Really good video. So informative! I've been backyard squirrel/bird feeding going on five years now. By default bc of where i reside, I LOOK for the sparrows, starling and grackles bc the pigeons are incessant! American blue jays, morning dove and cardinals are regular feeders. Robins come around from time to time. Rarely the snowy woodpecker and yellow finches visit. I live on the third floor and got a huge, beautiful evergreen (I think it's a white fir) tree that I throw suet onto. I can spread it out so the sparrow, starling and grackle are not on top of each other. I throw (from the third floor) down peanut unsalted in the shell, walnuts in the shell (I use the tree to break the fall so as to not crack the shells) I put out freeze dried mealworms and wild birdseed. It's rather unconventional how their food is served, but it works! So, i got a good laugh in addition to education from watching this video. Thanks for sharing!
THIS is such an excellent and thoroughly informative presentation about bird boxes and design advantages. I really appreciate the refresher! This was a particularly rough year for the Tree Swallows and Bluebirds, house sparrows have been directly attacking the parents on the boxes as well as entering and pecking bluebird chicks in the nest, leaving them all dead. From species, to housing, to seed types, all great information and I'll be sharing! Thank you!
Phenomenal! Even with all the bird books I have, none put together as clear and concise comparison of sparrows or how to defeat the flocks of obnoxious birds and promote the more preferred types to feeders. Thank you!
Super pet peeve: When I am watching a birding video and the speaker talks about "here" or "now" and I have no idea where they are or what time of year it is. I see you are in NY here but no idea what is "when." Perhaps there is a secret way to know that I have not yet discovered. However, excellent video otherwise, thank you.
Excellent video! Thank you! I’ve decided I like grackles! They are native birds unlike House Sparrows and Starlings. Grackle populations have declined by about 50% since records have been kept. To me, their most distinguishing feature-after suspecting they are starlings or blackbirds, is their long curved tails. Starlings have stubby tails. Grackles rank #9 on the Concern chart. (20 is Worst…tree swallows-10, black-capped chickadees-7, Carolina chickadee-9, blue jay-8, dark-eyed junko-8, eastern bluebird-7).
Excellent advice I have a huge sparrow flock but I also have a nice number of Cardinals that come to feeder. I will use the safflower seeds exclusively but what bout black oiled sunflower seeds that I know the Cardinals like. Is there a way to give the more desired birds variety without the sparrows taking over everything??
thanks for an excellent presentation. Am glad to know about the upside down suet feeder; starlings polished off a suet cake in a regular wire box within 24 hours.
Great starting tips! Sparrows killed my baby bluebirds last May. I stopped putting out any food. Now, in October, the bluebirds have just started coming back. And there is a pair of sparrows that come at the same time. These sparrows seem to follow the bluebirds! Hoping some of your tips will deter the sparrows!
We have a real problem with returning House Wrens destroying the eggs of Bluebirds and Chickadees. The Bluebirds & Chickadees have a headstart on choosing nesting boxes. A real heartbreaker. Because House Wrens are native, we can only try to keep an eye on the Bluebird houses (that are occupied by Bluebirds or Chickadees) and shoo the House Wrens away from boxes already occupied. Any suggestions?
Thank you! Great information! I will definitely try the safflower seeds. I've also had some success in the past by taping a metallic pinwheel to my bluebird house to keep the sparrows away.
nicely done, Liz WE also are getting fewer birds through the winter. Now it appears the Red wing blackbirds et al have arrived early. My question is for the bluebird house with the rectangular opening, what is the height of the opening?
The feeder you showed near the end which is a double suet feeder is one I have but dont use anymore. The reason being eventually the house sparrows flocked and raided it and starling can reach in and reach the suet. which aggravated me to know end. That feeder to keep starling out would need more space between the outer caging and the suet. I originally started using it for downy woodpecker which did use , but it was the previous factors why I dont use it anymore.
@@johnross6314 Didnt trash mine and have found a way to deter house sparrows and starlings. I now put a plastic casing the same casing that a lot of suet seed comes and put some hardware cloth on the face of the casing 1/4" and now House Sparrows no longer use it and it also makes it more difficult for starlings although they can still reach in to get some of the suet. Another thing I did was go to the upside down finch feeder as last season the house finches had taken over the sock feeders and upright type finch feeders. Now the goldfinches eat in peace , I actually now have 2 upside feeders and may get a third one as so many goldfinches now use this feeder.
Thanks so much for instituting these videos...This presentation was excellent and informative..Topics for the future might include waterfowl and warble identification..thanks so much...
Great information. I love that this is a learning video. Went through a lot of just someone filming birds until I came to your. Perfect speed and perfect pictures.
Nice presentation and very interesting. It seems as if there were definitely fewer birds at my feeders this year, wonder if anyone else has had the same experience. Keep the videos coming - I rarely make the time to come to classes, it's nice to be able to watch at one's one selected time.
Sparrows and finches seem to come in groups of three to my feeder and are quite aggressive to all the other birds. It looked like one of them injured a nuthatch too. I hope I can discourage them from dominating my feeder. All the other birds come solo, but the sparrows and finches are always with two other birds.
I've noticed that my bluebirds only defend their nest from other cavity nesters. They never bother the other types of sparrows that are around their boxes. They also leave the house finches and other small open nesters alone. European sparrows, squirrels, or anything else that nests in cavities is an instant battle. If you're ever confused as to whether the sparrow you're concerned about is a European sparrow or a native species sparrow, the bluebirds will tell you 😉
I killed about 45 house sparrows six years ago, I don't see them anymore, they are a pest, predator that will kill and break eggs. I have purple martins also.
I have been looking for months for a presentation that would be as informative and helpful and this video has been. I have read so much on different "bird" websites, but none as good at showing the specific differences between the songbirds. I am relatively new to bird feeding and housing. It has been soooo frustrating identifiying sparrows and finches. First you have the male, then the female, then the breeding male and female, and then the juvenile....of the same Song Sparrow! Thanks so much for helping to make identification easier!!
I know how you feel... my bird identification book has been essential in helping me over the past several years I've gotten into bird watching. I STILL learn something every season and it's neat to look back in it because I write down the date and circumstances/where in my yard I first saw a particular species. I have the Stokes Field Guide to Birds; highly recommend it!
Well, this year the House Sparrows easily won occupancy to all of my nest boxes, defeating the Western Bluebird and Tree Swallow. This in spite of my continual harassment. But you gave me ideas here with good explanation for me to try out for next season. Thank you for your interest and effort. ☺
The thing is, if you let them win this year, you seal the fate of that birdhouse for years on end. I will just stop the hole in the box up, and let the season pass, if I have to. Generally just doing this for a few days has gotten rid of the sparrows, but this year I have had to stop it up the whole season. The tree swallows did manage to lay claim to my other box, so far so good. I am not done with the fight! lol. Thats pretty much why I am here,
Thanks so much - we have been back from Florida two weeks and totally distressed that we only have grackles and a few sparrows! I had forgotten about safflower seed and will try that!
Good show. I stopped safflower a long time ago, but I'll probably give it another try. My starlings are pretty athletic, upside down suet did not work on a homemade feeder, but I may try buying one. Thanks!
Starlings figure out ways to get at the suet even when it's upside down. The only thing that might discourage them is plain suet that has no cracked corn, nuts, fruit, etc... I had some that worked well, but unfortunately it's not melt-resistant for those hot summer days. As an alternative I purchased bark butter (a suet knock-off) in a stackable form and placed it in a dome feeder, which I lowered to make it just wide enough for my woodpeckers to enter.
The starlings that visit my upside down suet feeder figured it out. They alternate between hanging on for dear life and ramming their beaks up repeatedly to grab some of the suet.
We live in very small town in the middle of the USA. In a neighborhood with lots of trees and mowed yards. Is it possible to attract blue birds? If so when should we put up houses? How high? It is April 1,2022 today.
Yes, providing to do not have sparrows already. All the pest birds tend to follow the. Lie birds around the neighborhood to let the Blue birds find the people provided food. Then the pest birds will pounce and take over the feeders that are specific to the Blue birds. Because they are about the same size and will get through the cage/holes that protect the food for the blue birds. If you want to try, buy bird feeder that is specific to only blue birds. There are several on Amazon, and your local bird store. Make sure that woodpeckers, starlings and others cannot stretch their neck or tongue in far enough on a “blue bird” feeder to steal the food. Blue birds like the pepper infused small suet balls, and couple of the dried small worms. Blue birds are not afraid of the shiny streamers like the sparrows are. This can help prevent sparrows from invading in the first place once they see the blu birds come to feed. Hope this helps.
Great presentation! Where can I get the info on the size of holes for bird houses that will keep the birds like wrens and bluebirds safe and discourage the sparrows? Also do gold finches use bird houses? What time of year do I need to hang new wren bird houses and cleans out the old ones?
I live in NC. You said birds don't like the small yellow seeds and millet in the cheaper variety mixes, but the birds in my yard gobble it up. Some of them prefer the sunflower, but many birds with small beaks like doves only eat the millet.
Thanks for this info. I seem to be struggling big time with the house sparrows. Several times a day I get raided. I am trying the halo with the line and we’ll see what happens.
Honestly, the best defense I've had against starlings, grackles, and cow birds is to get morning doves to your feeder. They're not scared of any bird that I've seen so far and can definitely hold their own. For the most part it seems that the smaller birds (like the American Goldfinch) don't mind the mourning dove as much. The other nice thing is that morning doves are prettier to look at than the others as well as are much more skiddish of humans so they won't completely dominate your feeder.
In my experience mourning doves also scare song birds so I discourage them too by using caged bird feeders. I use a bb gun for starlings only. Not grackles or sparrows.
Terrific video, so very informative. I have house wrens and I'm wondering which, if any, house sparrow deterrents work for house wrens, food, scare tactics, type of bird house, etc
Yes, the actually murder the American bird species. Sparrows will attack and murder bluebirds as example. Starlings will attack the nests of many native birds. These are beasts with no natural predator. Do not feed these creatures. Plus they decimate farmers fields of all kinds of grains. Raising the prices for what you put in the table to eat.
In the pacific north west we get Violet Green swallows, Violet green swallows will fit into a 7/8 oval . The 7/8 oval keeps house sparrows out. Another hole size i use is the 1 and 1/8 round hole , the 1 and 1/8 round hole for sure keeps house sparrows out . On Vancouver island Red breasted nut hatches fit into the 1 and 1/8 round hole . Any hole size larger than the 7/8 oval or the 1 and 1/8 round hole needs to come with a warning as it will not keep house sparrows out .
Thank you great video question when does the grackles come how long do they stay right now it’s March by my house and I have a ton of grackles and starlings
I have all these species in my yard and the only ones that have ever harassed my nesting bluebirds are the HOUSE sparrows... which unfortunately showed up in our yard for the first time this past summer. I even witnessed a female house sparrow having a stare-down with a female bluebird on a branch, about 2 ft apart. The bluebird had a bug in her mouth and just wanted to go feed her babies. They sat there a long time, and finally the bluebird couldn't wait any longer and flew to her house, with the house sparrow right on her tail. That's the day I put up a homemade sparrow spooker and thankfully, it worked! Our bluebirds raised 5 babies, without harassment.
thank you so much. Just found your channel and love your tips. Will get safflower seed ASAP. Tight now I took the feeder with platform away and got a smaller one but smaller birds are letting me know it is not their favorite, but they are eating lol. The squirrels are eating the suet that has "heat'" in it. Geeeez. Thanks again
We do what we have to do to get the bird we want and try to deter others we dont want. I use safflower seed in a tray feeder and went to upside down goldfinch feeders which has stopped the house finches from taking over the sock feeders which I no longer use now.
I've heard that fishing line is inappropriate to use with bird feeders because birds can get tangled in it. Lighter weight metal wires that hang down should be a safer option.
We have a terrible time with Grackles and Starlings during the spring time right up until toward the end of June. After farmers plant their fields most of them go bother them for a while. Safflower seeds are not touched by birds here. We have bought various bird seed mixes that have Safflower seeds in them but the birds do not touch the Safflower. It always sat in the feeder untouched. We now buy a mix that has chopped nuts of various types and sunflower seeds. It is popular with everyone. We have a caged cylinder feeder that we put strictly sunflower hearts in and the finches, Titmice, Chickadees go for that. Sadly the Grosbeaks can’t fit in there. I see them trying but they are just too chubby. Thankfully we don’t have many sparrows. One summer we had terrible problems with sparrows that would fly at the other birds with their claws. The Sparrows were nasty birds. They made a terrible mess out there besides the fighting. It may be that their regular food source was not available that year because we have not had them since then. The Grackles and Starlings are bad enough.
Ive had quite a bit of luck eliminating house sparrows from my yard. I have three feeders, one with nyger, one with sunflower, and one with just peanuts. I also have a suet feeder. The sparrows and starlings are rarely if ever on these feeders but the starlings like the suet which is anoying. Stay away from millet and cracked corn. Sparrows love that stuff.
I live in town and have few problems with black birds thank heavens. But have tons of sparrows. They are a pain. They eat peanuts which are not for them and my suet. I do put cheap seed on the ground for them, which many do eat. But still have enough eating the peanuts and suet. The best way to keep them away is safflower. They do not like, neither do squirrels.
I get so many sparrows it's like a horror movie. They look like a hoard of mice. They give me the creeps. I'm not far from Rochester in Scranton. I have to stop feeding birds. It's just no worth it. I can't afford all the feed they eat.
I live in Downtown Columbus (Ohio) and have been at war with a huge flock of house sparrows. It's like they travel in gangs to terrorize other birds! I had all these wonderful birds at my feeder until the house sparrows took over. So I switched to a mix with no millet - they were back mobbing the feeder within hours. Then switched to all safflower seeds - I woke up the next morning to the feeder (and my fence) covered with house sparrows - they were feeding safflower to their babies too! I finally switched to all Nyjer seed two days ago. I have since seen ZERO sparrows, but not many other birds either. But maybe it'll take them awhile to return. I know I'll get limited types of birds with Nyjer so once we get closer to fall, I'll maybe try other types of food but with those wires hanging around feeder. I also have hummingbird feeders which the sparrows leave alone, and I am going to put up a peanut (in the shell) feeder to see what happens there. (I've noticed the squirrels here don't like Nyjer either, so that's good!)
UPDATE!!!! It has now been over a week since I switched to Nyjer seed. I will occasionally see a lone house sparrow land on the feeder, but it's almost like it's just tasting the Nyjer seed, then decides it doesn't like it. I have seen both house finches and Carolina Wrens eating the Nyjer seed regularly...so I guess if I'm stuck with them, it's better than the house sparrows! Haha!
the Common Grackle is considered an agricultural pest species in North America, since huge wintering flocks can cause millions of dollars in damage to corn, rice, sunflower, and other crops. Lethal control measures are often used to stop the damage and may be contributing to Common Grackle declines.
I live in MA and switched from black sunflower seed to safflower seed and the sparrows come in bunches all day long and empty large hanging seeder in two days. That's not to say I Cardinals, woodpeckers, goldfinch, purple martin, chickadees, tufted titmouse & many other birds feed at my feeders, but it's always a battle for other birds to force the sparrows out of the feeder. The only thing that they won't eat is suet.
I just ordered one of these as recommended by another commenter: www.sparrowtraps.net/ We had house sparrows show up on our property for the first time this year and I'm planning on taking them out before they get any worse! They harassed our nesting bluebirds relentlessly until we put up a homemade sparrow spooker. The biggest way to help our native songbirds is to permanently get rid of these a-holes!
Anyone found a good trap for starlings and/or sparrows ? They are suddenly driving me crazy. It needs to be a live trap with 1 door only, so I can look at the prey before I dispose of them
@@GeorgeCoghill Just bought one of these through your link. Thank you George! We had house sparrows show up on our property for the first time this year, they harassed our bluebirds and are now putting nesting material in the bluebird's house... I'm declaring war!
@@SweetStuffOnMonarchLane I bought one in the early Summer, unfortunately it didn't deter the House Sparrows one bit. That said, it has been observed that it's not as effective with younger House Sparrows. I'm going to set it up again now that it's Autumn and see what happens.
@@GeorgeCoghill Oh no! It had such great reviews, too! It seems like those house sparrows are very smart... in a bad way! Ur! I've been looking out my window at our bluebird house off and on all morning and early afternoon and haven't seen them, so I'm wondering if they gave up building a nest because the weather got suddenly colder. I will have to check it out. I might just plug the entrance up for the winter, which I hate to do because I've observed chickadees and woodpeckers taking shelter in it at dusk when it's cold. I've heard the sparrows start looking for nest sites earlier in the spring than the bluebirds so that MIGHT work. In the meantime I will try the trap to catch as many as I can. I'm particularly trying to get the male (s?) because I understand they are more attached to a nest site than they are to their mate and its hard to get them away from it once they decide its the one they want. I have also stopped throwing seed (I only feed sunflower and nyger) on the ground, which seems to have helped in keeping them away, but doesn't help the cardinals, juncos, and all the other ground feeding native birds. Well, good luck... I hope it works better for you this go-around.
@@SweetStuffOnMonarchLane good news: I put up my standard bird feeder today, House Sparrows swarmed it. Put up the Magic Halo with the feeder, they seem to be avoiding it now. My thought was that I needed to wait until they matured in the Autumn, as the research indicated the younger HS were not deterred by the Halo, only older birds. So far, so good. Feeder was literally swarmed with HS before I added the Halo. Now, none. A few try but end up abandoning it.
I bought the round cage with the suet feeder in the middle and the Starlings reach right in and grab the suet through the 1.5" openings. I tried cutting the suet cakes in half and centering them in the suet cages bc the outside edges are closer to the outside of the cage but they just try harder and stick their necks in further. I dont know why the company didnt make the outside cage larger. Its infuriating when you spend money on something and a simple size adjustment would've made the product work but to save a buck they "cheeped" out and now it doesn't work at all. Back to the drawing board. Now I am think of trying to find a bigger cage and putting the cage inside of a cage. But I can't even find a larger cage. Half the day spent looking. I see videos of people unpacking a cage that looks bigger for the dinner bell feeder but I can't find that cage anywhere. If anyone knows of a cage with 1.5" openings and is about 15" across and 10 or so inches deep, please let me know. Right now it's Starlings: 3, Me: zero.
I may be in the minority but I do like seeing starlings but for some reason they do not seem to eat much or any of the commercial bird seeds that i buy. Put out some bread they devour it and play a tug of war with other starlings. In early spring we had a couple mourning doves and now 6 months later there now appears to be at least 7 that were seen at the same time. So they apparently are thriving well. Although they seem very timid especially compared to sparrow or cardinals.
@@Karreenna if we don't get rid of the invasive species, we won't have our beautiful birds here anymore. They kill and eat other birds, their eggs, as well as trick other birds into raising their young (if they don't, sometimes they'll destroy their whole nest). Killing stinks, but losing our native species to gangs of birds that don't belong here is way worse.
I have a ton of house sparrows in my yard I like them they like to eat bugs out of the yard well least I see him in the yard and stuff out of it all the time but I want other birds to so like maybe if I get different type of bird feeders and birdhouses maybe they could share space is that a thing or what do you think 🤔 i just want more birds I had a big woodpecker and they took its nest that a built-in a tree like it built a big hole in the tree and they took it so maybe if I get a birdhouse box they'll move out of that and go in the house sparrow nesting box maybe my woodpecker could come back I don't know
I'm in Missouri and the thing we did to bring in a variety of birds was to have several "stations." We get the cheap Walmart bird feed and put it in pie tins on top of posts and railings and also down low on old logs, rocks and then some on the ground. Yes the squirrels get some and yes the sparrows get some but we also get juncos, chickadees, nut hatches, Carolina wrens and doves. I have a suet cake hung from a post that the woodpeckers love. Eastern bluebirds don't like my seed but they enjoy my birdbath which is just a plastic barrel with a flat lid that holds a shallow amount of water.
I have the caged suet feeder. Indeed the small birds do access it, but do not presume it deters Starlings. The long needle like beaks they have easily reach the suet. Don’t wast your money on that suet feeder if you want to totally stop Starlings from dining on it.
