I think when feeding the birds its not a case who you would like to eat your table,you must invite all and they take their chance,how ever hard that seems to us.You hang things in all sorts of ways and they'll find away.Enjoy the variety that comes to your table ,much more interesting and the little birds wont suffer,just be aware of Mr.ratty a much more of a foe,so don't leave scraps about.
I do enjoy the variaty of birds that come to my garden, and that all the birds get there fair share of food, all that I was saying is that the starlings make such a mess, they empty the feeders in no time at all, and there is certainly no shortage of them coming to my garden.
I do sympathise with Carol as I understand how starlings can hoover up everything almost before you have come back in the house. I saw a clever trick in a garden recently: the woman has used two green plastic-covered metal hanginging baskets and laced them together with wire to form a ball - but inside she had placed an ordinary feeder. The small birds hopped in and out the the bigger ones couldn't get through. Not so efficient for refilling unless you think about it carefully. If you have hanging baskets hanging around (!) might be a cheaper alternative.
I have a lot of bother with Magpies hanging on the fat ball feeder which in itself is hilarious to watch but that suggestion of the wire baskets is brilliant, I don't mind the Starlings as they endangered we need to try and help, I put shops own muesli mix in with my bird seed which is better than just the "oats" and makes the seed go further.
That sound's okay, might give it a try with the hanging basket idea! Its the amount of seed I go through, have bought another feeder which the Starlings don't seem to like, as they cant seem to perch on it.
With all these decorative 'bird cages' around -online and in shops - some are very attractive and if you are careful and choose one with the right size gaps you can put a fat ball or seed feeder inside and keep squirrels and other large feeders out and they look very lovely to boot. And of course the birds don't get the irony.
This morning I saw a sparrow hawk move horizontally into my pear tree where the niger seed bird feeder is and grab a goldfinch, he moved incredibly fast. Earlier this year a sparrow hawk killed 10 of the11 gold finches that were feeding here. BUT janfran's brillant idea for keeping starlings away from the bird food could work well for protecting the goldfinches whilst they feed. I just have to figure out the logistics for re-filling.
Posts
I think when feeding the birds its not a case who you would like to eat your table,you must invite all and they take their chance,how ever hard that seems to us.You hang things in all sorts of ways and they'll find away.Enjoy the variety that comes to your table ,much more interesting and the little birds wont suffer,just be aware of Mr.ratty a much more of a foe,so don't leave scraps about.
I do enjoy the variaty of birds that come to my garden, and that all the birds get there fair share of food, all that I was saying is that the starlings make such a mess, they empty the feeders in no time at all, and there is certainly no shortage of them coming to my garden.
I do sympathise with Carol as I understand how starlings can hoover up everything almost before you have come back in the house. I saw a clever trick in a garden recently: the woman has used two green plastic-covered metal hanginging baskets and laced them together with wire to form a ball - but inside she had placed an ordinary feeder. The small birds hopped in and out the the bigger ones couldn't get through. Not so efficient for refilling unless you think about it carefully. If you have hanging baskets hanging around (!) might be a cheaper alternative.
I have a lot of bother with Magpies hanging on the fat ball feeder which in itself is hilarious to watch but that suggestion of the wire baskets is brilliant, I don't mind the Starlings as they endangered we need to try and help, I put shops own muesli mix in with my bird seed which is better than just the "oats" and makes the seed go further.
That sound's okay, might give it a try with the hanging basket idea! Its the amount of seed I go through, have bought another feeder which the Starlings don't seem to like, as they cant seem to perch on it.
You say the Starlings are endangered, but I have to admit not in my area! They are unbelievable.
With all these decorative 'bird cages' around -online and in shops - some are very attractive and if you are careful and choose one with the right size gaps you can put a fat ball or seed feeder inside and keep squirrels and other large feeders out and they look very lovely to boot. And of course the birds don't get the irony.
What a lovely idea!
They can be pretty
But can be a problem. As others have said take away their favourite food for a bit and it will calm down.
But in no certain terms put out unwanted onion bhaji, as i woke up to a flock of 100 of them in the garden!
This morning I saw a sparrow hawk move horizontally into my pear tree where the niger seed bird feeder is and grab a goldfinch, he moved incredibly fast. Earlier this year a sparrow hawk killed 10 of the11 gold finches that were feeding here. BUT janfran's brillant idea for keeping starlings away from the bird food could work well for protecting the goldfinches whilst they feed. I just have to figure out the logistics for re-filling.