I built one from a tomato cage. I cut off the top circle, including the three vertical pieces connecting it to the next circle. Then I bent in the vertical pieces and shortened them to the circumference of the roof of the feeder, then attached it to the feeder. Then I used fishing line with bell weights to make the lines fall straight. It works as well as the store bought one on the other feeder.

Hi Paul,

I haven't made exactly what you were trying to make, but have done a couple of other things.

With my large tube feeder I put a circle of 2" chicken wire that I cut, over the handle of the feeder then attached jewelry wire lengths (about 16-20" each) to the outside of the chickenwire by knotting it, in even spacing around the circle. Then, like Litholad does, I've attached weights (only I used jewelry beads) to the end of each wire to hold them vertical.

On our other feeders I have attached the wires at the overhanging top of the feeder, or to a "rainguard" that I have on the feeder, with clear heavy duty tape if necessary (which unbelievably has held up even through the last snowstorm)so the wires hang outside the feeder itself. I have even put these wires on our upside-down suet feeder, which the house sparrows were in the habit of hogging.

All the birds except house sparrows are using the "wired" feeders still (it's been about two weeks). Our downy woodpeckers still use the suet feeder, all the birds (except sparrows) use the peanut feeder, and the larger BOSS feeder is very popular. On the plain peanut feeder I attached a seed tray upside down on the top, with the handles through two of the holes, and attached the wires to that. Our finch feeder I left alone. A few sparrows visit that but not many.

I hope this is helpful. Once I did one of these it was easy to do the rest. Good luck with whatever you end up trying, it's actually kind of fun.

You people sure are creative. What great ideas. May I ask how far apart you hang the weighted fishing line? I tried making one of my own last year and it didn't work at all. But I may have had the lines too far apart. Also, how do you keep the fishing line from shifting out of position? I had trouble with that as well. I have only seen a single male HOSP this winter, but I'm sure more will be back come spring.

I sympathize - I tried this idea last summer but did a few things wrong, so I was disappointed. Two things I've done differently are:

1) I space the wires about 4-5" apart, no more. Last summer I left way too much space between the wires, allowing some sparrows to get through. It's the flying in, I guess, that the wires, spaced closely enough, make difficult.

2) I keep the "wired" feeder away from another feeder or flat surface. Last summer I saw female house sparrows frequently hopping from the baffle on the pole onto the wired feeder and hop through the wires! (Pretty darned smart.) and -

3) The wires don't shift so much as sometimes get caught on one another in the wind. I use large enough beads so that the wires stay vertical.

I hope this is helpful.

Well, I am doing it without the wire. My customer for the feeders are mainly cardinals, chickadee and red wing blackbirds. The cardinals may not like the wire.

In any case, I figured out a material to use: soft drawn copper pipe. A 10 foot roll cost about $5 at home depot and can be bent into shape by hand but is stiff enough not to fall apart. I got a roll, unroll it and then taped the ends together into roughly 3+ foot diameter loop. I then installed it using some 16 gauge hobby wire. The copper even looks vaguely "artsy".

Unfortunately, in my first attempt, the loop sat a bit to low. The chickadee just flew through it. Blackbirds flew under it. The cardinals were nervous.

After a few hours, the squirrels knocked it off by attempting to walk on it. I reinstalled it with a more secure mounting, but couldn't get the loop equalized so it's a bit lop-sided. It still works though. No house sparrows went to the feeder at all. They just sit under the feeder and eat spillovers. There was a marked increase in the number of cardinals and chickadees and a lot of seeds were left over. Normally, the feeder is emptied at the end of the day. This time, it's still pretty full.

Unfortunately, the house sparrow now targeting the finch feeder, so I'll need to make a halo for that,too. This time, I may use a smaller halo and use hanging wires, since tree sparrows and gold finches are not bothered by the wires.

Paul

Thanks for the help Chickadeemelrose. I will try spacing the wires closer together next time and see how that works.

I added the hoop + wire on the finch feeder and it seems to repel the house sparrows. The gold finches are not bother and even use the hoop for a perch.

Unfortunately, more house sparrow have managed to get past the hoop on the main feeder. However, the numbers are far fewer than the mob that use to surround the feeder and the number are few enough for the cardinal to kick off the feeder. I may adjust to bring the loop closer to the feeder.

I have seen pics of the magic halo but don't really understand how it works. I know it is supposed to keep out sparrows but sparrow are about the same size as finches right? How do the finches get in and not the sparrows? What am I missing? Can someone explain this please? Thanks. Marg

Hi Marg,

I hope I get this right - but as I understand it, the vertical wires hanging down from the Magic Halo (or any other circle or oval hanging above the feeder) keep the sparrows away because of the way sparrows prepare to land on something, in this case a perch on a feeder. The study was done at the University of Nebraska.(see the website www.sialis.org/halo.htm) Anyway, I have seen this work right out my window. A house sparrow approaches the feeder, then sees a wire hanging and stops, fluttering in place, then leaves. Apparently the wire is enough to make the sparrow afraid to try to get through.

Amazingly, the goldfinches, chickadees, and other small birds are not daunted by the wires at all.

Now, having gone to that site so I could tell you the right name of it, I saw that someone has put together a wire configuration to do this preventative setup with a platform feeder! That is something worth trying.

I hope I've been helpful - as paulsiu will tell you, there is a lot of trial and error with this idea.

I am not sure why the halo works. Even the hoop without the wire has a noticeable effect on the number of sparrows visiting the feeder.

One guess I have is that it inhibits the flocking ability of the house sparrows. They are a fairly flighty species. When one of the freak out, all of them do. So the hoop itself may scare one or two birds of the flock resulting in the entire flock moving else where. The hanging wires also prevents flocking.

Other species of birds are not bothered by the halo. Chickadee even use the hoops as perches while waiting their turn.

If you use the hanging wires, it may bother some of the species of birds. The paper indicated that some of the cardinals and blue jays are repelled. I am not surprise, both are not particular good flyers. This is why I have no hanging wire for the sunflower seed feeder but have hanging wires for the nyjer seed feeders. The cardinals may mind the wire, but the tree sparrows and gold finches do not care about the wire.

Due to the restriction in the wires, I have been thinking about adding a hoop on the bottom of the hanging feeder. I notice that some of the house sparrow have been able to bypass the hoop by coming up from below. If I add another hoop on the bottom, it may prevent them from doing so.

Paul

Heavier wire will help. For construction ideas, see my album -- click on the picture below -- the captions explain the details --

I've tried variations of this, and prefer stiff wire verticals instead of fishing line, because it is safer for the birds, and less likely to tangle.

My theory on how it works is that they feed in flocks, and are used to flying straight out, side-by-side when there is a startle reaction to a perceived threat. So when the escape path is divided, they feel trapped. The halos/spookers don't work on nesting boxes, because in that case, they fly as indiviuals.

- Jim

After several weeks, the results are similar as before. On the finch feeder, I haven't seen a single house sparrow. The hoop + wire is nearly 100% effective. Tree sparrows and finches are not affected.

On the main feeder where there's just a hoop, it's only about 80-90% effective. Some house sparrow still come, but the number are far less than before. The simple hoop is saving me a fortune in seeds, since they used to clean out the feeder by noon. Now it last 2-3 days. Cardinals, chickadee, blackbirds and finches are not affected. Unfortunately, the hoop makes the feeder less squirrel resistant since they use the loop as a brace to get past the baffle.

Recently, seed consumption went up slightly again. I check and it appears to be by large finches with red heads. I am guessing that they are house finches. They were rare until recently. I am guessing that with house sparrows out of the way, the are moving in. Hopefully, they won't become a problem since the halo doesn't work on them.

Paul

I have an old lamp shade frame I plan to use to make a halo.

We have a 2-foot long cylinder-type anti-squirrel feeder like this one http://www.amazon.com/Droll-Yankees-Flipper-4-Port-Hanging/dp/B00004ZB4U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436228053&sr=8-1&keywords=yankee+birdfeeder

With less than $10 we made a magic halo from products bought at JoAnne's Craft store.

Before we installed the halo, 12-15 sparrows were flocking our feeder ALL THE TIME, Now we see cardinals and nuthatches and hardly any sparrows.

1. Circular "halo": Buy the 12-inch wreath frame http://www.joann.com/panacea-products-box-wire-wreath-frame-18-in/3182482.html

2. Stabilizer: Buy the 36-inch wire "easel": http://www.joann.com/36in-wire-easel/11502374.html#q=panacea&start=32

3. Lower the circular wreath frame over the top of the easel until it won't go any lower. Secure the wreath frame with bits of wire in a few spots to stabilize it on the "easel."

4. You will end up with a magic halo with three "bird baffles" hanging down (these are the "legs" of the easel).

5. Lower your magic halo over the cylinder bird feeder and hang it on the pole.

6. From the wire wreath halo, add three more wires hanging down between the three legs of the easel to "baffle" the sparrows. Six baffles all together.

It works!

These are all great suggestions! I have the Arundale 150 Mandarin Wild Bird Feeder. In a fit of indecision, I went out today and bought both the 82" wreath frame from Joann's and a 15" wreath frame from Michael's that comes with "ties" (i.e. short doubled wires) attached. The Michael's product seems to have the most potential because it already has eyes along the hoop where you can attach wires. The devil will be in the details. I'll be giving it a go tomorrow and will report back.

UPDATE: The Michael's frame was too small but the 18-incher from Joann's was perfect. I bought 20 pieces of 18-gauge stem wire (also from Joann) which I folded in half to make into V-shapes and attached around the outer rim of the frame using twist ties. Then I went around the frame and pulled one leg of each V around and up, creating a small loop where the twist tie was attached. After that I clipped off the wire above the loop with a wire cutter.

So far the nut hatches and chickadees are eating happily, while most of the sparrows are hovering in a state of confusion on the perimeter. Time will tell.

QUESTION: Any tips on how to keep the wires from sliding out of place?

cgrantg

Update on the "easel" from Joanne's. We had to cut the wire legs off the easel, using it simply as a stabilizer for the wreath frame and to hang the frame from the hook that the feeder hangs down from. We had to cut them off because the sparrows were perching on them before flying onto the feeder perches. We had to add more wires hanging down, too -- the sparrows get smarter. When I have time I want to re-engineer this with more wires hanging down -- maybe with beads along them to make them more visible. It still works -- we don't get mobbed with sparrows, but it needs more work.

I'm watching mine like a hawk, cgrantg, and a sparrow or two does sneak in occasionally. But I'm not sure how many wires will be too many. So far I'm content to have a couple of sparrows rather than a whole flock. It's amazing how many cardinals and woodpeckers I have now that the sparrows are gone!

I remember how amazing it was (Magic indeed!) when we suddenly had other birds besides the aggressive sparrows. DIY success! But the sparrows around here are smart. Still getting plenty of cardinals and nuthatches and other tiny birds (titmice?). I will report on any re-engineering efforts. I want to get a bigger wreath frame like you recommend and hang wires down from both the inner and outer circles of the frame. I wonder if little round mirrors (about an inch in diameter) at the bottom of the wires might work ? I have lots of ideas and no time...

UPDATE: Major breach this weekend! This type by squirrels who were dangling upside holding onto the wreath frame by their hind legs! After all that I had to yank off the wreath frame. Instead, I installed Command hooks under the eaves and attached my wires to those. Pics below. Guess I won't quit my day job just yet ... (Btw, My Staples had a sale on the Command hooks. Definitely get the value pak.)

UPDATE: The squirrel baffle with Command hooks spaced 2" apart is working amazingly well. It's NOT sparrow-proof -- I still have 1-2 sparrows on the feeder on and off during the day. But I'm not being overrun and I'm now getting a nice mix of birds.

Buy one of these, drill holes, hang beading wire, tie a heavy nut on each. It took 10 minutes. https://www.amazon.com/Extra-Large-Hanging-Baffle-ERVA/dp/B006VGVNS0

Finally used the right products and works like a charm, no more hoards if sparrows. Cardinals, chickadees, nuthatches...great idea!

update: cut off the legs, as previous mentioned the sparrows perch on them then fly on to the feeder. I have been driving myself crazy trying to find the right amount of wires. I used 30 gauge and thinking it is too thin as i am always untangling the wires. i do have weights on the end but might try little heavier wire and weights. For the most part it works ok to keep sparrows at bay..until the wires cross then it becomes a mob again. Very frustrating as the sparrows even if they don't feed they hang around on the ground and make a mess ...i really have hoards in my city neighbor and i may just be ready to give in to them.

Most awesome thing is that the woodpeckers, cardinals, chickadees, nuthackers are wonderful to watch and do get a good amount of time on the feeders.

So final update... I dislike sparrows I took 2 wreaths turned a little and total of 12 26 gauge with weights. I would say darn near perfect