I think we're being misunderstood here, Our mission is enhance our customers back yard birding experience with quality products ,resources and services, part of those services is solving our customers problems, they ask we do everything we can to provide the solution. No one here is discriminating toward any bird species, we're proving a service. You can check our website www.gilligalloubird.com we have many years of solutions and resource's there. Have a merry Christmas, Bob
What's all this about discriminating, as if it was a bad thing. It you think discriminating is bad, try giving your paycheck to your neighbors wife instead of your wife, and see how that works out for you. You discriminate every day of your life, organic eggs or none organic eggs, red apples or yellow apples, good vs. bad. You are constantly discriminating, making value judgements and then acting on them. Starlings are an invasive, none native species that are out competing and killing native birds plus causing millions of damage .
Thanks, been spending months enjoying cardinals, blue jays, robins, and finches. The grackles discovered my feeders last night and today my backyard looked like a wall mart parking lot.
@@gilligallou yes, it helped. I don’t mind feeding them but my neighbors are going to think I’m shooting an Alford Hitchcock movie the way they descended.
I have a feeder right out my kitchen window, I got tired of the blackbirds eating all my food so I put a big wire cage around it so it was a real chore for the blackbirds to get in and out. Then I scare them every chance I get. Eventually they pretty much give up coming to my feeder. The funny thing is that the little birds seem to know that they can stay.
I don't post a lot of comments. Mainly because this account is primarily used to advertise/promote my mobile app "Riverboat Gambler"...BUT, this video was great! I truly appreciate that you posted it! I've several bird feeders in my backyard and they were "discovered" by Blackbirds and Grackles. Personally, I think they are beautiful birds, but, my goodness, they swarm in flocks! I literally felt like I was auditioning for the reboot of Alfred Hitchcock's movie, "The Birds". I could fill my feeders and, in a single day, 100+ of those little bastards would eat everything!. The "little birds" (my beautiful cardinals and chickadees and others) never stood a chance. After watching this video yesterday, I received my first order of Safflower seeds. As you indicated, the Blackbirds and Grackles want nothing (absolutely "nothing") to do with that food. I"m sitting here watching my cardinals eat from one of the feeders while the Grackles eat what's left over on the ground from where I emptied that feeder of the previous seed. Now, I have a strategy to segment the yard to ensure that everyone has a chance to eat and no single "demo" can bully the rest of my friends. Next? Hummingbirds which are, apparently/unfortunately, seasonal in South Florida. Thank you again!
During cold winters, many birds need to start feeding early in the morning to generate enough body heat to make it through the day. Taking the feeder away until the afternoon may not always be a good option.
Hi from Minnesota. The tip on removing bird feeders for a week to get rid of the ravenous blackbirds really worked for us. It did take another 10 days for the songbirds to come back in the afternoons, but we are noticing them now and it helped to toss a little food on the ground during the day under where the feeder sits. Thanks for the info and keep up the good work.
Thank you for your video and for your explanation that you're not discriminating against, but offering solutions. I love feeding my wild critters, especially smaller birds. I have noticed many starlings and grakles latley, and they're scaring away the wild woodpeckers, so I'm just happy for the information. Thank you.
I liked all your tips but we LOVE crows and it's hard to feed crows and not have Starlings. I love the way Starlings communicate and many other things about them, but there are getting to be way too many of them. The only thing I can think to do is only feed peanuts in a shell but then I'd miss the Juncos, and all the other little birds that don't eat at feeders. ahhh what a nice problem though. Now that we're retired watching the birds for hours is a joy.
Im happy to read others love crows too. I love them. I get peanuts in the shell and usually wait until my crows caw for me in the morning to put it out (otherwise the squirrels will take it all.) We get the blue Jay's this way too. I'm new to bird watching and just recently have seen dark eyed juncos for the first time. They are cute. I have a regular seed mix on the ground for the juncos with no starlings yet. A few grackles.. but I am not sure how to deter those ones.
So, some types literally kill the Eastern Bluebird which at one time were declining rapidly. The Cowbird and other agressives will lay their eggs in other birds nests and the hatchlings will kill or knock the babies out of the nest. That defeats one of the main purposes of birding. I promote the well being of our native birds and species that need more help to thrive. I discourage the agressive species.
We put out black oil sunflower seeds and get Grackels, Starlings, Cardinals, Mourning Doves, Dark Eyed Juncos, House Sparrows and Finches, and occasionally a Red Winged Blackbird and a Black Capped Chicakadee. We also keep plenty of food out for the squirrels. Everyone seems to get along fine.
@@chrisgrube8529 I'm having that problem now. I even bought a upside down suet feeder and they still can get to the food. I watch one hang under it and ate. I don't know what to do it pisses me the heck off.
@@marceloustaylor9751 i have caged suet feeders and i left the plastic on the outside and they can hang on it = i have a wood upside down one and they dont seem to be able to use it
I have those cages you showed around the majority of my feeders. The feeder with safflower is the only one not bothered by the nasty nuisance birds to I didn't need to cage it. I highly recommend people try these. My little Hairy woodpeckers and nuthatches have no problem with the cages nor do the goldfinch, chickadee etc. .
Two magpies showed up today underneath my feeder. had never seen them before, so I named them heckle and jeckle. 😆 actually didn't mind them being around for a while they were quite polite, heckle and jeckle.
I live in a bird sanctuary and I love our Blue Herons, Finches, Bluebirds, and our state bird, the Cardinal. I also love Hummingbirds, but you have to have the time to keep hummingbirds' feeders clean, and I am finally a new grandma. ❤
Thanks for the vid. I have no problems keeping the squirrels off. But would still like to see the Northern Cardinals, Bluejays, & larger woodpeckers around. Also, so many sparrows around. Wouldn't mind evening out the numbers variety wise if possible.
Thank you for your help.Backyard birding is just a wonderful way to enjoy and learn about nature ,in my case from my kitchen chair where I keep binoculars on the table The joy that it has given me over the years is well worth the price of the seed
Good morning, thank you for following along. I always say birding is for the soul, it reconnects us to nature as we are nature and nature is us. Have a great day. Bob
I live in urban Holland with a "wild" garden. It attracts many small birds during this winter but now since a week or so a large group of crows chases the small ones away. Thanks for this video.
We have a marsh bordering our backyard and the Redwing blackbirds came and stayed because we encouraged them by offering food they loved. We spent a lot of money on bird food. We decided we won’t be doing that this summer because their large presence chased all other birds away.
Red wing black birds are beautiful and have a lovely song. They are persecuted by farmers. They are not a problem bird. Are you sure they're chasing other birds away and it's not the large flocks of black birds attracting hawks?
@@oh_k8 We occasionally get hawks in the yard; once I saw one catch a snake. But the bluebirds and woodpeckers and smaller birds don’t stay long when there are large numbers of RW Blackbirds at the feeders.
@@themermaidstale5008 I'm not talking about those kinds of hawks, I'm talking about hawks that only hunt other birds, like Cooper's hawk and Sharp Shin hawks. They stalk large groups of blackbirds and pigeons and they are likely the reason the other birds are scattering and not due to the RW blackbirds.
In most of the US if you plan on just putting food out and not monitoring it, you'll mostly end up with grackles, mourning doves, starlings and house sparrows.(SEE CORNELL LIVE FEEDER) I put feeders close to the the house hanging some of them right under the gutter, in front of my windows. When I see any of the pest birds I run them off by tapping on the window, or go outside to run them off, if they go to a nearby tree or line I'll harass them until they are completely off my property. You have to do this multiple times and be vigilant. I have no problems with them eventually. My birds are now cardinals, blue jays, house finches, gold finch, downy and red bellied woodpecker, cat bird, mockingbird, carolina wren, titmouse, chickadees. I also don't put the good food out until I'm around to watch over it. Just getting safflower seeds doesn't work, the pest birds will eat that as well and I don't have the money to buy expensive weighted and barred feeders designed to let in only light weight small birds. I have no problems with squirrels because our neighbors cat harasses them when they get close to the feeder, unfortunately she goes after my birds as well.
I remember my grandma chasing the cats away from the bird feeder. She would stand on the back porch and holler at them. Sometimes she would just take their food out to the shed and lock them up until dark. Then back out she'd go so they could spend the night prowling around. Next morning it would all start over again,lol
Its really not that bad if you afjust you feex and feeders. Ive luckily only ever had one house sparrow show up where i am in the woodlands. But when I was infested with starlings, I took away the mealworms I was feeding to try and attract bluebirds and now I'm down to just one nesting pair that comes by. I use a hanging suet feeder which makes it inconvenient for most non clinging birds so only woodpeckers, nuthatches and other little guys can get it. I also feed very specific kinds of seed... nothing that gets flicked out and collects on the ground to attract unruly masses of blackbirds, just an occasional migratory flock. I also feed this way to keep squirrels and raccoons to a bare minimum
I built pvc hanging feeders on a large T post. Tin on the lower part keeps squirrels from climbing the post. The perches on the feeders are zip ties. Enough to hold small birds but not larger birds. For larger birds I have wire mesh feeders.
I read that the grackles eat the bugs you don't want in your yard or garden, so if you don't mind sharing the food with them they can be beneficial in your garden. Doesn't mean I don't want to get rid of them at times. I did notice if I didn't put the food out they didn't hang around as much.
I put out food for any feathered friend that comes to eat. Got a few blue birds, finches and crows hanging around my haunted mansion... I let them all eat by spreading out the feeding places. It's a big yard! Room for more.
Love your comment. I also have many birds and other critters that come along with the birds i.e. squirrels and mice and even rats, I happily share with them all. However, I am seeking solutions for my woodpeckers to get the fats they need, but it instantly attracts the bigger birds. I make most of my own feeders, homemade suet, and mix up my seed varites with peanuts, meal worms, crickets, eggshells, and dried fruits. I love all the wild creatures and want them all around. I'm just seeking ideas for the smaller birds to still feed while the bigger ones are enjoying their feed as well. It's nice to hear another nature lover who understands everything that comes with the territory of feeding "birds" is naturally going to attract other so-called pests.
Starlings I see sometimes. Red Wings I don't mind but they come and go. I did have a couple hundred males show up this past winter which was kind of wild and welcomed. They got their fill and moved on though. I had never seen them in their winter colors. They looked pretty cool I thought! Funny all my birds have learned apparently they're safe here and when I get noisy chasing off starlings they don't react hardly if at all but the starlings tend to stay away for a while after I get on their case 2 or 3 times. You're absolutely right though, if you don't get on them early, you'll get mobbed!
Omg im so glad i FOUND U...im poor and the gracles stole all the birdseed today o. Them 😢😢😢ty vm i now know how to keep my sparrows amd their babies from getting killed while icry...
I have a round, covered bird feeder…both top and bottom are close to the same size…bottom is a bit smaller. I have found that if I lower the top to a few inches, the Grackles have a really hard time getting the jelly or oranges I put in the bottom, but the Orioles and Finches can easily access the food. I’m not sure if it’s their size, that they can’t duck down far enough, or they’re not agile enough, but it really helps keep them from devouring all the food.
Awesome, I do a similar thing with my squirrel buster plus and the optional weather guard, their flight dexterity is different and they find it very difficult to get under to access the food. All of our products are Ava on www.gilligalloubird.com , thank you 😊
Your problem birds are my favorite. Grackles are a joy to watch. The juveniles are hilarious, learning the pairs. They are so shy, yet playful. The second they see me, they're flying away. 😂
It’s winter here now and I have a ton of grackles and I just put out 4 lbs of feed last evening and this morning it was gone! So I think I’ll try your method of taking the platform feeders away in the mornings. Thank you for this it’s just what I needed!
Love this because squirrles and piggy birds as I call them are eating my feed up every day I have to fill it every moring it cost lot to buy feed 20 bucks and up I was going through 2 20 pound bags a week.. At first a 20 pound bag last almost a month till the piggys starting hitting it.. Thank you going to go to store get this stuff..
Thank you, very happy with that info! Starlings gobble up a lot of the feed I put out for our little song birds, it doesn't l last very long! That cage to stop them looks very good, I'll see can I get one here in Ireland 👍😉
Starlings don' t eat black oil sunflower seed, but most of the good birds that you like do like it. Try using that. Even the small finches and such can and will eat it. They like it.
Great video! I was wondering- will the 18” tube feeder cage impede cardinals from feeding? Im at my wits end with these black birds. They descend en mass- like 40-50 and none of the cardinals or smaller birds get a crumb.
Morning, we have many clients that have successfully kept their Cardinal coming to the feeder through the cage, I do find that it might take them time to get comfortable with it. We have a video on our website with the product. www.gilligalloubird.com 😊 , Bob
I am so happy i came across your video on youtube. You told my story to a T. I live in the woods in coastal Lake Michigan and have an awesome array of species. Red finch, goldfinch, Cardinals, Orioles, 4 or 5 different woodpeckers including the Pileated and for the first time a Red-headed woodpecker, chickadees, nuthatches, Northeastern Bluebird, tanager and on the rare occasion an Indigo Bunting and of course robins and Bluejays and last but not least the Grosbeak who also have a pretty song. I always get a few Red-winged blackbirds in the late spring and they stay a short while then leave but not this year and along with them, for the first time are Grackles and not just a few, I'm talking 40-50 birds between the two My neighbors hate me because the birds rain poop on their vehicles. My husband is not thrilled with me spending 75 dollars a week on sunflower seed and suet That's 100 lbs of seed and an 18 ct case of suet. I have 7 hanging (large) feeders, 2 suet holders, 2 hummingbird feeders, and 1 more for just plain water for them. Also, I forgot to mention I started throwing cracked corn on the ground for the doves and turkeys and thinking maybe it would keep the unwanted birds off the feeders which was a good idea for the doves and turkeys but also enjoyable for the undesirables. Alas, what was said in your video helped me to make the decision to take down the feeders at night and put them out later in the day It's late June, and right now the hens are bringing in their chicks to feed them, showing them where and how to feed them so I hate to limit them hour wise by not having the feeders out there all day but that's kind of a moot point because they can't get near the feeders anyway and the bad birds can be intimidating and aggressive towards my precious ones. Fortunately, the much bigger birds leave around 7 pm and the little ones that have been watching from the trees all day get a chance to eat as it doesn't get really get dark here till around 930 pm and my cardinals will be the last ones to roost. I also put2 suet cakes out every nite for the woodpeckers. Thanks for the good advice. PS not all Redwing blackbirds migrate, some are residents AND the Audobon calls them ground feeders, Ha-Ha!
@@ProctorsGamble Not necessarily, I live in Michigan also and we have both Red Bellied and Red Headed Woodpeckers. I've only seen the Red Headed a couple times, but they are around. 😀 I actually have footage of one on my channel. We see Red Bellied almost daily.
uveepoppy I live in Michigan and have all of the birds you listed too... it's a wonderful variety! It's obvious you love birds, but feeding SO much may be too much of a good thing. I bet if you decrease the number of feeders way down, eventually those big flocks will get the hint and move on. Also, not putting food on the ground helps a lot. Happy birding!
It worked! I was bleeding money in birdseed because the grackles, starlings & blackbirds gobbled the food by the time it was 10 am & wasn't allowing any of the smaller birds to even land. I used to open the door just to scare them so the other birds had a chance but they stopped caring 😂 after your suggestion, I put the feeders in a tote, replaced with a tube feeder & viola! I plan to put the other ones back up later in the afternoon so the Cardinals , Bluejays & Woodpeckers get some treats. I was scared I had to get cages & spend more money but it looks like this works. Thank you!
I’m in central Wisconsin and the Eastern Starlings were terrible! I started filling all my feeders with just safflower seed and it not only stops the Starlings from devouring everything, squirrels don’t like it either. However, with it being so cold (-37 windchill as of this posting) the squirrels will eat it if the seed is not doused with Cole’s Flaming Squirrel Seed Sauce.
Good morning.... So I purchased the safflower seed. Very few birds are eating it. In fact, I put a cup full in the feeder and most of it remains in the tray. Maybe its the brand (bought it at Walmart) but its not being ate. I suppose its time to cover my feeder with the cage unit which would be a big expense since I have many feeders. The tip you shared about finch attraction is working!
@@feliciasmith2920 morning, for sure be careful where you buy your seed, quality varies drastically. That said when we change up like that it sometimes takes a while for our birds to get comfortable with the new offerings. I would take all feeders down except ones in a cage to slow down the Grackles, removing access to the food is the only way to deter. Enjoy, thank you for reaching out, Bob
I think the grackles and blackbirds overwinter in my area because they come in the fall and don't leave till spring! I will be using your method of feeding in the afternoon and I'm also going to look for the feeder cage. I have used safflower seeds but always mixed with other seeds so that may be something else I try. Thanks for the tips!
4/12/2023. The Cardinals only like the platform. If I quit feeding to get rid of the Starlings won't that get rid of the Cardinals too even if I start feeding again in the afternoons after a couple of weeks? I don't want to cut off my nose to spite my face.
I have Jackdaws having no issues eating through a gaurdian feeder and also hanging onto a pole to empty the seed out of my squirrel buster. Might try the putting feeders out from 3pm-11pm. They are in a community garden nearby. No shed for the pole
Great video, the grackles at my house are going through a whole cake of suet in one day! The momma is feeding it to her 3 fledglings. I guess the answer is to remove the suet for a couple of days and hopefully they will go away?
Hello from Kansas city, Missouri! Thank you for your feeding method info, no problem with any bird species BUT I HATE the Starlings! They eat all the feed in a day. So will be trying your method. THANKS!
Thank you .... the Sterling’s here in The NYC area are ridiculous!!!! They mob everything and then fight and yell !! Really a pain is when I set up perches/props for photography and they’re so many of them that land that the birds I want to actually photograph can NOT get in .. the only 2 birds that I’ve seen that will fight back and born of up with them are red belly woodpeckers & mockingbirds ... thanks for the video!
I leave near water, so of course I had grackles, Red winged black birds and cowbirds on my birdfeeder. At first I was ok, but after awhile I see that they dominate the birdfeeder and the little guys have no chance to get there. They also drop tons of food on the ground. And not to mention they poop all over my deck and that was not making me happy. I wanted them to go but I didn’t know what to do. Recently I had to travel for two weeks, and consequently the food had to ended for all birds since I had nobody to come and feed them for me. The real problem was that the feeder needed to be removed every night because of the bears. When I returned, I put the feeder out again, and to my surprise, and like you said, I have no black birds anymore. I’m loving that. The little guys are returning slowly and enjoying the food again. But honestly I worry that one day the blackbirds will discover the food and come back in mass again. My birdfeeder has a dish at the bottom where the food falls. I think that’s my problem number one. I need to change it for one without a dish, right? It’s the dish at the bottom that allows them to stay and eat.
Morning, As summer progresses you should have less troubles with them, that said the dish on the bottom creates a feeding, landing platform for sure. If they are attracted to your feeder again repeat the process of removing the feeder, either daily or for 2-3 days in a row. Enjoy, Bob 😊
Hi there. watching form Scotland where the starlings have been raiding my bird feeders.They are incredibly successful at getting through the guardian cage I bought sadly. Smart ibirds! However I thought you gave some good advice here. Thank you.
We have them here in southern Texas too. Grackles bathe in our backyard birdbath. They nested in one of our trees and had brand new babies this past month. I don't mind them - but they seemed to have pushed out the squirrels and other birds that were here while they were nesting. Now I just started to see the sparrows start to return. Hope to see more of a variety again soon.
When you say squirrels are you referring to "grey squirrels". I have to use a Havahart model 1083 EZ-Set trap to deter grey squirrels. 430+ in about 5 years.
I LOVE them ALL mate and feed then seed 365 days and the Blue Jays,Cardinals, chickies, Ducks,Gees man I love all~I even get about 40-60 pigeons quit often and yes it is exp but Im retired and a nerd I guess so ty man for your info~
2" diameter PVC is all you really need to deter grey squirrels. Occasionally one will defeat my pole, so I put some vaseline on it. The cost of PVC increases dramatically for larger size pipe especially for a 5 or 6' length. Regards WRZ Delaware County, PA
th-cam.com/video/MI4x-ZFcN4s/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/RDl6BUbBakA/w-d-xo.html The Havahart # 1083 is the best trap for grey squirrels by a very wide margin. The only problem with these "live traps" is that in the hot summer months, people working normal jobs would probably put the trap out in the early AM and return to check the trap 8 hours later (depending on whether the animal being trapped is nocturnal or not). Doing that would cause the grey squirrel to suffer a slow torturous death. I am retired and I make sure to check my traps at the very least, every 2 hours, which is easy since they are at the base of my bird feeders and I can see them from our screened-in porch. Grey squirrels are only active during the day and when it is extremely hot, they tend to stay in their nests; so I take my squirrel traps back to the garage when it is over 80 degrees out. Thus most of June, July and August they are only set from about 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM and I still caught 23 grey squirrels in June 2020 with 2 Havahart model 1083 EZ-set traps. You can set this trap in less than 10 seconds. WRZ 2021-08-04 Delaware County, PA USA suburban Philadelphia
Did you notice other birds like cardinals etc stopped coming when you didnt have it available in the morning? My grackles ate safflower as well. Very annoying but i dont want to loose other birds by not having food out all day for them.
Good morning, there is a bit of a trade off for sure, that said birds are natural food seekers, they’ll be back and take advantage of the food when it’s available. Give it a try, it works well. Thanks for watching, Bob 😊
I don’t mind feeding starlings, or even morning doves but these bloody grackles can literally eat the large hot pepper compressed seed log in a cpl days. They are expensive and the silo feeders are literally empty in a day.
Thank you for this! I can see where the first cage device might also keep out squirrels. I have blue jays that teach the chickadees to remove the seed to get at the sunflower seeds that are in with the regular seed. I have a dense, about 6” thick “carpet” of seed under my feeder because of this. I think the only remedy would be to buy sunflower seeds by themselves and have a special feeder for them. Unfortunately, my area has bird seed that has them mixed, so I’m still faced with the problem. I now feed the birds twice a week, as I’m getting some expensive “grass” under the feeder. Would you have any other solution?
I never use mixes anymore. Too much waste. I don't think the Blue Jays are teaching the chickadees. Given a choice the birds seem to focus on and pick their favorite and get the others out of the way. Dedicated feeder for one seed type has worked the best for me. Black seeded sunflower is just the best all around so I use that in my feeders of different types and straight millet at ground level on the soli or little platforms. I put out cracked corn too. That gives just about everyone enough, including the squirrels and rabbits. Squirrels are a love/hate thing. I don't hate them. I tried safflower but was surprised it wasn't much eaten - the black sunflower was still the favorite and it's a whole lot cheaper. That being said, 6 inches of seed under your feeder is not preferable. Are these mostly unopened seed? That would be way too much waste. Are you sure a bear isn't coming by?
I just saw this video and I like your idea of removing the food till later in the day. I'm not to bothered anymore by any of the "black" bird species. My feeder pole, which has 4 hooks for feeders is about 12 feet from my kitchen window. Several years ago I started rapping on the window if I was in the kitchen and saw them so they don't come around much anymore. But the house sparrows! What to do about them. I stopped putting out loose seed and used the different round or block shaped seed packs which helped but not enough. Now I have a silo feeder with loose seed and a homemade silo type for sunflower. My neighbor, who I don't know well, has a 12 compartment birdhouse which is filled with these sparrows and they breed all summer and then bring their brats into my yard. How do you deter sparrows? They eat everything all day long. The cage you showed I think is great for larger birds but the house sparrows would go right through that. Any suggestions.
Morning, thank you. Truly , removing the seed is the best option for the short term, take everything down for a few weeks and then reintroduce slowly late in the day and repeat everyday for a few weeks. If they start swarming again take the feeders in. We have to break their habit. Sounds like your neighbour has a purple Martin nesting box that they let the sparrow take over, they’re a invasive species, not native to here, if possible have your neighbour plug the holes to irradiate them. All the best, thanks , Bob
Starlings are the worst around here. We get a few Grackles but not nearly as many as the starlings. They seem to travel in huge flocks. They are mean birds that chase off the smaller more passive birds. They seem to be able to master any kind of feeder. They will hang on even a finch feeder. We get some Mourning Doves but no pigeons. I have bought feeders with cages around them with little success. The birds stop coming. When a bird finally does show up after a few weeks they totally ignore the caged feeders. I have a caged suet feeder that the starlings can still get their beaks into! They can’t get into the cylinder feeder that has a cage around it but they will hang on it anyway. Those birds are terrible pests. They do go away when the farmers plant their fields during the spring but show up again in the winter time. I don’t know how farmers get anything to grow. Discriminate? I sure do try to get rid of Starlings and Grackles! Starlings are not even native to this continent. They were brought here from England by a guy who thought that they would be nice to have in the park! They upset the natural balance of nature! They steal nests from other types of bird. They will even eat the eggs of other birds. If there were a way to get rid of them I would be the first to vote for it!
I put birdseed outside my window so I and my cat could enjoy watching them. Then the squirrels took over, and I did research and hit on the "hot pepper sauce" solution. Squirrels can't stand the heat, but birds don't even taste it, so the bluebirds, Cardinals, mourning doves, and sparrows returned. 3 years later, suddenly, European starlings discovered the feeder, and from then on, all I had was 50 to 100 starlings eating all the seed in a tenth of the time, fighting amongst themselves, and chasing all the other birds away. It wasn't very long before I didn't want to see another starling as long as I lived. I finally hit on taking the top off a small mammal cage, setting on its short end, and putting the seed cylinder inside it, where the starlings could only get on one side, which faced my window. That way I could scare the starlings off and give the other bird species a fighting chance. Eventually, after about a year, the starlings got tired of this, and moved on. It worked, and now my cat and I can enjoy a variety of birds again, including the migrating Robins.
Thanks for the tips! I’m afraid I will loose my red-bellied woodpecker if I use the cage. Back to safflower but I’ve never tryied takings the feeders down at night.
Thank you for your solutions. Nothing against the pesky birds but I don't want to be feeding them! They literally run the smaller birds off and take over.
Hi there, yes we have several customers that have cardinals going in their cage, check the cage on our website , there is a video there. gilligalloubird.com
I love this cage unfortunately I put it next to my fence so now the squirrels chewed up the hinges that locks the cage so now I have to improvise lol. Anyway, the cage still works, I’m only getting the birds that can fit in a cage, but I do have a question can Blue Jays , red wind black birds and the red gooseneck fit in this cage because I like to feed the them as well, unfortunately my Cardinals won’t go in a cage because they only like safflower
I used to shop at your store in Almonte but won't any longer. I love my Starlings and even live with one for the past 4 years and provide food for her extended family over winter which happens to be small sized cat kibble since they cannot process seeds like other birds. Grackles show up in the spring and I'm always happy to have them. They're beautiful and appreciative of the hanging suet and sunflower seeds I provide. I have all kinds of finches and Jays and grosbeaks, warblers and hummingbirds. Everyone gets along.
That’s fantastic to have all those birds, as mentioned in our pined post , we have no biases, we providing services and solutions to our customers requests and problems. Thank you, Bob ,enjoy your birds !
I put bird food in several places in my yard. That way there is food for everyone. I've seen starlings on one side of the yard and 30 or so Doves and other kinds of birds eating in a different spot .
They will switch and hit the black oil sunflower , both are protein based seeds, they’re just having some verity. That said see if the Nyjer has any mouldy odour, depending on how and where it was packaged it sometimes can be bad out of the bag. , thanks , Bob
What do you recommend to deal with crows? I had to take down my flat feeder because the crows found it. The Crackles are cleaning out the feeders too. I like th cage thing. I'll go to my local bird store to see if they have that available. Thank you.
You did the best thing for this time of year, taking down you tray feeder, leave it dow for a few weeks and then slowly reintroduce it back in late in the afternoon for a few hours each day, taking it down after and repeat agin over and over until you feel comfortable that they have moved on. We ship all over North America, here a link. gilligalloubird.com/collections/all-birding-supplies/products/hanging-cage?variant=42170919893
Informative video, thanks for sharing. I'd love to have less of them visit and more of the nicer birds. They are bullies. I'm going to start catering to the smaller birds, and buy more caged feeders.
I would love to buy that cage for my feeders. But after buying plus shipping its almost $100 and I wanted two so that even more. So I'm gonna have to look for cheaper ones too bad because that looks nice.
Good morning, shipping is a thing for sure, if you sign up for our newsletter on line you can get 10% off your first purchase, that may help. Thank you .
I'm In Fort Lauderdale.. I started Bird watching.. since my yard attracts the Blue Jays and Baltimore Oriels And the Cardinals.. seen a few Woodpeckers , I have yet to catch them on Video..
Morning, unfortunately not, those little guys can sneak in, best to use large seeds and only have food available for short periods of time , in the afternoons.
I just put the food for who is hungry not matter who you are. All birds are beautiful for me and I love yo see them eating and coming to my yard I'm thankful for that. Enjoy the beautiful of God.
Late day feeding discourages flock birds like that, they will be around in the morning and once they realize the food isn’t available they will start to search elsewhere, it may take some time and you may have to take feeders down altogether for a few day’s multiple time, stay diligent. 😊👌
Hi enjoyed your tips. I noticed the Grackles up here in south Ontario Canada show up around March or April . And disappear about August just wondering where do they migrate to. It’s like OK we got our baby’s let’s go . 🐣🐥🦆🦅
They have a very short migrational pattern , only going as far south as the weather pushes them , if it’s a open winter not so far, if it’s colder and snow a little further. Thanks for watching, Bob
![ILLSLICK - KILLSHOT REMIX [FULL VERSION]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RIK8RrqIAzE/mqdefault.jpg)
I think we're being misunderstood here, Our mission is enhance our customers back yard birding experience with quality products ,resources and services, part of those services is solving our customers problems, they ask we do everything we can to provide the solution. No one here is discriminating toward any bird species, we're proving a service. You can check our website www.gilligalloubird.com we have many years of solutions and resource's there. Have a merry Christmas, Bob
Thank you for this valuable information.
What's all this about discriminating, as if it was a bad thing. It you think discriminating is bad, try giving your paycheck to your neighbors wife instead of your wife, and see how that works out for you. You discriminate every day of your life, organic eggs or none organic eggs, red apples or yellow apples, good vs. bad. You are constantly discriminating, making value judgements and then acting on them. Starlings are an invasive, none native species that are out competing and killing native birds plus causing millions of damage .
Hysterical! Your "mission" is to make money in any way that you can... including begging online.
@@brianbassett4379 hey , thank you, appreciate your comments , enjoy your day. 😊
@@gilligallou When will the cage be back in stock? Says sold out on your website.
Thanks, been spending months enjoying cardinals, blue jays, robins, and finches. The grackles discovered my feeders last night and today my backyard looked like a wall mart parking lot.
Lol indeed, get some cages or take the food down, 😊👌
@@gilligallou yes, it helped. I don’t mind feeding them but my neighbors are going to think I’m shooting an Alford Hitchcock movie the way they descended.
@@GC-pq6vm lol that’s funny, better play the sound track over a speaker out side ?? Lol 😂
Not a Walmart parking lot ! 🤣😂🤣😂
That’s awesome
I have a feeder right out my kitchen window, I got tired of the blackbirds eating all my food so I put a big wire cage around it so it was a real chore for the blackbirds to get in and out. Then I scare them every chance I get. Eventually they pretty much give up coming to my feeder. The funny thing is that the little birds seem to know that they can stay.
I don't post a lot of comments. Mainly because this account is primarily used to advertise/promote my mobile app "Riverboat Gambler"...BUT, this video was great! I truly appreciate that you posted it! I've several bird feeders in my backyard and they were "discovered" by Blackbirds and Grackles. Personally, I think they are beautiful birds, but, my goodness, they swarm in flocks! I literally felt like I was auditioning for the reboot of Alfred Hitchcock's movie, "The Birds". I could fill my feeders and, in a single day, 100+ of those little bastards would eat everything!. The "little birds" (my beautiful cardinals and chickadees and others) never stood a chance.
After watching this video yesterday, I received my first order of Safflower seeds. As you indicated, the Blackbirds and Grackles want nothing (absolutely "nothing") to do with that food. I"m sitting here watching my cardinals eat from one of the feeders while the Grackles eat what's left over on the ground from where I emptied that feeder of the previous seed. Now, I have a strategy to segment the yard to ensure that everyone has a chance to eat and no single "demo" can bully the rest of my friends. Next? Hummingbirds which are, apparently/unfortunately, seasonal in South Florida.
Thank you again!
@@riverboatgambler5285 thank you for watching, much appreciated. Solving customer problems is part of our mission, happy we could help. Enjoy. Bob ,
During cold winters, many birds need to start feeding early in the morning to generate enough body heat to make it through the day. Taking the feeder away until the afternoon may not always be a good option.
Hi from Minnesota. The tip on removing bird feeders for a week to get rid of the ravenous blackbirds really worked for us. It did take another 10 days for the songbirds to come back in the afternoons, but we are noticing them now and it helped to toss a little food on the ground during the day under where the feeder sits. Thanks for the info and keep up the good work.
Thank you for your video and for your explanation that you're not discriminating against, but offering solutions. I love feeding my wild critters, especially smaller birds. I have noticed many starlings and grakles latley, and they're scaring away the wild woodpeckers, so I'm just happy for the information. Thank you.
Thank you, much appreciated. Enjoy nature. 😊👌
I liked all your tips but we LOVE crows and it's hard to feed crows and not have Starlings. I love the way Starlings communicate and many other things about them, but there are getting to be way too many of them. The only thing I can think to do is only feed peanuts in a shell but then I'd miss the Juncos, and all the other little birds that don't eat at feeders. ahhh what a nice problem though. Now that we're retired watching the birds for hours is a joy.
I agree 👍 watching birds at the feeder is very relaxing & entertaining 😃 I love my family of 8 blue Jay's at my feeder.
Im happy to read others love crows too. I love them. I get peanuts in the shell and usually wait until my crows caw for me in the morning to put it out (otherwise the squirrels will take it all.) We get the blue Jay's this way too. I'm new to bird watching and just recently have seen dark eyed juncos for the first time. They are cute. I have a regular seed mix on the ground for the juncos with no starlings yet. A few grackles.. but I am not sure how to deter those ones.
Crows are scavengers that eat the eggs and young of other scarcer songbirds. Got no use for them.
I HATE CROWS
the starling crows and grackles here love the shelled peanuts and have basically run my bluejays off
I feed them all. I don't hate any of them. I love my squirrels. I love my wild doves. They are so sweet.
So, some types literally kill the Eastern Bluebird which at one time were declining rapidly. The Cowbird and other agressives will lay their eggs in other birds nests and the hatchlings will kill or knock the babies out of the nest. That defeats one of the main purposes of birding. I promote the well being of our native birds and species that need more help to thrive. I discourage the agressive species.
We put out black oil sunflower seeds and get Grackels, Starlings, Cardinals, Mourning Doves, Dark Eyed Juncos, House Sparrows and Finches, and occasionally a Red Winged Blackbird and a Black Capped Chicakadee. We also keep plenty of food out for the squirrels. Everyone seems to get along fine.
Nothing against starlings, but my God, they are extemely tribal... Once one spots the food, 100 of them arrive within a minute
Hate them ,they hang on mysuet feeder ,meant for woodpeckers
@@chrisgrube8529 I'm having that problem now. I even bought a upside down suet feeder and they still can get to the food. I watch one hang under it and ate. I don't know what to do it pisses me the heck off.
@SugarMollyHazel I bought a caged suet feeder. Problem instantly solved. The suet actually lasts!
@@marceloustaylor9751 i have caged suet feeders and i left the plastic on the outside and they can hang on it = i have a wood upside down one and they dont seem to be able to use it
I have those cages you showed around the majority of my feeders. The feeder with safflower is the only one not bothered by the nasty nuisance birds to I didn't need to cage it. I highly recommend people try these. My little Hairy woodpeckers and nuthatches have no problem with the cages nor do the goldfinch, chickadee etc. .
Thank you, we do find them to be very effective, I appreciate your comments . 😊👌
Mine eat safflower to😢 eat everything and they DO NOT leave they even hang off perchless metal tube feeders
What is the name of those cages and where to buy them
Two magpies showed up today underneath my feeder. had never seen them before, so I named them heckle and jeckle. 😆 actually didn't mind them being around for a while they were quite polite, heckle and jeckle.
Lol awesome
I live in a bird sanctuary and I love our Blue Herons, Finches, Bluebirds, and our state bird, the Cardinal.
I also love Hummingbirds, but you have to have the time to keep hummingbirds' feeders clean, and I am finally a new grandma. ❤
Awesome, congratulations grandma , fun times ahead. Enjoy your birds. 😎👌, Bob
I noticed by feeding grackles they chase away pooping pidgins and doves! Well done!As long as one is not bird watching !Thank you!
Thanks for the vid. I have no problems keeping the squirrels off. But would still like to see the Northern Cardinals, Bluejays, & larger woodpeckers around. Also, so many sparrows around. Wouldn't mind evening out the numbers variety wise if possible.
Thank you for your help.Backyard birding is just a wonderful way to enjoy and learn about nature ,in my case from my kitchen chair where I keep binoculars on the table The joy that it has given me over the years is well worth the price of the seed
Good morning, thank you for following along.
I always say birding is for the soul, it reconnects us to nature as we are nature and nature is us. Have a great day. Bob
I live in urban Holland with a "wild" garden. It attracts many small birds during this winter but now since a week or so a large group of crows chases the small ones away. Thanks for this video.
I love crows though, they’re my favorite birds and they’re so beautiful and intelligent :)
We have a marsh bordering our backyard and the Redwing blackbirds came and stayed because we encouraged them by offering food they loved. We spent a lot of money on bird food. We decided we won’t be doing that this summer because their large presence chased all other birds away.
Red wing black birds are beautiful and have a lovely song. They are persecuted by farmers. They are not a problem bird. Are you sure they're chasing other birds away and it's not the large flocks of black birds attracting hawks?
@@oh_k8 We occasionally get hawks in the yard; once I saw one catch a snake. But the bluebirds and woodpeckers and smaller birds don’t stay long when there are large numbers of RW Blackbirds at the feeders.
@@themermaidstale5008 I'm not talking about those kinds of hawks, I'm talking about hawks that only hunt other birds, like Cooper's hawk and Sharp Shin hawks. They stalk large groups of blackbirds and pigeons and they are likely the reason the other birds are scattering and not due to the RW blackbirds.
I was just looking for a way to tell grackles & starlings apart…stayed for your Knowledge & Sense of Humor! 👍🏼
Thank you so much, Bob 👌
In most of the US if you plan on just putting food out and not monitoring it, you'll mostly end up with grackles, mourning doves, starlings and house sparrows.(SEE CORNELL LIVE FEEDER) I put feeders close to the the house hanging some of them right under the gutter, in front of my windows. When I see any of the pest birds I run them off by tapping on the window, or go outside to run them off, if they go to a nearby tree or line I'll harass them until they are completely off my property. You have to do this multiple times and be vigilant. I have no problems with them eventually. My birds are now cardinals, blue jays, house finches, gold finch, downy and red bellied woodpecker, cat bird, mockingbird, carolina wren, titmouse, chickadees. I also don't put the good food out until I'm around to watch over it. Just getting safflower seeds doesn't work, the pest birds will eat that as well and I don't have the money to buy expensive weighted and barred feeders designed to let in only light weight small birds. I have no problems with squirrels because our neighbors cat harasses them when they get close to the feeder, unfortunately she goes after my birds as well.
I remember my grandma chasing the cats away from the bird feeder. She would stand on the back porch and holler at them. Sometimes she would just take their food out to the shed and lock them up until dark. Then back out she'd go so they could spend the night prowling around. Next morning it would all start over again,lol
Do you ever have any issues with the song birds hitting the windows?
That’s mean the doves sparrows and grackles need to eat to why not let them eat at my bird feeder I let them eat all the time
Its really not that bad if you afjust you feex and feeders. Ive luckily only ever had one house sparrow show up where i am in the woodlands. But when I was infested with starlings, I took away the mealworms I was feeding to try and attract bluebirds and now I'm down to just one nesting pair that comes by. I use a hanging suet feeder which makes it inconvenient for most non clinging birds so only woodpeckers, nuthatches and other little guys can get it. I also feed very specific kinds of seed... nothing that gets flicked out and collects on the ground to attract unruly masses of blackbirds, just an occasional migratory flock. I also feed this way to keep squirrels and raccoons to a bare minimum
I sit there for hours chasing blackbirds away. They still keep coming.
I built pvc hanging feeders on a large T post. Tin on the lower part keeps squirrels from climbing the post. The perches on the feeders are zip ties. Enough to hold small birds but not larger birds.
For larger birds I have wire mesh feeders.
I read that the grackles eat the bugs you don't want in your yard or garden, so if you don't mind sharing the food with them they can be beneficial in your garden. Doesn't mean I don't want to get rid of them at times. I did notice if I didn't put the food out they didn't hang around as much.
Starlings, grackles, every type of blackbirds are ferocious hunters of negative insects.
@@oh_k8they should move to Florida for the summer then
I put out food for any feathered friend that comes to eat. Got a few blue birds, finches and crows hanging around my haunted mansion... I let them all eat by spreading out the feeding places. It's a big yard! Room for more.
Love your comment. I also have many birds and other critters that come along with the birds i.e. squirrels and mice and even rats, I happily share with them all. However, I am seeking solutions for my woodpeckers to get the fats they need, but it instantly attracts the bigger birds. I make most of my own feeders, homemade suet, and mix up my seed varites with peanuts, meal worms, crickets, eggshells, and dried fruits. I love all the wild creatures and want them all around. I'm just seeking ideas for the smaller birds to still feed while the bigger ones are enjoying their feed as well. It's nice to hear another nature lover who understands everything that comes with the territory of feeding "birds" is naturally going to attract other so-called pests.
Starlings I see sometimes. Red Wings I don't mind but they come and go. I did have a couple hundred males show up this past winter which was kind of wild and welcomed. They got their fill and moved on though. I had never seen them in their winter colors. They looked pretty cool I thought!
Funny all my birds have learned apparently they're safe here and when I get noisy chasing off starlings they don't react hardly if at all but the starlings tend to stay away for a while after I get on their case 2 or 3 times. You're absolutely right though, if you don't get on them early, you'll get mobbed!
A lone grackle isnt so bad but they usually group up in bunches of 50 to 80 and that wipes out a feeder in a few hrs.
What an awesome upbeat positive person you are and oh how helpful! Thank you! I learned a lot today from you. Great video.
Thank you so very much, 😊👌 BV
He's a nothing. All that he has said is common knowledge.
Omg im so glad i FOUND U...im poor and the gracles stole all the birdseed today o. Them 😢😢😢ty vm i now know how to keep my sparrows amd their babies from getting killed while icry...
I have a round, covered bird feeder…both top and bottom are close to the same size…bottom is a bit smaller. I have found that if I lower the top to a few inches, the Grackles have a really hard time getting the jelly or oranges I put in the bottom, but the Orioles and Finches can easily access the food. I’m not sure if it’s their size, that they can’t duck down far enough, or they’re not agile enough, but it really helps keep them from devouring all the food.
Awesome, I do a similar thing with my squirrel buster plus and the optional weather guard, their flight dexterity is different and they find it very difficult to get under to access the food. All of our products are Ava on www.gilligalloubird.com , thank you 😊
Not an issue. I am pleased to be visited by birds of any stripe.
Morning 😊 , thank you, enjoy.
Never give up on your dreams and aspirations and remember to be kind and uplifting to each other and open minded and genuine.
Your problem birds are my favorite. Grackles are a joy to watch. The juveniles are hilarious, learning the pairs. They are so shy, yet playful. The second they see me, they're flying away. 😂
It’s winter here now and I have a ton of grackles and I just put out 4 lbs of feed last evening and this morning it was gone! So I think I’ll try your method of taking the platform feeders away in the mornings. Thank you for this it’s just what I needed!
Love this because squirrles and piggy birds as I call them are eating my feed up every day I have to fill it every moring it cost lot to buy feed 20 bucks and up I was going through 2 20 pound bags a week.. At first a 20 pound bag last almost a month till the piggys starting hitting it.. Thank you going to go to store get this stuff..
Good video. I’ll try your suggestions. Where did you get the bird sounds. Love those sounds.
Hi there, thank you, mostly from TH-cam, I just search different birds, like the Cardinal, tons on there. 😊👌
Thank you, very happy with that info! Starlings gobble up a lot of the feed I put out for our little song birds, it doesn't l last very long! That cage to stop them looks very good, I'll see can I get one here in Ireland 👍😉
Hello in Ireland , 😊 enjoy! Thank you , Bob , 🇨🇦
Starlings don' t eat black oil sunflower seed, but most of the good birds that you like do like it. Try using that. Even the small finches and such can and will eat it. They like it.
Thank you for the info. Love your happy spirit. Ignore the naysayers.. they prob don’t have feeders and don’t understand the struggle
Thank you so much , 😊 have a wonderful day.
Great video! I was wondering- will the 18” tube feeder cage impede cardinals from feeding? Im at my wits end with these black birds. They descend en mass- like 40-50 and none of the cardinals or smaller birds get a crumb.
Morning, we have many clients that have successfully kept their Cardinal coming to the feeder through the cage, I do find that it might take them time to get comfortable with it. We have a video on our website with the product. www.gilligalloubird.com 😊 , Bob
Augh. Everything is hungry. I put out feed and just enjoy the show.
That's what my family does too.
What about suet? Is there any suet feeder that Grackles and Starlings cannot get into?
Thank you for sharing your suggestions.
I am so happy i came across your video on youtube. You told my story to a T. I live in the woods in coastal Lake Michigan and have an awesome array of species. Red finch, goldfinch, Cardinals, Orioles, 4 or 5 different woodpeckers including the Pileated and for the first time a Red-headed woodpecker, chickadees, nuthatches, Northeastern Bluebird, tanager and on the rare occasion an Indigo Bunting and of course robins and Bluejays and last but not least the Grosbeak who also have a pretty song. I always get a few Red-winged blackbirds in the late spring and they stay a short while then leave but not this year and along with them, for the first time are Grackles and not just a few, I'm talking 40-50 birds between the two My neighbors hate me because the birds rain poop on their vehicles. My husband is not thrilled with me spending 75 dollars a week on sunflower seed and suet That's 100 lbs of seed and an 18 ct case of suet. I have 7 hanging (large) feeders, 2 suet holders, 2 hummingbird feeders, and 1 more for just plain water for them. Also, I forgot to mention I started throwing cracked corn on the ground for the doves and turkeys and thinking maybe it would keep the unwanted birds off the feeders which was a good idea for the doves and turkeys but also enjoyable for the undesirables. Alas, what was said in your video helped me to make the decision to take down the feeders at night and put them out later in the day It's late June, and right now the hens are bringing in their chicks to feed them, showing them where and how to feed them so I hate to limit them hour wise by not having the feeders out there all day but that's kind of a moot point because they can't get near the feeders anyway and the bad birds can be intimidating and aggressive towards my precious ones. Fortunately, the much bigger birds leave around 7 pm and the little ones that have been watching from the trees all day get a chance to eat as it doesn't get really get dark here till around 930 pm and my cardinals will be the last ones to roost. I also put2 suet cakes out every nite for the woodpeckers. Thanks for the good advice. PS not all Redwing blackbirds migrate, some are residents AND the Audobon calls them ground feeders, Ha-Ha!
Good morning, thank you 🙏 enjoy
That redheaded woodpecker is most likely a redbellied woodpecker of all things.
@@ProctorsGamble Not necessarily, I live in Michigan also and we have both Red Bellied and Red Headed Woodpeckers. I've only seen the Red Headed a couple times, but they are around. 😀 I actually have footage of one on my channel. We see Red Bellied almost daily.
uveepoppy I live in Michigan and have all of the birds you listed too... it's a wonderful variety! It's obvious you love birds, but feeding SO much may be too much of a good thing. I bet if you decrease the number of feeders way down, eventually those big flocks will get the hint and move on. Also, not putting food on the ground helps a lot. Happy birding!
It worked! I was bleeding money in birdseed because the grackles, starlings & blackbirds gobbled the food by the time it was 10 am & wasn't allowing any of the smaller birds to even land. I used to open the door just to scare them so the other birds had a chance but they stopped caring 😂 after your suggestion, I put the feeders in a tote, replaced with a tube feeder & viola! I plan to put the other ones back up later in the afternoon so the Cardinals , Bluejays & Woodpeckers get some treats. I was scared I had to get cages & spend more money but it looks like this works. Thank you!
Awesome, glad to help, enjoy, thank you
I’m in central Wisconsin and the Eastern Starlings were terrible! I started filling all my feeders with just safflower seed and it not only stops the Starlings from devouring everything, squirrels don’t like it either. However, with it being so cold (-37 windchill as of this posting) the squirrels will eat it if the seed is not doused with Cole’s Flaming Squirrel Seed Sauce.
Thank you for all your tips.
@@jillsimmons5089 hi there, thank you so much for watching, reach out anytime, Bob
Hi thanks for all the tips! We call grackles crows or rooks over here in the 🇬🇧 sending best wishes x,kimi
Good morning....
So I purchased the safflower seed. Very few birds are eating it. In fact, I put a cup full in the feeder and most of it remains in the tray. Maybe its the brand (bought it at Walmart) but its not being ate.
I suppose its time to cover my feeder with the cage unit which would be a big expense since I have many feeders.
The tip you shared about finch attraction is working!
@@feliciasmith2920 morning, for sure be careful where you buy your seed, quality varies drastically. That said when we change up like that it sometimes takes a while for our birds to get comfortable with the new offerings.
I would take all feeders down except ones in a cage to slow down the Grackles, removing access to the food is the only way to deter. Enjoy, thank you for reaching out, Bob
Thank you for the sincere communication and guidance. 🐦
@@feliciasmith2920 a pleasure, 😊 feel free to reach out anytime, thank you. Bob
I think the grackles and blackbirds overwinter in my area because they come in the fall and don't leave till spring! I will be using your method of feeding in the afternoon and I'm also going to look for the feeder cage. I have used safflower seeds but always mixed with other seeds so that may be something else I try. Thanks for the tips!
Hi there, you can get the cage on our website www.gilligalloubird.com we ship all over North America, thank you , Bob
4/12/2023. The Cardinals only like the platform. If I quit feeding to get rid of the Starlings won't that get rid of the Cardinals too even if I start feeding again in the afternoons after a couple of weeks? I don't want to cut off my nose to spite my face.
Blue jays hog all my bird feed.
I have Jackdaws having no issues eating through a gaurdian feeder and also hanging onto a pole to empty the seed out of my squirrel buster. Might try the putting feeders out from 3pm-11pm. They are in a community garden nearby. No shed for the pole
I love our redwings. But the grackles are a pain. They come en masse and devour everything.
They do indeed, they have adapted very well to feeders, our cage system works well.
Great video, the grackles at my house are going through a whole cake of suet in one day! The momma is feeding it to her 3 fledglings. I guess the answer is to remove the suet for a couple of days and hopefully they will go away?
It’s good for her young, she will find other food sources, thank you, Bob
Hello from Kansas city, Missouri! Thank you for your feeding method info, no problem with any bird species BUT I HATE the Starlings! They eat all the feed in a day. So will be trying your method. THANKS!
Thank you .... the Sterling’s here in The NYC area are ridiculous!!!! They mob everything and then fight and yell !! Really a pain is when I set up perches/props for photography and they’re so many of them that land that the birds I want to actually photograph can NOT get in .. the only 2 birds that I’ve seen that will fight back and born of up with them are red belly woodpeckers & mockingbirds ... thanks for the video!
As bad as the house sparrows I’m so tired of them
I leave near water, so of course I had grackles, Red winged black birds and cowbirds on my birdfeeder. At first I was ok, but after awhile I see that they dominate the birdfeeder and the little guys have no chance to get there. They also drop tons of food on the ground. And not to mention they poop all over my deck and that was not making me happy. I wanted them to go but I didn’t know what to do.
Recently I had to travel for two weeks, and consequently the food had to ended for all birds since I had nobody to come and feed them for me. The real problem was that the feeder needed to be removed every night because of the bears. When I returned, I put the feeder out again, and to my surprise, and like you said, I have no black birds anymore. I’m loving that. The little guys are returning slowly and enjoying the food again. But honestly I worry that one day the blackbirds will discover the food and come back in mass again.
My birdfeeder has a dish at the bottom where the food falls. I think that’s my problem number one. I need to change it for one without a dish, right? It’s the dish at the bottom that allows them to stay and eat.
Morning, As summer progresses you should have less troubles with them, that said the dish on the bottom creates a feeding, landing platform for sure. If they are attracted to your feeder again repeat the process of removing the feeder, either daily or for 2-3 days in a row. Enjoy, Bob 😊
@@gilligallou Thank you! I think next Spring I will know better what to do. And you’re were right, Summer made them stopped coming.
Much love and respect to you and your channel. I hope that all is well for you and your family and friends.
Hi there. watching form Scotland where the starlings have been raiding my bird feeders.They are incredibly successful at getting through the guardian cage I bought sadly. Smart ibirds! However I thought you gave some good advice here. Thank you.
Thank you Alex, much appreciated. Hopefully you are able to slow them done some. Bob
I love starlings so much, i would want them at my feeders. They are such amazing creatures
They are invasive and kill and maim other more vulnerable birds
I like the cage you showed and was wondering if cardinals will fit through the holes.
hi there, Yes ,we do have many customers that have cardinals going into the cage, yes. Some take a while to get comfortable with it, Bob
Thank you.
@@edithb.4053 you can find them on our website, www.gilligalloubird.com
Thank you I’ll try taking food away grackles are expert at getting on even squirrel buster feeders
We have them here in southern Texas too. Grackles bathe in our backyard birdbath. They nested in one of our trees and had brand new babies this past month. I don't mind them - but they seemed to have pushed out the squirrels and other birds that were here while they were nesting. Now I just started to see the sparrows start to return. Hope to see more of a variety again soon.
When you say squirrels are you referring to "grey squirrels".
I have to use a Havahart model 1083 EZ-Set trap to deter grey squirrels.
430+ in about 5 years.
Thank you for the info, I will try the afternoon thing.
I feed them all. Never had issues. Happy feeding.
I LOVE them ALL mate and feed then seed 365 days and the Blue Jays,Cardinals, chickies, Ducks,Gees man I love all~I even get about 40-60 pigeons quit often and yes it is exp but Im retired and a nerd I guess so ty man for your info~
Woxineau Crows awesome, we have no biases, 😊 glad to hear you enjoy our feathered friends. 👍 thank you 🙏, Bob
I love pigeons
Me too.
I have zero problem with squirrels, mounted all my feeders on 5 or 6 inch schedule 40 pipe. Squirrels can not climb up . Works for me.
2" diameter PVC is all you really need to deter grey squirrels.
Occasionally one will defeat my pole, so I put some vaseline on it.
The cost of PVC increases dramatically for larger size pipe
especially for a 5 or 6' length.
Regards
WRZ
Delaware County, PA
th-cam.com/video/MI4x-ZFcN4s/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/RDl6BUbBakA/w-d-xo.html
The Havahart # 1083 is the best trap for grey squirrels by a very wide margin.
The only problem with these "live traps" is that in the hot summer months,
people working normal jobs would probably put the trap out in the early AM
and return to check the trap 8 hours later (depending on whether the animal
being trapped is nocturnal or not). Doing that would cause the grey squirrel
to suffer a slow torturous death. I am retired and I make sure to check my traps
at the very least, every 2 hours, which is easy since they are at the base of my bird
feeders and I can see them from our screened-in porch.
Grey squirrels are only active during the day and when it is extremely hot,
they tend to stay in their nests; so I take my squirrel traps back to the garage
when it is over 80 degrees out. Thus most of June, July and August they are only
set from about 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM and I still caught 23 grey squirrels in June 2020
with 2 Havahart model 1083 EZ-set traps. You can set this trap in less than 10 seconds.
WRZ 2021-08-04
Delaware County, PA USA
suburban Philadelphia
Did you notice other birds like cardinals etc stopped coming when you didnt have it available in the morning? My grackles ate safflower as well. Very annoying but i dont want to loose other birds by not having food out all day for them.
Good morning, there is a bit of a trade off for sure, that said birds are natural food seekers, they’ll be back and take advantage of the food when it’s available. Give it a try, it works well. Thanks for watching, Bob 😊
Very helpful, thank you!
You’re most welcome, thank you for watching. 😊 Bob
I was wondering why my seed was going so fast outside! I will take this advice to get the grackles to move on from my yard.
Q
I love the Great Tailed Grackles! All the different sounds they make are so fun!
Indeed, I particularly like their tail when they fly, it turns sideways , and twist and turns as they fly. So cool, 😎😊👌
I don’t mind feeding starlings, or even morning doves but these bloody grackles can literally eat the large hot pepper compressed seed log in a cpl days. They are expensive and the silo feeders are literally empty in a day.
Thank you for this! I can see where the first cage device might also keep out squirrels. I have blue jays that teach the chickadees to remove the seed to get at the sunflower seeds that are in with the regular seed. I have a dense, about 6” thick “carpet” of seed under my feeder because of this. I think the only remedy would be to buy sunflower seeds by themselves and have a special feeder for them. Unfortunately, my area has bird seed that has them mixed, so I’m still faced with the problem. I now feed the birds twice a week, as I’m getting some expensive “grass” under the feeder. Would you have any other solution?
I never use mixes anymore. Too much waste. I don't think the Blue Jays are teaching the chickadees. Given a choice the birds seem to focus on and pick their favorite and get the others out of the way. Dedicated feeder for one seed type has worked the best for me. Black seeded sunflower is just the best all around so I use that in my feeders of different types and straight millet at ground level on the soli or little platforms. I put out cracked corn too. That gives just about everyone enough, including the squirrels and rabbits. Squirrels are a love/hate thing. I don't hate them. I tried safflower but was surprised it wasn't much eaten - the black sunflower was still the favorite and it's a whole lot cheaper.
That being said, 6 inches of seed under your feeder is not preferable. Are these mostly unopened seed? That would be way too much waste. Are you sure a bear isn't coming by?
I just saw this video and I like your idea of removing the food till later in the day. I'm not to bothered anymore by any of the "black" bird species. My feeder pole, which has 4 hooks for feeders is about 12 feet from my kitchen window. Several years ago I started rapping on the window if I was in the kitchen and saw them so they don't come around much anymore. But the house sparrows! What to do about them. I stopped putting out loose seed and used the different round or block shaped seed packs which helped but not enough. Now I have a silo feeder with loose seed and a homemade silo type for sunflower. My neighbor, who I don't know well, has a 12 compartment birdhouse which is filled with these sparrows and they breed all summer and then bring their brats into my yard. How do you deter sparrows? They eat everything all day long. The cage you showed I think is great for larger birds but the house sparrows would go right through that. Any suggestions.
Morning, thank you. Truly , removing the seed is the best option for the short term, take everything down for a few weeks and then reintroduce slowly late in the day and repeat everyday for a few weeks. If they start swarming again take the feeders in. We have to break their habit.
Sounds like your neighbour has a purple Martin nesting box that they let the sparrow take over, they’re a invasive species, not native to here, if possible have your neighbour plug the holes to irradiate them. All the best, thanks , Bob
Starlings are the worst around here. We get a few Grackles but not nearly as many as the starlings. They seem to travel in huge flocks. They are mean birds that chase off the smaller more passive birds. They seem to be able to master any kind of feeder. They will hang on even a finch feeder. We get some Mourning Doves but no pigeons.
I have bought feeders with cages around them with little success. The birds stop coming. When a bird finally does show up after a few weeks they totally ignore the caged feeders. I have a caged suet feeder that the starlings can still get their beaks into! They can’t get into the cylinder feeder that has a cage around it but they will hang on it anyway. Those birds are terrible pests. They do go away when the farmers plant their fields during the spring but show up again in the winter time. I don’t know how farmers get anything to grow. Discriminate? I sure do try to get rid of Starlings and Grackles! Starlings are not even native to this continent. They were brought here from England by a guy who thought that they would be nice to have in the park! They upset the natural balance of nature! They steal nests from other types of bird. They will even eat the eggs of other birds. If there were a way to get rid of them I would be the first to vote for it!
I put birdseed outside my window so I and my cat could enjoy watching them. Then the squirrels took over, and I did research and hit on the "hot pepper sauce" solution. Squirrels can't stand the heat, but birds don't even taste it, so the bluebirds, Cardinals, mourning doves, and sparrows returned. 3 years later, suddenly, European starlings discovered the feeder, and from then on, all I had was 50 to 100 starlings eating all the seed in a tenth of the time, fighting amongst themselves, and chasing all the other birds away. It wasn't very long before I didn't want to see another starling as long as I lived. I finally hit on taking the top off a small mammal cage, setting on its short end, and putting the seed cylinder inside it, where the starlings could only get on one side, which faced my window. That way I could scare the starlings off and give the other bird species a fighting chance. Eventually, after about a year, the starlings got tired of this, and moved on. It worked, and now my cat and I can enjoy a variety of birds again, including the migrating Robins.
Very cool, our cage system does just as you described, thank you for sharing .
Thanks for the tips! I’m afraid I will loose my red-bellied woodpecker if I use the cage. Back to safflower but I’ve never tryied takings the feeders down at night.
Thanks so much. I learned a lot and it will help one of my friends, too.
awesome, thank you,
Thank you for your solutions. Nothing against the pesky birds but I don't want to be feeding them! They literally run the smaller birds off and take over.
Thank you, much appreciated. 😎
I’ve noticed ever since getting bluejays regularly they chase away the common crackle
My starlings have figured out how to wiggle through the cage to get to my food. Guess I'll have to remove my food for about a week as suggested.
wrap it in chicken wire for a bit ? does it seem to be the same spot each time ?
Can Cardinals fit through the cage system?
Hi there, yes we have several customers that have cardinals going in their cage, check the cage on our website , there is a video there. gilligalloubird.com
Thanks for the info!
😊👌 thanks for watching
Awe they like to eat too and they are very social
I love this cage unfortunately I put it next to my fence so now the squirrels chewed up the hinges that locks the cage so now I have to improvise lol. Anyway, the cage still works, I’m only getting the birds that can fit in a cage, but I do have a question can Blue Jays , red wind black birds and the red gooseneck fit in this cage because I like to feed the them as well, unfortunately my Cardinals won’t go in a cage because they only like safflower
We have a lot of people that has Cardinals going in the cage. Glad you like it, thank you for the note. Enjoy.
Do squirrels like sat flower seed? Thanks. I had humming birds for weeks and now nothing I am in southern
NJ in June
hi there, do you mean Safflower? they don't enjoy safflower as much it does deter them somewhat
I used to shop at your store in Almonte but won't any longer. I love my Starlings and even live with one for the past 4 years and provide food for her extended family over winter which happens to be small sized cat kibble since they cannot process seeds like other birds. Grackles show up in the spring and I'm always happy to have them. They're beautiful and appreciative of the hanging suet and sunflower seeds I provide. I have all kinds of finches and Jays and grosbeaks, warblers and hummingbirds. Everyone gets along.
That’s fantastic to have all those birds, as mentioned in our pined post , we have no biases, we providing services and solutions to our customers requests and problems.
Thank you, Bob ,enjoy your birds !
I put bird food in several places in my yard. That way there is food for everyone. I've seen starlings on one side of the yard and 30 or so Doves and other kinds of birds eating in a different spot .
Part 2 message...lol.
Finches ceased to feed from the nyler seed times I have. Its fresh seed and there's been no rainy weather to blemish the feed.
🤔
They will switch and hit the black oil sunflower , both are protein based seeds, they’re just having some verity. That said see if the Nyjer has any mouldy odour, depending on how and where it was packaged it sometimes can be bad out of the bag. , thanks , Bob
Thank you so much!!!!
@@feliciasmith2920 you’re most welcome 😊
What do you recommend to deal with crows? I had to take down my flat feeder because the crows found it. The Crackles are cleaning out the feeders too. I like th cage thing. I'll go to my local bird store to see if they have that available. Thank you.
You did the best thing for this time of year, taking down you tray feeder, leave it dow for a few weeks and then slowly reintroduce it back in late in the afternoon for a few hours each day, taking it down after and repeat agin over and over until you feel comfortable that they have moved on. We ship all over North America, here a link.
gilligalloubird.com/collections/all-birding-supplies/products/hanging-cage?variant=42170919893
Informative video, thanks for sharing. I'd love to have less of them visit and more of the nicer birds. They are bullies. I'm going to start catering to the smaller birds, and buy more caged feeders.
Thank you./. Great advice
How far away in INCHES should the cage be to the feeder opening when a cage is attached. Thanks
@@kathleenfranklin6928 our cage is approximately 12 in diameter, so depending on the feeder it would 4,5”
I would love to buy that cage for my feeders. But after buying plus shipping its almost $100 and I wanted two so that even more. So I'm gonna have to look for cheaper ones too bad because that looks nice.
Good morning, shipping is a thing for sure, if you sign up for our newsletter on line you can get 10% off your first purchase, that may help. Thank you .
I still love that pictures
very helpful....thankyou so much for that
Thank you, reach out anytime, Bob
I'm In Fort Lauderdale.. I started Bird watching.. since my yard attracts the Blue Jays and Baltimore Oriels And the Cardinals.. seen a few Woodpeckers , I have yet to catch them on Video..
In heavy winter weather all birds are welcome at my place so they can all see another spring.
Will the silo help keep sparrows away?
Morning, unfortunately not, those little guys can sneak in, best to use large seeds and only have food available for short periods of time , in the afternoons.
I just put the food for who is hungry not matter who you are. All birds are beautiful for me and I love yo see them eating and coming to my yard I'm thankful for that. Enjoy the beautiful of God.
Where do you buy the round metal cover the feeder.
Good morning, here is the link to our website.
gilligalloubird.com/collections/all-birding-supplies/products/hanging-cage?variant=42170919893
Will the sparrows stay away if u put the feed out in the afternoon?
Its dark here in iowa at 5pm?
Late day feeding discourages flock birds like that, they will be around in the morning and once they realize the food isn’t available they will start to search elsewhere, it may take some time and you may have to take feeders down altogether for a few day’s multiple time, stay diligent. 😊👌
Hi enjoyed your tips. I noticed the Grackles up here in south Ontario Canada show up around March or April . And disappear about August just wondering where do they migrate to. It’s like OK we got our baby’s let’s go . 🐣🐥🦆🦅
They have a very short migrational pattern , only going as far south as the weather pushes them , if it’s a open winter not so far, if it’s colder and snow a little further. Thanks for watching, Bob