimited. It solved the problem pretty quickly. The holes are just too small for the large birds to get in. I also have safflower and nyjer feeders, and the combo seems to attract the finches, cardinals, etc. to the yard. Oh, I saw a brown thrush the other day! First one ever.

Congratulations on the brown thrush! I am going to buy one of those later but then I still want to have a feeder for the larger birds like woodpeckers etc.

This message was edited May 13, 2007 7:44 AM

I have one of those cage feeders too, from Duncraft, but the blackbirds and starlings still manage to stick their heads way through the wire the eat all the seed! They're just monsters.

Oh gosh Pelle, I hope you're able to outsmart those birds!
I'm having trouble with Doves and Cow Birds, the CB came after I started using a wild finch mix. I'm going back to the seed/nut/fruit mix and hopefully, they'll go away. The CB seem to be eating the round white seeds in the finch mix. The Doves eat anything they can get to. Thankfully, I've only seen 2 Grackle in the 3 or 4 years that I've had feeders up and only occasionally will get 1 or 2 Starlings.

Okay I put the pole arms back up and then when going to get the second feeder who lands on the top but a Starling. Next up was a Grackle then other Starlings. I give up. When I'm through with the seed I have I probably won't put out anything more except for thistle and safflower.

Hang in there Pel, they'll eventually leave then your other buddies can appreciate the food!

I will trade your birds and squirrells for my black bears. We bring the feeders in at night but now they come during daylight hours. They do a job on the feeders for sure.Jane

Wow that sounds dangerous!

What are we complaining about??? No thanks on the bears, I will keep my flock of Doves! LOL!

My sister moved into a new house in Ringoes NJ which is in a wooded area. This is not too far from the metropolitan areas of Princeton and Philly. Believe it or not, everyone living in this particular area got memos from the local board of mayor and aldermen telling them its time to put away all their feeders until winter because of bears!!! She was so surprised and dissappointed but you sure don't want the alternative sniffing around your home.

Actually as with all wild animals they need to be respected.At this time of year there is not much about to eat and our feeders are a free picnic in their eyes. They are very a very handsome animal and are just trying to survive. So you always check before going out. Jane

Pelletory, I see in the picuture of your first post that you have a Squirrel Buster Plus, and it looks like it's in the "closed" position. That feeder doesn't discourage the bully birds? I was looking into one for myself, but if it doesn't work...

It does a tremendous job on the squirrels( which is what it's meant to do) and other large birds but the Starlings are so smart they have figured several ways to beat it. It's a great feeder.

I changed the food in it to just safflower and then mixed it with boss.

They don't seem to bother much with it anymore.