How To Keep House Sparrows Off Your Feeders
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- Опубликовано: 28 июл 2024
- Feeding an invasive species like House Sparrows negatively effects our native birds. These are the ways I still feed native birds, but not House Sparrows.
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Your tips have been very helpful to me as I have a double suet feeder in which Ive had trouble with house sparrows and starlings. So I changed mine over with the plastics cases and hardware cloth you suggest for about 6 weeks now and the house sparrows no longer go to it , but a couple starlings have just arrived and can reach in to get some suet , but they are not able to get out big chunks as they could before. Hoping they will eventually give up on it. Thanks again for your valuable tips for me and others.
I'm so happy to hear that!! I feel pretty lucky I haven't had to deal with starlings (yet). They can be persistent. If they keep it up maybe put some plain suet in there for a couple of weeks.
@@habitatYEG Yes, same issue here! I just took down my double suet feeder that I put up for the woodpeckers because the house sparrows had no problem hanging upside down on it and having a feast. I will be getting the hardware cloth as well and giving it another try, and change to pure suet. Thank you for all the suggestions!!
it really does help! Just make sure that feeder gets boiling water on it to get all scent of suet nuts/grains off of it. That goes a long way too. :)@@joannes8485
@@habitatYEG So doing the update and the regular winter starlings have arrived and tried to use the double suet with the added plastic cases and hardware cloth and did not stay long. They seemed quite confused , so very happy that this worked out for me. HS have not even attempted for many weeks. You may have seen the cage I use , it has 2 suet cages inside of a larger outside cage, smaller birds can go inside of the outer cage , but larger birds like starlings cannot.
AMAZING! I am so happy for you!!@@yes350yes
Thank you Melissa 🙏🏼 the house sparrows came about a month ago to my suet feeders. I have not seen the chickadees or nut hatches since. New to this winter feeding so this was very helpful.
It's so hard for the nuthatches and chickadees to compete with such a big and aggressive bird. :( Hopefully they will come back soon after you change the suet set up. :)
@@habitatYEG I will change it up for sure
Thank you for sharing your examples of innovative ways to deter house sparrows. Our bird feeder is loaded only with a mixture of seeds marketed for chickadees and nuthatches and is used regularly. I hung some weighted strings with bits of brightly colored flagging tape on the feeder to keep house sparrows away. I wish other people would see house sparrows as the invasive bullies that they are. We don't feed birds during the summer because they don't need it. Our suet feeder is just a piece of plywood with 1/2 inch holes drilled into it which I fill with beef or pork fat drippings stored in a refrigerated soup can. It hangs flat against one of the poles of our pergola where it feeds only the chickadees, nuthatches and a downy woodpecker. Sparrows ignore it.
That is so fantastic to hear what you are doing! I use a similar deterrent for my nest boxes so I can't use it on feeders. I've read that they do become desensitized at some point, and I've been using them on my nest boxes for years. I'd like to be able to keep using it for many more so I save it for those. Keep on fighting the good fight!
Thank you so much for sharing this helpful information. Take care, God bless
You're very welcome! :)
You might like my house sparrow-proof mealworm feeder shown on a video on my channel. It really works to exclude house sparrows.
Hey there! I prefer to build habitat and let them get their bugs for free haha I've never had to provide insects. I also put out very little food. It gets very problematic.
Melissa, what great info! I shall be using some of these ideas. I am also trying the halo circle to deter sparrows. Have you tried it? Any comments or concerns?
Thank you! I have used similar techniques to the halo but on my nest boxes. I don't use them around feeders because then they will be less effective for my nest boxes when spring comes around and that is more important to me than feeding if that makes sense. So far it has been very effective on my boxes and I just make sure to take them down right after nesting season.
So good to know. I also read to take them down before the babes are out in the spring. The babes will figure it out and pass on the info. Thanks again.
That's exactly right!@@nancydormer9616
Melissa, I have house finches that totally monopolize my feeder. Is there any way to deter them? They are feeder hogs!
I guess it depends on who you would rather be feeding. If you have a large flock, sometimes just taking the food down for a couple of weeks disperses it. If it's a tray feeder than there is nothing you can do. House Finches do not enjoy suet, so switching to suet feeder will make a difference too!
I dont see the the rounded bottom mesh feeder you show here listed anywhere, is it available?
Do you mean the one with loose seed or the suet ball holder? The suet ball holder I bought from a bird store that is no longer in business, but the seed holder mesh ball is easily found. Search for Perky Pet seed ball feeder.
Obviously cannot get the mesh feeder you show here, but did get the round ball feeders from amazon. I have a red and green ball. They have been a real hit here for goldfinches and house finches. Once winter is over the ball feeders will come down and I will only use the upside down tube feeders for goldfinches. Before when I used the sock feeders the house finches took that over and kept the goldfinches away so thats why I had to go to the upside down feeders.
@@yes350yes If I ever find it I will post here!!
Why would you not want to feed any bird or squirels?
Hi! House Sparrows are an non native invasive species in Canada that are a big problem for our native birds, and farmers too. If we feed an house invasive species, it makes it more and more difficult for our native cavity nesting species like: chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, owls....etc to find a nesting cavity. House Sparrows are more aggressive, nest earlier and multiple times per year so there is nothing left for our native birds. When you feed squirrels in your yard, it sends them the signal this is an area to protect for themselves. They raid a lot of birds nests, and become more aggressive defending a food source which creates an unsafe environment for birds visiting your yard or trying to nest there. Hope that explains things!
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