Bird Question - regarding my bird feeder

[December99]

I don't know if this is really the place to post this but I'm really getting ticked at these things...

I have had a "bombardment" of blackbirds (well they look like a cross between crows and blackbirds - dh said they were something else but I don't remember the name to tell you the truth) attacking my birdfeeder that I have sitting right off my deck on a shephard's hook in my flower area around my deck. They are shooing off all the smaller and more colorful birds and just devouring my birdfood.

Do you have any suggestions of what I can do to get them off my feeder without sacrificing the food for the smaller birds we love to see there? (Last week we saw a cardinal feeding, haven't seen him since because of these stupid big birds).

 

[amid chaos]

Grackles...they are a pain in the rear. My only suggestion is get one of those feeders that only small birds can get to. Mine has some wire around the feeder that small birds can get in but the grackles can't.

 

[December99]

I filled the feeder up yesterday morning - had some of the lovely little birds eating out of it and I went home for lunch today.....THE FOOD IS ALMOST GONE!!!!

Fortunately the feeder was a wedding gift so if we decide to not keep it it isn't an expense out of our pocket but these birds are GREEDY!!!!!

 

[Mamu]

December99 this usually happens during migrating season. Flocks of these birds will stop by and sometimes stay for 2-3 weeks before moving on. There is very little for birds to eat when they return north, so they invade backyard feeders and wreck havoc while they are there.

As soon as they start nesting they move on. Maybe one or 2 pairs sometimes stay. Their eating habit usually changes once they have nested. They tend to favor grubs or other small insects to feed their babies.