The idea being, birds won’t want to dive into a deep container to get seed because they are afraid of becoming trapped. Use this instead of a tray to catch the seed. Basically you get a large plastic bucket or garbage pail (has to be deep, with tall sides) and drill a hole in the bottom for the feeder pole to go through. I saw this DIY seed catcher someone had made online and thought it was an interesting idea. You can also get no-waste mixes of seeds and nut chips. This might also be sold as “sunflower meats”, “sunflower hearts” or “sunflower kernels”. You can buy a single seed, such as hulled sunflower. Whatever does make it to the ground will probably get eaten up quick by cardinals and chipping sparrows and other birds that prefer ground feeding. The feeder birds will be able to eat more of it and won’t dig around as much, tossing less to the ground.
One of the easiest ways to keep excess seed off the ground is using seeds that are already “hulled”, which is have had their shells removed. Again, some birds will use these as their own personal platform feeder, so this might not work for everyone. This Seed Buster tray attaches to the pole under your feeder, and this hoop catcher hangs off of the bottom. I had one of these on my nyjer feeder and there was a mourning dove that loved to sit in it like it was his personal couch! Your cardinals will like it, but so may the birds you are trying to avoid. However, this type of tray can sometimes just become its own bird feeder. Many Droll Yankee tube feeders have this option and are sold separately. Some bird feeders come with attachable trays. Reducing the amount of seed you have on the ground beneath your feeders will give them less to eat, and make the area less attractive as a hang out. They may flock in large numbers underneath your feeders looking for the cast-offs. Some bully birds such as starlings, blackbirds, pigeons and doves, really like to eat off the ground. Try an upside down suet feeder for a harder meal 2. So might not be the best first option to try. I’ll mention it here as an option but after reading through reviews online it seems like this is very hit or miss for people in terms of keeping bully birds away.
It may take a bit of time for birds to find this and sometimes grackles can get a little wise to it, but it should keep them from just eating your whole block in one day. Clinging birds like woodpeckers and nuthatches have no problem hanging upside down, but birds like starlings and blackbirds don’t like this. But you can cut down on the amount of suet they consume by using an upside-down suet feeder. Many of these large birds enjoy suet too. A quality feeder that would work well for this is the Squirrel Buster Legacy, or any of the other Brome squirrel buster feeders. These are often geared towards keeping squirrels off your feeder, but can sometimes be used for larger birds as well if you set the feeder to its most sensitive setting. These types of feeders are sensitive to the weight of the bird or animal that steps onto the perch and will close off access to the food if the weight is too heavy. Buy a dome that is adjustable, and you can lower the “umbrella” portion until there is not enough room for big birds to perch on the dish. They are made up of a small open dish for the seed, and a large plastic dome that sits over the dish like an umbrella. Dome Feedersĭome feeders can also work to keep large birds out.
Just remember to cover the top and bottom as well, and keep the cage openings right around 1.5 x 1.5 square to allow small birds in and keep large birds out. You can always try to DIY a cage too if you’re handy. It doesn’t save you much money over just buying a caged feeder, but if there is a certain feeder you really want to use this might be a good way to keep that feeder and cage it up. This page has some different sized cages you might be able to fit around a feeder you already have. This is a tube feeder with a large cage around it, and the cage openings are large enough to let in birds like finches, chickadees and titmice, but will keep the larger birds out. The best way to do this is with a caged feeder. You can use the size of these birds against them and select feeders that only allow smaller birds access. Let’s look at tips for the large bully birds first: Starlings, Grackles, Blackbirds, Crows, Blue Jays, Pigeons and Doves 1. European Starlings, Grackles, Crows, Redwing Blackbirds, Pigeons and House Sparrows. They are large, can show up in droves, push out all your beloved songbirds and sit there all day pigging out and emptying your feeders.
But if you’ve been feeding birds for awhile you may have noticed some birds are a little…problematic. Most of us love to see all the different types of birds that find our bird feeders.
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