The pigeons become unstable and can’t feed but small birds can get through

-0-0-0-0-0

People have such wonderful ways of helping our garden birds. Thank you Anne for sending this. 

If anyone uses this idea could you let me know.  I’d love to know.

I think this is a great idea. 

Anne wrote in reply to this article I wrote in 2009.  It’s still an important issue.

http://birdtablenews.com/2009/07/keeping-pigeons-away-from-bird-tables/

My squirrels just bite through the twine and run off with the feeder!  I find empty feeders all round the garden weeks after they first vanish!  Kat

-0-0-0-0-0-0

Are your bird feeders squirrel proof.  I had to buy a hanging caged feeder and it really worked.

Why not hang the feeders from a wire or a hook instead of string.  

If you go into my Amazon shop you will be able to search for caged hanging bird feeders

http://birdtablenews.com/  

Give it a try.  It will be worth it.  I think we all know it helps the garden birds when we put bird food out – that is unless the squirrels, rooks, pigeons and even partridges don’t get the food.

The amazon shop is in the right side bar

I’ve had a lot of trouble with squirrels in the past.  The grey squirrel is a pest. 

Trisha

He loves apples,but I have been leaving the skin on,so now Iv’e seen how difficult it is for them I will peel them in future.

Thanks

 Click the link below to see the video

http://birdtablenews.com/2009/06/robin-trying-to-peel-an-apple/

-0-0-0-0-0-

Amazing.  I have received the comment above and a few minutes ago my previous short article was about a blackbird attacking a martin and in the process killing 3 martin chicks

I have now got this news about a friendly blackbird!

What a range of feelings blackbirds must have (as everything / everyone does)

I’m so pleased I took the video of the robin trying to eat an apple and amazed that a few years later it is helping another person who likes feeding birds

It’s really good to connect to other people who like birds and bird feeding and to see the high and lows of being connected to our garden birds

Trisha

I too had a problem with larger birds on the bird feeder so hubby nailed a stip of wood on either side of the feeder to restrict access & we now seem to have lots more smaller birds enjoying it ,,,,

-0-0-0-0

Dee thanks for replying to Jo.  I hope it helps.   It is a brilliant idea

Is your feeder a hanging feeder or a bird table?  I suppose it would work with both.

I’ve seen rooks and crows balance on a hanging bird feeder and put their long beaks into the feeder holes.  I had to stop using the hanging feeders because of it.   Putting wood near it would stop their line of flight and their ability to balance on the feeder.  The same idea would work on a bird table.

Thank you for this – it is yet another way to keep rooks, crows, and pigeons away.

Trisha

I  get very frustrated with the greedy pigeons, and also spend alot of time chasing them away. I have counted 9 on many occasions!!!! They are insatiable and I begrudge paying the money for all the lovely different types of food!

Ive only really become interested this past year but have always had a bird table. The squirrels aren’t a problem as they only take the nuts and I even put shelled nuts out for them. I love watching them break open walnuts but it is messy cleaning up all the shells!

I used to get lots of bluetits but haven’t seen any for ages, (maybe its all the pigeons). I get robins and a pair of sparrows! It’s the sparrows I’m desperately trying to serve as they seem to only feed on the ground. I put an old hanging table with a roof on the ground with lots of plants round for protection and the sparrows love it and come back and forth constantly but the pigeons found it and dont give up until its empty….and the mess they are making of my garden whilst fighting each other is driving me mad!

I read lots of your comments and adapted the table by criss crossing garden canes and fastening them to the table….. The damn pigeons can still get their heads in…..I went out last week and bought a caged ground feeder, my son cut the bottom off a big plastic plant pot for a roof to keep the food dry…… and guess what…..the pigeons can get their heads in…..do I just give up to keep my sanity and my bank balance or try to come up with another solution???? Aaaaaggggghhhhh I’m starting to hate pigeons!!!!!

0-0-0-0-

Bird feeding is supposed to be a relaxing way to be close to nature, but we all know that isn’t the case.  Bird feeding can drive you mad sometimes.

Sparrows do feed from hanging feeders.  I’ve never seen a pigeon balancing on a hanging feeder.  Maybe a hanging feeder could be the answer to one of your problems.

Sorry the pigeons are causing such a problem.  I have now put some canes into the soil,  in a small circle.  I’ve put some wire with large holes round the canes.  The smaller birds can get in but the larger birds can’t.  Blackbirds can get in – which is good.  A lot of smaller birds perch on the hedge and fly into this strange feeder from the top.  I will take a photo and put it on birdtablenews.

Trisha

hi can anyone help, i am a lover of birds and i am trying to attract birds to my garden. i have patio`s and a large wooden gazebo in the corner, i have no hedges or trees in and around my garden. i do have potted pires bushes.

i put a wooden birdtable, and many feeders around the garden. i put out many different seeds,
sunflower seeds,
mealworms,
nuts etc.
but still no small birds,
i get wood pigeon, rooks but they just eat all the food. So recently on my birdtable i put green plastic mesh all around to stop the bigger birds, then cut many little holes in the plastic mesh for small birds. I did this in september 2011, it is now november 29th and still no little birds.please can anyone help,

I know people will say you need bushes or trees for cover,but is their anything else i can try?

-0-0-0-0-0-

It’s great you are trying to bring birds into your garden.  I remember
when I started putting bird food out, I put a few crumbs on one bird
table.  I now have bird feeders all over the place, but I do live in
the countryside and they come in from fields.

Do you live in a town?  I wonder if there just aren’t any birds in your
area.  Can you see any garden birds or hear them singing.

I do see birds in towns and cities, but they are usually in parks or
where there is greenery, but then again I have seen a bird feeder in a
car part in a town centre.  You have certainly put out a lot of
different bird food and this should attract at least one bird. 

First of all can I ask if you do live in a town or city and if you can
see or hear any birds near where you live

Please don’t give up.  It is getting to the worse weather now and birds
do die from starvation and they can also freeze to death.

Also, do you clean the bird food up every day or do you leave it for
days

So here are the 3 questions

1 .Do you clean the bird food up every day and put fresh food out every
day or is the same bird food left out for days.

2 do you live in a town or city

3. Can you see or hear any birds near to where you live?

Please reply and we will solve this puzzle together.  Anyone reading this?  Lets put our heads together over the internet and help.

Trisha

Bird Table News

does anyone recommend the use of an adjustable caged ground table feeder to keep predators and the like out?

I just wondered if the birds inside would panic and not fly out easily if threatened by a hawk etc. I am thinking of purchasing one thats adjustable to let thrushes etc in but not bigger birds such as the pigeons but don’t know anyone who has or is using one at the moment. Any help will be much appreciated.

-0-0-0-0-0

Hi,  I find ground caged bird feeders really useful.  I’ve had one for years. 

In winter I put a ‘cover’ over the cage and that keeps the snow and rain off the food inside.  My garden birds have their own little igloo!

My problem is that blackbirds cannot get into bird feeders.  I like blackbirds and have a few in the garden hopping about.  To solve that problem I’ve put some canes in a small circle and then put wire round the outside of the canes.  I put bird food inside this cane circle.  The canes get narrow at the top and this means that all types of birds, including blackbirds, can fly in and get the food from the top.  Pigeons cannot get through the wire and they don’t have the sense to figure out a way to get in from the top.  Blackbird problem solved!

I now have my camera back in action – so photos to follow

Cheers for getting in touch

Has anyone else got any tips and advice?

Trisha

 i have a problem keeping pigeons away from hanging bird feeders. they pick up crumbs little birds drop and making such a mess off my lawn. whaat caan i do. help please i look so silly to my neighbours constantly rushing in and out my back door chasing them away

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Trisha

Starlings – and how to keep them out of the bird feeder. We have a caged bird feeder, which is meant to keep out squirrels and larger birds, which it does, up to a point. The problem is that although the starlings, pigeons, jackdaws, magpies etc. certainly can’t get through the mesh, they can perch on the outside and reach inside to gobble up the suet/fat. i.e. the cage is too near the food. Do you have a feeder cage which is large enough to prevent even the most persistent starling from stretching his/her neck through the mesh?

-0-0-0-0-

This is what I replied.  Any advice from anyone else?

Let me know how you come on

Trisha

Hi folks,
Very sad to have to say that last week, I saw a male sparrowhawk sitting in one of the hanging baskets below this deterrent.  I dont know if this is going to be a regular occurrence but has really upset me at the thought of what the Summer maybe like when the baby birds are hatching.  I daresay the Dazer people will say it is because it wasnt rigged up high enough on a line, so I dont know what to do now.  I might still go for the poles and line and perhaps add another balloon to it, this will be difficult and the poles could prove expensive. I will still investigate further other devices and also hang up some cd’s as was suggested.

I replied

Hi Elaine, Sorry I have not replied before. What a shame the sparrowhawk is back. I hope it does not come all the time to your garden. And after you have taken so much time as well. Sparrowhawks can decimate a garden.  You are not alone with this problem. 

I think I have said that some people say poles set out in a garden stop the line of flight of a sparrowhawk. Also prickly hedges stop sparrowhawks. Could you put the bird food inside a prickly hedge – such as hawthorne.
Take a look at this website – Songbird Survival – http://www.songbird-survival.org.uk/  are trying to protect our songbirds and on the website it says

‘That populations of many predators have increased in the last 20 years or so is not in dispute. The reasons for the increase are not always clear-cut. For instance, some are protected by legislation, others are not. While some, such as the sparrowhawk occur widely over the UK others are more localised.

The sparrowhawk, magpie and fox have quickly become less wary of man and continue moving into the urban environment, badgers are expanding their range and beginning to colonise urban locations while mink remain in rural areas.’

Song Bird Survival are doing a lot of good research and trying to help song birds in the long term.  I have joined and hope they keep going for years to come.

Maybe the answer for you is to feed inside a caged feeder.

I have stuck some 5 ft canes in the ground in a circle and I put bird food in that. Is that an idea?
Let me know what is happening with this sparrowhark.  I would put a photograph on of these canes, but I have lost the charger for my camera.

A few years ago I heard of someone in York who had to stop putting bird food out because the sparrowhawk killed the birds as they were on the bird table.  There was always blood on the birdtable.  Other people are having the same problems as you and it is so difficult to find an answer.

Let me know how you get on.

Trisha

This is in reply to this previous article  -   A BRILIANT WAY TO KEEP SPARROWHAWKS AWAY