Feeder Pests and Predators

Undesirable Birds

Some people welcome any bird regardless of its size or appetite. But others get frustrated when ravenous flocks of grackles, crows, pigeons, or starlings overrun their feeders.

To discourage these larger, nuisance birds, manufacturers have come up with various creative feeder designs. Try incorporating their principles into your homemade feeders if you wish.

Use feeders that are made for smaller birds, such as tube feeders with short perches but no catch basins on which large birds may perch. Try tube feeders that have wire cages around the tubes. Finches and small birds can get through to the feeding ports but large birds are excluded. If House Finches take over your thistle feeder, try one with ports below, rather than above, the perches—only birds that can feed upside down, such as goldfinches, will be able to eat there.

If starlings are gobbling down your suet, offer it in a container open only at the bottom, requiring birds to feed hanging upside down. Woodpeckers, chickadees, and nuthatches do this naturally, but starlings cannot.

Avoid platform trays and don't spread food on the ground, where the larger aggressive species can access it. Don't offer seed mixes with corn, millet, or milo, which grackles and pigeons enjoy.

Certain types of squirrel-proof feeders also can keep out large birds—those that use a spring-loaded or counter-weighted gate that closes off access to the seed ports under the squirrel's weight. This weight adjustment can be altered to selectively exclude larger, undesirable birds.

Predatory Birds

If you feed wild birds, at some point you can expect visit from a hawk, usually a Sharp-shinned Hawk or a Cooper's Hawk. At first you'll probably welcome the close-up view. But what if your hawk stays around and scares your feeder birds away, or—even worse—eats them? The best solution is to take your feeders down for a few days. The hawk will get hungry and move on in search of alternate prey.

Hummingbirds with Bad Manners

Hummingbirds are quite territorial and can be aggressive toward each other near food supplies. You may hang out a multiple-perch feeder expecting to attract many hummingbirds, but then a single male dominates it, defending his food supply with such vengeance that the others cannot feed.

If this happens, try a feeder that has large plastic flowers disguising each feeding port. These may block the dominant hummingbird's view when he comes to feed. Another solution is to place several feeders in different parts of your yard, or separated by vegetation or other barriers, so that the domineering bird can only see one or two at a time.

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