Backyard Birds: Battling Blackbirds

Cafe Society
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Couldn’t decide where this should go. I decided birdwatching/feeding was a leisure activity, therefore Cafe Society. If the mods feel it would fit in better elsewhere, please feel free to move it.

Friends, I have recently become bird-stricken. A feeder went out, filled with black oil sunflower, and birds soon arrived: sparrows, juncos, chickadees, cardinals, blue jays, the occasional house or purple finch. Squirrels too–for them I got corn, hopefully to encourage them to stay away from the bird feed. It didn’t work–they ate the corn and bird feed both. I didn’t mind -too- much; I like watching squirrels also, so long as they don’t completely dominate the feeder and scare the birds away.

As part of the campaign to distract squirrels, I picked up a corn-based seed cake. The squirrels took note, and ate it up. They dropped nearly as much as they ate, and this attracted birds. Among the birds were grackles and starlings. LOTS of grackles and starlings. I’m not sure that it was the corn that brought them out, though that’s my hypothesis. Whatever it was, they suddenly showed up in droves, where before they’d been just a small part of the flock that visits the back yard.

I don’t mind them in small numbers, but they are definitely NOT the birds that I want to attract. They also seem to scare off the smaller birds on occasion; I just saw one run a downy woodpecker away from the suet feeder. :mad: Plus, I’ve read that grackles occasionally kill and eat other birds at feeders.

What can I do? Ideally I’d like to keep the smaller birds and the cardinals/blue jays while I send the sparrows and grackles packing. Any advice would be appreciated. :slight_smile:

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I forgot to mention: The suet that has for some reason created great interest in both starlings and downy woodpeckers is an apple suet mix; I don’t know if that may be a a factor.

While on the birding topic: What do you dopers do to clean birdfeeders? I want to keep my feathered friends healthy and happy, and I understand that cleaning is important. We’ve got a wooden hopper type feeder out which is the one I’m most curious about cleaning. Some sites seem to recommend bleach, others vinegar.

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I am originally from Gibson County in Tennessee. Not to frighten you, but the starling blackbird problem got to be so bad there that they once tried to kill three million of them at one time. Seems to me like they sprayed them with water on a night that they knew would be below freezing.

I think they killed a good number of them, but I don’t know if they ever figured out what to do with a couple of million dead birds.

Proceed with caution.

– “Miss Histoplasmosis 1961”

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This link is to a study done in Gibson County. It mentions five million birds.

See, all you have to do is talk about them and even history changes to make more birds.

You are doomed I tell you!

Moderator interjects alert that this link is to a fairly large .pdf file, so be warned – CKDH

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Sorry I can’t really help with your question, I am perplexed. In know other people have problems with starlings and such at their feeders but it has never been an issue around here. We have starlings and grackles in abundance and they simply ignore all my feeders, including the suet feeder.

It might be partly a function of the time of year, I think winter flocks of these birds should be breaking up right about now, maybe that will alleviate your problem somewhat. Also different sources of food should be becoming available to the birds as the weather warms up.

This page has a list of different types of birds and the seed they prefer, maybe you can find some combination that works better for you.

Do you have a thistle (aka niger or nyjer) feeder? I love mine, it brings in lots of goldfinches, and the squirrels and “trash birds” ignore it.

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I live in west-central Indiana, and the Starlings have been HELL here! They chase off the other birds, and eat up all the food and seed.
My feeders (I have 7 seed feeders, 6 large suet cages, plus 3 baskets that I put stale bread, chips, crackers and whatnot into) have been cleaned out in mere minutes by the Starlings.
I have found that if you stop putting out food for a few days, it minimizes the number than keep showing up. At least for a couple of days or so. Then, they’re back in droves, just like before.
One day about a month or so ago, my daughter and I counted over 100 of them that were going apeshit at and around the feeders.
It sure didn’t take long for them to decimate the seed/suet/bread-cracker supply that day!

I clean my feeders in a weak solution of bleach and hot water. I use a long handled bottle brush to get to the sides and bottom of the feeders, and it seems to work really well. I just usually let them air dry, which doesn’t take long.
I use the same solution for my hummingbird feeders during the summer, too.

I make my own suet for the birds. I save the leftover grease (leave the meat bits in there…the birds LOVE it) from hamburgers, sausage, etc. Then, when I’ve got enough, I melt it all down, let it cool a bit, then I add dry cat food, bird seed, peanuts or whatever nuts I’ve got handy that are getting old, crushed crackers, stale cereal (Cheerios, Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies…not the sugary kinds, though) to it, and stir it up really well. Then, I pour it into 9x9" aluminum pans and set them in the fridge so the grease can set up. After they’re good and solid, I wrap them and freeze them, so they’ll always be on hand when it’s time to refill the suet cages. I only use this in the winter. During the summer, they feed on bugs, worms and whatnot. They don’t need the extra fat in their diet in the summer. My suet attracts Chickadees, Titmice (Titmouses?), Downy Woodpeckers, Blue Jays, Cardnials, Red-Headed Woodpeckers, Dark-Eyed Juncos, Starlings, of course, and many more that I can’t even begin to name, nor recall!

I gathered some pine cones from the backyard, tied a bunch of them together with heavy yarn, and smeared them with peanut butter, then rolled them in birdseed. I hung them out on the trees and the birds really enjoyed them! I only do this in the winter, too. Not in the summer.

In the spring and early summer, I also set out a basket with dryer lint in it (sometimes, if I cut my daughter’s hair, I’ll put the cut hair in there, too). They grab it, fly off and use it for nesting. I always put out the dryer lint after I’m finished with the laundry each day, and it is always ALL hauled off by the birds!

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cough
Make that ‘Cardinals’. :smack:
Please excuse any/all typos that I haven’t corrected. I’m tired. :dubious:

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Apropos of nothing, I was in the front yard today when I heard a commotion. A bald eagle was gliding at treetop level over the back yard, which upset a murder of crows or an unkindness of ravens (I can never tell them apart) that swooped toward the intruder to drive it away. (The eagle didn’t appear to notice, but just kept gliding on its way.)

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Lagomroph: Funny; a few years ago the squirrels (we think) tore down a njyer filled sock/mesh bag thingy and made off with it. I don’t have a thistle feeder up at the moment–there’s one in the garage that could stand to be dragged out soon. That page tends to confirm my suspicion that the corn may have attracted the blackbirds. Their numbers have dropped as the last of the corn has been cleaned up, though there are still a few hanging around. Bottom-feeding suet feeders, oooh–that page is quite a wealth of information. Thanks!

nonacetone: Wow! I’d love to have the room for that many feeders. :slight_smile: Bleach and water sounds like a solid way to go for cleaning the feeders; I’ll have to do that this next time the feeder gets empty. It definitely needs a wash. Some cool ideas generally, too; I’ll definitely keep them in mind! :slight_smile:

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If you’re near Seattle, they’re crows. And you can tell by a couple different clues: ravens are substantially larger; they have a noticeable crook to their beak; and when they fly, their tails are spade-shaped (crows’ are rounded).

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Zoe: I’ve added a brief alert to your post… and I figure I’ll use that as an excuse to remind folks that it’s a good idea to alert folks when there’s a large download, some people have slower 'puters than others.

(This ain’t any kind of Official Anything, no sweat, just one of those little courtesies that make this a more pleasant place.)

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I’m just below the Canadian border. IIRC the birds here have tails like the one on the flying silhouette on the right.

Lots of bald eagles up here, and also other raptors. I saw an eagle the other day that was all brown. Golden eagle? As for the other raptors, what are those hawks I keep seeing up here?

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Here is a good site regarding hawks and eagles, Johnny L.A.
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/hawks/index.htm

I hope it helps you distinguish what ones you’ve got buzzing around up there!

*Edited, because I have forgotten how to spell. Correctly. *

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North Dakota is quite far away, but after visiting your link I found this site. I had no idea there were so many different raptors up here.

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Wow, there are lots of them up there! That seems like an interesting site!

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Both starlings and blackbirds have been reported to be deterred by inflatable balloon “scarecrow” balloons like “Terror-Eyes” or "Scare Eyes’sold by bird control companiers like Bird-X. A series of Experiments br Professor Ronald J. Prokopy of Amherst demonstrated its incredible effectiveness against several species, including in particular starlings and blackbirds. Definitely worth trying one of these, or a plastic owl, or a silhouette of a cat’s head with marble eyes (my mother’s deterrent).

Of course, you might scare away the other birds as well, but some of the smaller birds don’t seem as affected. It’s important that the device be free to swing and move – that helps enormously.
http://www.bird-x.com/products/terror.html

http://www.biconet.com/birds/scareEye.html

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Dude! Is bald eagle on your yard list?

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I’d never even heard of a ‘yard list’.

FWIW I got an email this morning from the council chairperson that [url=“http://www.qc.ec.gc.ca/faune/guide/html/bernache_crav_f.html1”]brants have been observed for the last week in the state park (a few miles down the road from me). She also mentions the Wings over Water Northwest Birding Festival in Blaine March 31.

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Hell, Bald Eagle’s on my *bed *list: saw one out the window when I opened my eyes the other morning.

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Right, crow.