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Cottage Gardens

Bird Bullies - Round 2

14 years ago

Back last January, Thinman started a Bird Bullies thread and it evolved into lots of good info - (I've linked it below rather than posting to it since it is lengthy).

Here's another tip - later last winter I read somewhere that grackles/starlings don't like shiny things and especially shiny things that move. So I attached bright, metallic plastic pinwheels (from the dollar store toy aisle) to each feeder and finished each one off by securing a few dozen strands of Christmas tree tinsel (which move w/virtually no wind). It worked! The grackles stayed away for the rest of the winter, and the other birds were totally okay with the 'decorations'.

Cold weather is here now, so I'm all for keeping our birdie buddies happy - they're kinda like my 'feathered flowers' and weeding out the bullies is the least I can do!

Here is a link that might be useful: Bird Bullies - Jan '09

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Comments (2)

Lilyfinch z9a Murrieta Ca
14 years ago
What an intresting thread! I seem to have a grackle problem in the spring, i dont know much about them but maybe in my area they move along after a few days? I try to tell myself they have their purpose (blah blah!) but they arent even nice to look at! I too love taking care of the birds, i really enjoy having them visit my backyard. I had 6 bluejays on my feeder yesterday! I have a pair of cardinals that were juveniles last spring, that are regulars here. (romeo and juliet are their names!)
My goal for next spring is to attract hummers, orioles and woodpeckers if i can. Id love to get a bird to take peanuts from my hand, so ill be working on that!
Thanks for the shiney object hint, ill be trying that!
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
14 years ago
I have to say that I think grackles are pretty-that blue/purple iridescence is wonderful-their greediness I'm not so fond of! Now starlings are a different matter-ugly with no redeeming value that I can see. I used to have them, but now we don't see them anymore. I wonder if West Nile virus has done them in around here. We have a crow rookery in an area nearby and I hate it when they fill the trees and make non-stop noise.

Just a side note-we put our tree on the deck this year and the birds love it. The cardinals, chickadees, et al are landing in it and hopping all around it. So much fun to watch from my spot here in the dining room. The slap-happy idiots, who are the reason we didn't put the tree inside, are enjoying the show, too.
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