5 Common Backyard Birds You DON'T WANT at Your Bird Feeder 

We made a follow-up video because so many people asked! So here are 5 ways to keep problems birds away from your feeder! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-duc2ZC3pn9A.html

About 35 years ago I owned a home that had a large crabapple tree in the back yard. Since my children and I were not big lovers of crabapples, we seldom tried to harvest them and jus left them on the tree through winter. One February day we were experiencing a warm spell. My children came in and told me that we had a whole bunch of birds in the yard. I checked it out and what we had was a couple hundred Cedar Waxwings primarily on the Crabapple tree and they appeared to be having a feed. I told my kids not to bother them and just leave them alone and went back to what I was doing. Around 20 minutes later the kids came and told me something was wrong with the birds. Some of them had fallen out of the tree and some were hanging upside down. I went to see what they were talking about and they were right. Probably 75 to 100 birds on the ground and another 150 or so still in the tree with many of them inverted. It took about 2 seconds to figure out that the crabapples left on the tree had fermented and those damn birds were drunk. I saw a couple of neighbouring cats sitting on the fence and knew we had a problem. I threw on my coat and went outside with the kids. I gave each one of them a dish towel and we began to pick birds of the ground and put them in the dishtowels before taking them into the garage. More birds were falling but we kept picking the up and depositing them in the garage. Nightfall was not far away so I decided to leave them in the garage overnight. The next morning I went out with the young'uns and we opened the garage door. At first nothing came out but after a minute or so they started out the door. Some flew immediately but some just kind of sat there for a while before flying away. I think the ones that hesitated to fly had hangovers and were still a bit wobbly. It never happened again by even today my offspring remember the drunken birds in our yard.

While I agree with most of the birds on your list, all are welcome here. There is absolutely nothing out there for anyone during a harsh New England winter, so if they come, they will have food. My late mom told me: 'If it comes and it's hungry, feed it.' And I do.

This makes me so sad. My bird feeder literally attracted scores of everyone “undesirable” and my dad said “look what you’ve done” to which I responded “I don’t care it’s for whoever is hungry” Much love all creatures big and small 🥰

I have all of these at my feeders including blue jays, red finches, goldfinches, robins, 4 kinds of woodpeckers, chickadees, cardinals, red-winged blackbirds, sparrows, ducks, geese, squirrels, chipmunks, mice, voles, etc. Love them all.

A couple of years ago, I went through a horrible depression, but the house sparrows saved my life. They visited my bedroom window everyday for about 2 months. They were funny little characters and lifted my spirit. My dad was against me feeding the birds. He said they would just make a mess. I think they visited me because they knew I needed them. They seemed more like angels than birds. Once I moved back to my own home after my recovery, I began to feed my backyard birds and received visits from many different species. They are such a blessing. All birds are welcome at my home.❤️🙏

I personally believe that rather than deterring certain species from the feeders, we should consider creating different feeding areas in our garden. I have 2x areas with hanging feeders and 2x areas with ground feeding trays. One hanging feeder has a big tray, to allow bigger birds like pigeons, magpies or jackdaws to sit and eat comfortably. The other hanging feeders are for small birds only, like finches, tits or sparrows. One of the ground feeding tray is in cage, letting only small ground feeding birds come in and eat. The other ground feeder is open and everybody is welcome to use it. While I appreciate that some people do not want huge numbers of big birds visiting their gardens, it is important to remember that they also want to live and need to fight for survival, especially during winter time. Lets be kind to all birds, big or small.

My backyard grackles used to be annoying bullies, but recently they’ve learned to coexist with my robins and will even take turns at the bird bath. They also tend to chase nearby crows away, which helps keep the area safe for any other birds that are nesting in the area. So I hated them at first, but they’ve slowly worked their way into my good graces. We’ve even been giving them little bits of string from the garden to help build their nests.

I love feeding all birds in my yard. And squirrels and possums as well. They bring me so much joy every day.

I hated the grackles when I first started feeding. I then started to feel bad as I noticed their behaviour was changing and developing a “birdonality”. Now they have a great game of peanut chase with the blue jays. I have a white headed grackle that stops by. Plus I set up diversion feeding areas, it seems to work. The “No Hawks allowed” sign doesn’t seemed to be obeyed though

Love all birds, put multiple feeders with different size of seed. No competition. Been feeding like this for a decade. Feed birds to help them survive winter and bad weather, have better nesting success, not just for yourself. Always leave out opportunity for bathing and make sure if you leave water out, to change it few times a day. Its a nice reason to get some fresh air also.

As an ecologist, I find this video really interesting for a few reasons! I live in rural New Mexico, but recently visited my hometown in central Colorado, which is a huge city. I found myself fascinated by our backyard bird feeder, hosting a few species from this list. The interactions between these animals are much more fluid than in more wild areas-because there really is food for everyone, in abundance, because most people in suburbia have a bird feeder. Just goes to show how diverse and special urban ecology can be.

I am honored by any wild thing that chooses to visit me. I raised a cowbird as a child, I guess the tiny bird's nest that mom picked was not a particularly welcoming home, since the little wren tossed him out 3 times before my Mom let me bring him in. Miraculessly, he survived to adulthood and hung around for a couple of years. So, I have a soft spot for Cow Birds.

We are always thrilled when a Cooper's Hawk comes by for lunch.

All birds are welcome in my small UK garden, as are all other creatures. Doing my best to create a habitat that will support and protect them all. I feel encouraged by the positive comments of other viewers, who are trying to do the same. 🧡😊🤸

My bird and the birds outside that i've fed for years are the joy of my life.

I had a northern mocking bird living in a tree right by my old bedroom window and it was the loudest bird I’ve ever heard and it would keep me up at night every night.

i love my grackles - they are so smart. i had one 2 years ago that would follow me around the yard (on foot! just bopping along behind me). i also just leave piles on the ground under the feeders for the larger birds. this frees up the actual feeds for the small birds and the squirrels (i feed the squirrels honestly, the birds just show up because of that). this was the first year we had to deal with cooper's hawks, but my neighbor also got chickens last year so they decided to build a nest between our houses. that was so much fun to watch them learning to fly and hunt! i had mom fly right over my head carrying a snake. you could always tell when it was the mom hunting vs when the fledglings were learning because the birds didnt sound the alarm as fast. still waiting for an oriole. my mom gets them about 10 miles away, but i have yet to see one at my house in the 13 years i've been here. but we get flocks of blue jays and she doesnt so i guess thats a trade off.

I gained a passion for bird watching after my mother passed away. Her favorite bird was a Red Winged Black Bird. All her bird feeders are still here plus some additions. A few years after she passed a Red Winged Black Bird would come to the feeder ever morning and make the most beautiful calls before eating. Just last week I saw something incredible, there had to of been 3 males and over 15 females doing synchronized dances above my house, high in the sky. Another time just this year I learned about the Common Grackle, I couldn't count how many there were if I tried. I'd never seen it before, strangely when they move in packs they are known as a "plague" Has only happened here and there so I assume they stop for a snack and migrate elsewhere. Very neat to watch. I have sooo many other cool species that visit daily but I thought this was so interesting to hear everything in this video! As mentioned always leave water for both drinking and bathing! Birds are so fascinating, its beautiful to see so many of us share the same passion

I'm really pleasantly surprised to read these comments! I've always said that any bird is welcome, even the crows, I always try to leave food out for everyone...but honestly, the little songbirds are the ones who've taken over and the big crows and starlings don't really come. I have chickadees, finches, and song sparrows, and juncos! I bought a special finch/small bird seed mix which was way more expensive than the huge bags they sell, so that attracted the birds and even had a pair of chickadees nesting in the empty bird box that's been sitting there for years. I helped raise one of their last fledglings, very stressful work but so cute!

Had a bird feeder for years. Ever so often I would go out & see dozens of feathers left behind. I knew a hawk got a dove.

The best defense against starlings and sparrows are bluejays I have found. They will defend chickadees and other small birds when the sparrows and starlings become harrasive. One day I noticed that some starlings were picking on the chickadees at the feeder and about six blue jays would attack the starlings, making them keep their distance. The next day, the starlings were more respectable; they had been taught manners by the jays.

In UK we have both the Starling and the House Sparrow (and the Tree or Hedge Sparrow). The sparrows were everywhere in noisy, bickering groups when I was little, but have suffered catastrophic decline in recent years. Many starlings died on their migratory routes a few years ago but have made a comeback. They are like strutting adolescent gangs in the garden! Eating everything and dominating the space. However, they have enormous roosts of hundreds of birds and when they all take off together many people gather to watch their wave-like formation,known as a murmuration.

I've also had American Kestrels take out some of my birds. It gives a whole new meaning to bird feeders.

Grackles haven’t caused issues when they show up at my place. Yes they show up in a huge mob but they tend to move on after a few days, and they also tend to prefer foraging below the feeder, rather than from the feeder the smaller birds use. They are kind of the clean up crew.

While Common Grackles can be a nuisance they’re considered a Near Threatened species. If you struggle with them taking over a feeder maybe try putting up a weighted feeder that allows you to set it to remain open for smaller birds but close if a larger bird lands on it.

My favorite visitors in our yard are the Flickers. Because they are woodpeckers, they have a killer beak. Most other birds, even some squirrels, give them a wide berth.

Ive never had an issue with grackles or cowbirds, they are very chill at the feeder. And only flock during migration. They are nothing as bad as the bully Jay's or catbirds. You should also be happy to see grackles in your backyard as their numbers are in serious and mysterious decline

It's beautiful to see dinosaurs of all sorts around the feeder, every morning.

I get large groups of Starlings, House Sparrows, Grackles, Cowbirds, Red Wing Black Birds, Cooper Hawks, Mourning Doves, Chipmunks, Squirrels, Gold Finches, Red Tailed Hawks, many woodpeckers, Groundhogs, Turkeys, Blue Jays and every other species of birds and everyone seems to tolerate each other and get along. Well I mean other then the Hawks who eat everyone. I don’t know I feel like I have a good community of birds and critters who get along for the most part.

The baby (young) Grackles are a hoot. They get so loud about being fed that sometimes other non-Grackle birds at my feeders will shove food at them to shut them up. The Mourning Doves are great. They are so laid back, but they don't allow any other bird to bully them.

The European Starling is gorgeous! If they’re invading your feeders or nests, please don’t kill them! You’d be surprised how many bird wildlife preserves will take them in. The fact they can mimic up to 20 different species, human voices, and other environmental noises is astounding.

I've used the tips to discourage these interlopers, and it has worked. I've gotten feeders specific for the birds I want to attract, and other smaller feeders to discourage bunches of cowbirds or crackles from gorging themselves. I still get the interlopers, but they no longer take over my yard. Thanks for your help!

Scattering the seeds widely on the ground as opposed to placing them in one or two feeders helps all birds to access food and get along without getting overly aggressive. Scatter seeds under and between shrubbery and the smaller birds can easily get in, but the larger birds prefer the open spaces on the ground. My Cooper's Hawk only eats Mourning Doves and as much as I love all of my birds, there is no shortage of Mourning Doves !! LOL

I have some few variations of Cardinals outside my apartment, so I got some bird food with sunflower seeds in them. While the Cardinals are starting to show up to my porch regularly, there’s a lot more House Sparrows that eat up the other bird food and they outnumber the Cardinals 4 to 1 They seem to leave each other alone for the most part, and fight amount themselves more than other birds. I’ve never paid attention to birds like this before or feed them it’s surprisingly relaxing

All the lovely comments from fellow bird lovers on here bring me to tears! I am so glad to hear that all birds are equally loved. Yay!!! We have Mourning Doves, Brewer's Black bird, Red Winged black bird, lots of lovely sparrows, including a new comer! A White crowned sparrow, red headed finch, Starlings (an absolutely beautiful bird not a bully at all! ) Northern flicker, Robin red breast (American robin) we even have a lovely family of California Quail that visit. Our feeder has been visited by the occasional small rabbit and squirrel, which is always a treat. I will say I have seen the wee rabbit chase away a Magpie or two. Funny! Its a feast! And fills my heart and soul with joy and happiness! No bird should be demonized. We do have an occasional Hawk and I just remove my feeder for a few days until he or she is gone. I love the Hawk too but want our feeder to feel safe for the little gems that visit.

Absolutely agree with this list, our biggest issue is the House Sparrow (which showed up when a neighbor put out junk bird feed) and the Starling.

I had a bird feeder a few feet away from my kitchen window. One morning, while watching all the wonderful birds eating from the feeder while cleaning up my kitchen, a Coopers Hawk came and sat on the fence next to the feeder. He then grabbed one of the small birds feeding from the feeder. It was awful! That little bird screamed as the hawk took off with the bird in his clutches. That was it for me. I took the feeder down and vowed I would never feed the birds as it became a trap for that Cooper Hawk. Now, I put out hummingbird feeders and have small fountains and bird baths for the birds. I still get to see a lot of really beautiful birds that come for a quick drink or bathe quickly, but no sign of hawks. Thank God!!🙏🏻

Most of the birds on that list are at my feeders! Along with an occasional red tail hawk or a Coopers. We don't have a great variety of birds out here, so I enjoy the antics of the sparrows, and put 3 or 4 feeders out so everyone gets a chance to eat. One you mentioned, but wasn't on the list is ring necked doves. They eat like horses! But they have their sweet moments, too. Thanks for the video!

common grackle. my absolute favorite bird. killer eyes. so smart. always welcome at my feeders.

Bird feeding is such a joy! Yes the black birds can be annoying, especially starlings. but it is what it is. The squirrels and chipmunks are invited as well. I always included a squirrel feeder and added a corn cob, peanuts, walnuts, and pecans.. keeping them occupied. Want to attract robins, catbirds and mockingbirds? Try mealworms, blue berries, grapes and raisins..... they'll come. Enjoy 😊

Grackles I’ve never seen at my bird feeder but they perch in my maple sometimes. It’s a treat when that happens

I love House sparrows. I never had any problems with them..they live in harmony with all the other species in my yard..I find them entertaining ...They remind me of little children bickering at eachother...One species you failed to mention are Crows...they raid bird nests, and Blue Jay's will sound the alarm when they are around..The barn swallows are especially threatened by them, and these little guys will dive bomb them. It's funny to watch these big birds run from them..However, at times I had to chase them away from the swallow nest..They are bold.

Oh starlings.....had a flock of about 50 of them raid my feeder when it got really cold a few weeks back. They ate all the food in about 15 minutes. I switched to straight sunflower seeds and filling the feeders later in the day and early in the morning. It helped to make them leave. I actually like my regular flock of sparrows and purple finches they share well with others and don't drain my feeder.

The Great Tail Grackles and Brown Head Cow birds, and Starlings that visit our yard, actually get along well with the other birds and they haven't taken over. We have a pair of cardinals, a pair of Blue Jays, and numerous Mourning Doves that visit the feeders. The Titmouse's come in early Spring, and the goldfinches as well. Yes, the House Sparrow's are hilarious to watch 😂. We have tons of those, but all of the birds actually get along at our 4 feeders. San Antonio TX here ❤.

I had two common grackles visiting my backyard mostly in spring and I find their behavior to be sort of cute, specially when they get the chance to know you. Cooper’s Hawk are usually unpleasant visitors for all the suffering they cause to doves and songbirds, but I guess nature designed them to be that way

Grackles, Starlings, Sparrows are the vast majority at my feeders. I also get finches and a couple doves (and squirrels, ofc). I'm partial to starlings, as I raised one from a baby. When he died (a year later), I landscaped my front yard and put out bird feeders and a bath in his honor. Now I have literally hundreds of birds that visit my yard each day.

I have never forgotten the first time a flock of beautiful evening grosbeaks descended on my platform feeder in Colorado. They went through twenty pounds of sunflower seeds in about a half hour. The grosbeaks were mysterious---you never knew when they'd show up nor when they'd decide to leave.

My friend and I were out on her back porch in Moore, OK using the Merlin Bird ID app. Grackles out the wazoo. It was bananas, they're like 50% of the birds flying around.

I actually really like common grackles. They’re pretty, and their behavior is astonishing to watch. The males, in particular the mature males, do patrols in my neighborhood, and will teach the younger males to watch the sky for intruding grackle flocks and hawks. When they do see a hawk, they absolutely mob them and chase them off, which is great since I have pet chickens that have faced hawk problems in the past. They’re a lot like roosters, where they are incredibly attentive to the females of the group, and have a very strong family dynamic you wouldn’t normally see in birds. When this particular group of grackles visit the yard, they always eat first, and when they’re done, they leave to let the doves and other birds have at the feeder. They’re just so incredibly cheeky and fun to watch lol.

I can't think of a bird I would hate to see at my feeder, even if they were to "take over". All birds are good birds. I am particularly delighted when a grackle shows up. They have such interesting behavior if you take the time to watch them!

Just started feeding this spring and we have probably 95% House Sparrows. I thought this was pretty standard as i live real close to DC, but now I'm conflicted. We had some House Sparrows nest and raise some chicks in our back porch roof, and now we can see the youngins flying around. I love these Sparrows, but also we want to put up proper bird houses, and I LOVE Eastern Bluebirds and hope to have a nest of them. Not sure what to do

I really love the grackles. They are so loud when the congregate in the trees around my house. I have to go outside and smack a pipe on my picnic table to get them to move on. They are a flock of rude birds but I love watching them interact with each other, especially in the spring.

I just saw a cooper's hawk loitering near my feeders the other day! I'm new at bird feeding so that was a new experience. Gorgeous bird. It was during a rain storm so there weren't any other birds at the feeder, thankfully.

In Central CA, my mom gets a lot of white-crowned sparrows and mourning doves in her backyard and they are all over her feeders. They get along well with each other(the doves fight amongst themselves though), so she likes to see them. While they were busily feeding, all of them flew off quickly and for a brief moment I saw a hawk in the corner of her yard. It must have been a Cooper's Hawk although I didn't get a good look at it.

I have all these come to my feeders except the cooper hawk & I still have cardinals, wrens, chickedees, several varieties of finches, mourning doves, brown thrashers, dark eye juncos, downie & red bellied woodpeckers, several kinds of sparrows, blue jays, flickers , sometimes grosbeaks . Even had a magpie the other day which is rare in missouri. I have several different kinds of feeders & feed, plus put seed on the ground. I have squirrel feeder too. All of them get along pretty well most of the time. I love watching them all. So they are all welcome in my yard.

I have a nest of house sparrows directly under my upstairs AC window unit. They’re at my feeders every day. And aside from the mamma bird following the blackbirds around and vocally policing them, they’ve been great. The policing has actually been hilarious.

Interesting list. I recently moved to a semi-rural area and began putting out hummingbird nectar, since there was already an abandoned feeder when I moved in. It's been entertaining to see (what I think is) a female Gila Woodpecker come in and hang on the feeder as she slurps up some nectar. She's quite a mouthy broad, always announcing her presence loudly!😄 Soon after, I got a seed feeder and put out seed, not knowing what might show up. Sparrows and white winged doves, mostly. Whenever I saw the doves hogging the feeder, I'd chase them away so the sparrows could feed. There are grackles and crows in town, but even though that's only 1.5 miles away, they never venture out to where I am.😕 The grackles crack me up. They hang out in the parking lot at the grocery store and check out the underside of the parked cars. As soon as another car pulls in and parks, a couple of grackles hurry over to look for a snack. I've seen them up on the grill of cars, picking off the bugs, too. And we get fly overs from vultures from time to time. They look like small planes!😳😄

What would have been really useful would have been to tell us how to prevent unwanted birds visiting the feeders while keeping them available for the birds we do want to attract.

I have red winged black birds, sparrows, mourning doves, robins and some sort of a bright yellow bird. It’s so satisfying to see them eating and all of their antics.

Good list. I live (now) in a small city in Ontario, Canada. I've been feeding birds for decades in a variety of habitats. I've learned to offer only black oil sunflower seeds in a metal mesh feeder with a narrow tray. We get lots of the "goog" native birds. Havnt seen any house sparrows or starling at it. Recently had a grackle, but they have a hard time perching on our feeder. I hear redwing blackbirds but haven't seen on the feeder. I saw a few cowbirds this spring but haven't seen them lately. They never got on the feeder but gleaned underneath it. In the past I've seen both house sparrows and grackles kill other young birds but rarely. Years ago we had a Cooper's hawk once in a while but the little birds all took cover very fast (I garden for birds with lots of cover shrubs and trees). We did see once, years ago, a merlin shoot between our house and neighbour's, under a tree and snatched a mourning dove from a little flock gleaning below one of our feeders. The merlin didn't even slow down but streaked off over another house. Sorry for the dove but it was a spectacular thing to see. Otherwise in over 4 decades of bird feeding, no predation. Thanks for your list. And for your great videos which I just started watching.

I had a pet purple grackle when I was in the 8th grade. They are wonderful and very loving. I’d always be kind to them as well as the rest of those on your list. Poor wild animals have a tough enough life as it is. 🥺

On my property, they all eat, including the Hawks. It’s all nature but, I do supply the food, other than for the Red Tails. I get humming birds too, at my back porch. They are just amazing little creatures.❤

I love the grackles that visit my feeder. When I let my cat out into the yard, the grackles fly off but one will stay close and call out a warning that actually sounds like "cat, cat" to warn others. Like most black birds they seem so intelligent.

Grackles are one of my favourites. They have specialized beaks that allow them to break open acorns.

There's a colony of starlings roosting inside a train station in the city where I live. They're actually very popular among the people using that station, since they're keeping away the pigeons that would usually occupy that habitat.

I have a decent sized flock of house sparrows that visits my feeder. They’ve adjusted to the presence of other birds, and haven’t disturbed any of the nests of birds that are living in my birdhouses. They eat peacefully with the finches, doves, and even quail sometimes. I did see one bother a dove once though. They aren’t horrible like feral/outdoor cats or invasive starlings and I even rescued one of the flock’s fledglings once. As long as they don’t start getting aggressive and invasive, I’ll welcome them at my feeder. Plus, they get outcompeted by blackbirds and crows in bluebird nesting areas. Their numbers only do well by my house.

I've seen those hawks around my neighborhood. I seen them around on roof tops and at the local park. One time I saw one near by eating a pigeon. I didn't realize how they ate big birds too. I honestly didn't realize it until I saw it eating it. It made me a little sad since I love watching the birds but I know that is nature but it also explains why I don't see many different birds around. I do but they seem to hide a bit. Great video!

I love grackles. I had one who came around every morning and mimicked the electronic car fob noises. He was friendly and curious.

I’ve known about Brown-headed Cowbirds being a brood parasite but have never actually observed a different species raising one of their young until this past summer. I observed a Common Yellowthroat feeding a fledgling Brown-headed Cowbird. The size difference between the two was absurd. I felt so bad because I don’t believe the CY had any fledglings of its own. Just the BHCB..

My list of the five most detested birds...at feeders and in general...includes House Sparrows, Brown-headed Cowbirds, European Starlings, Mourning Doves and Rock Pigeons. I also do not tolerate squirrels at my feeders.

I like all birds even Grackles and Starlings. They all bring joy to me. I feed the starlings separate with mealworms and they are happy with that.

I agree with your list as I have been dealing with these birds on a regular basis. It can be very frustrating.

I don’t mind the raptors but the pigeons/rock doves are a pest as well, definitely on my list! Thanks for posting the information

man you nailed that list, regardless of what anyone says, you are spot on.

We get full families of starlings, grackels , Bluejays, chickadees , cowbirds, sparrows, junko, my "pet" raven, crows, gulls and pigeons even get fed . Everyone shares and is fairly harmonious but we also use scolding chirps if anyone gets too big for their britches. Other than the newly moved in Merlins we've been seeing attack some birds around here we haven't had much trouble ! 😅 we feed all the "bad birds" as well as the others.

In North East Ohio I have had nothing but trouble with house sparrow at my bird feeder. They also disrupt nesting birds like robins, finch and wrens. It got bad enough that I removed my bird feeders. Now even without a feeder I see a greater variety of birds in our garden and flowers. The sparrows are still around but only a few since there isn’t an easy meal for them.

I like being adopted by a crow family (they share peanuts in the shell with the jays) because they do such a great job at chasing away hawks. The crows often post a lookout who warns the songbirds if a hawk is nearby, and I’ve seen the crows actively chase hawks away from my neighborhood. (Crows also get very playful about how they fly in to land on the platform feeder…I’ve seen lots of barrel rolls and acrobatics that have nothing to do with solely getting food and everything to do with showing off and having fun lol) My biggest feeder challenge are probably the squirrels because while I have squirrel proof feeders, I do also feed on the ground since I have many birds that are solely ground feeders. I definitely have fat squirrels ;-)

Thank you for including the Coopers Hawk!

i've never had issues with common grackles, they often feed on the ground next to dove and sparrows and they seem pretty chill.

Here in Syracuse NY, we've never seen issues between grackles, cardinals, blue jays or sparrows. It's not just about putting seed out. Much has to do with taking an active roll with the birds. All the birds I listed visit us all summer and because of how one treats and... talks to them makes all the difference. We even have a large male woodpecker that each morning knocks only twice just to get a peanut in the shell, unsalted of course.

As a life time birder I disagree with a few of these. Starlings and house sparrows of course are an exception as invasive species. But the native species are perfectly fine- as nature lovers we should respect the birds that arent as “pretty” and “convenient” as bluebirds and cardinals. Grackles are PIGS but they’re very goofy and loveable birds

I like these birds and welcome them. Evening grosbeak are great.

Very nice video. I try to feed any bird that needs it during winter especially. I just saw an eastern bluebird for the first time at my feeder. It is my state bird but never had seen one in 50 years. The starlings are rude and tend to bother the other birds but I guess they to eat as well as the squirels.

I would add House Finch. Camps out at the feeder and is picky what it eats. That is, not only is it eating more than other birds at the bird feeder, it is also throwing out plenty.

The only way we found to keep the sparrows from turning our yard into a scene from "The Birds" was to offer only sunflower seeds in our feeder. No typical bird feed with millet. We still get them, but in much smaller numbers.

I had a little house sparrow on the ground beneath my feeders. It attacked a female cardinal on the ground too, even with the male cardinal near her. I couldn't understand why it did that. Thank you for this video! Had no idea why the house sparrow was so randomly aggressive.

I live in Arizona, and recently had a bunch of blackbirds start eating all the cat food put out for the stray cats around my neighborhood. They are chatty and love my place. Even gang up on the young red tailed hawks we have in the neighborhood. Not sure if the birds are crows or grackles but they have been a great asset to my yard since they have even started eating insects and the blasted little birds that were crapping all over my gazebo furniture. Between the big blackbirds and the hawks, our little pest birds are finding someone else to pester so I for one am thankful for them. Pigeons are another pest type bird I'm happy to see taking a hike to a different yard also.

I live in Danmark ("Denmark"), Europe. The Starling is rarely even seen at bird feeders. Not where I live, anyway. They're quite common, but they seem to prefer feeding elsewhere. The House Sparrow is very common, but less so than it used to be, because they nest in the eaves of roofs, and modern roofs are often unusable to them. They've also got a lot of competition from the more aggressive (and more intelligent) Tree Sparrow which until a few decades ago didn't live near humans, but that has changed dramatically. The slightly bigger Greenfinch is even more of a bully at the bird feeder - they chase away sparrows and tits, and often each other as well. But since the Greenfinches also want to eat, they can't really keep other birds away, so usually they all get what they want. The other species mentioned in this video don't live here (and please don't send them over!) The European Blackbird is now the most numerous bird in the country, but they only visit the feeders sometimes. Most of the time they're busy eating worms. A worse bully is the Magpie. It is so much bigger that it scares the smaller birds. But again, it's not around all the time. Hawks - especially Sparrow Hawks - occasionally take a blackbird, but what do you expect? P.S. You forgot to tell us what to do to keep unwanted birds away. My suggestion is to do nothing at all. Unless there's a big problem.

I alway's loved the house sparrow...im surprised to hear they can get agressive. I only feed the birds in the snowy months here in new england.I try to feed all of them,seems like the bluejays are a bit over-populated here....they love the unsalted peanuts as do the crows.Yesterday i seen a grey squirrel actually push aside a crow that was after it's shelled pecan, i was glad to see it defend it's food.yeah iv'e been cheating this year because theres no snow yet, just can't help myself from bringing some paradise to the back yard.. .

I love watching the grackle boss his way around the yard.

I've watched just today a yellow headed blackbird bully several greckles from a feeder. We get almost all the birds on this list, and many more. Almost always the birds are getting along even if interested in the same food. The greckles throw the food out and on the ground and all the birds feed from what the throw out. Including the ducks, geese, various finches, red wing black birds, juncos. We have barn swallows and Northern Flickers busy with the bugs as well. Having more than one type of feeder and type of feed helps.

Awh, in my area Grackles are actually very shy! It's strange, they're like the shy-est and most easily scared of all the birds I watch in my back yard, lol! And sorry, I love Starlings too! I actually saved, raised(3 of them) and kept one, he's my tough lil man 😂 VERY big personality for such a little guy, haha! He can even talk, he always asks, 'Can I have a kiss? A kissy kiss? A kissy kisses? Ohhh kisses!' and much more haha. I wish more people could see how precious they can be. But I do understand that they are invasive species and can cause problems. I'm just really biased by my lil boy. Good informative video, thank you!

Heh, almost all of these are at my feeders in southern NH. 1) Grackle - I see these from time to time, but are rare enough that they've never been a problem. Their iridescent plumage is very unique. 2) Starling - the only one on the list I don't think I've seen 3) There are hawks all over this region. Saw either a sharp shinned or Cooper's snatch a Junco off one of my feeders one winter (possibly late fall or early spring), then land in the tree. Just stomped the poor thing into the branch whenever it would start to struggle. Eventually flew off to the top of a tall pine nearby. 4) During lockdown, one particular Cowbird drove me absolutely bananas. I was trying to work from home at my computer, and this thing kept arguing with its reflection in the window. Would do its puffing flare up and ch-CHEEP call. Over and over again. No matter how often I'd yell at it and chase it away. Eventually had to tape paper all over the outside of the window to get it to go away and stay away. Which was tough when it rained and the paper didn't want to stay taped to the window! 😆 5) Sparrows (and I think some finches) are by FAR the most common bird in my yard. Most are brown with light brown speckles, but there are others with more distinct patterns. They don't seem to be bullying any of the other birds, so far as I can tell, but I might try that filament trick as seen in the followup video if they do.

Very true about the grackles. Starlings are a pain! Have had many down our stove pipe and they taking the native species eggs.

Wow the birds on your list are my favorite to watch on mine

I have a TON of different birds in my backyard! I have Cardnials, crows, ravens, blue jays, mourning doves, once in awhile a hawk, or I might see some robins, and they are getting closer and closer to my house.Last summer up until November, I had a mocking bird who was super friendly, tame enough to land in one of my bushes, as I hung out laundry, singing up a storm!

The instructions that came with the Bluebird house I bought a few years ago detailed how to kill sparrows that got in the house. I was aghast and thought that was a horrifying suggestion. After finding a dead baby house wren under its birdhouse and 2 of its siblings flopping around on the ground I'm not so fond of sparrows anymore. The wrens had been chasing them away from the house for days before. It seems to me that the sparrows just did it to be mean; they don't even appear to want the house now. Grrrrr. So I'm off to the store to get new houses with the proper size entrance holes. Jerk birds. I chase the hawks away whenever I see them; they purposely chase smaller birds into my windows, then snatch them up. The sparrows took over my 12 compartment bird condo long ago, but the squirrels have since taken it from them. The crows purposely try to chase the squirrels in front of my car tires when im driving down the road. Also, the blue jays like to make hawk noises and chase everyone else away from the peanut feeder. No one can get along in my yard and my list of bird grievances is long!

The cowbird is high on my list, when I saw one I’d scare him away like turkeys (my other avian foe) once I learned their nature and I watched my eastern phoebe porch nest. We’ve had that family for 9 years. They built an addition the parents move into when the chicks are almost gone! This year they really built up the sides with moss and last year had 3 broods!

I live in Chambers County, Texas. People come from all over the world to bird watch here. I have all of these birds plus more in my yard at one time of the year or another. And some all year round. I feed them all. I have many bird feeders and squirrel feeders. I'm currently stalking a pair of woodpeckers in my yard taking photos of them. I feed all critters. Opossums, raccoons, bats, birds, deer, etc. They all do just fine here. There was a pink spoon bill in my yard the other day! I usually don't see them in my yard. I live on the Bay and they are usually closer to the beach or on the little shell islands in the Bay. It was pretty cool to have one in the back yard!!