LOL! I found that out last year as the Robins would come in when I called. Stopped doing that pretty quickly and added the jailhouse style mealworm feeder which took care of the robin problem. However in the Fall the chickadees found the feeder and wow, can they eat alot! I eventually and slowly stopped feeding the waxworms and the Blues were only eating those so they stopped coming. I figured it was too expensive to feed the chickadees waxworms when there was so much other stuff at the feeders for them to eat. Good luck, I guess I would stop calling and just put the mealworms out like normal and see if the other birds will stop coming, however they probably will still keep checking the feeder for them! I don't have BLues (in my yard) at the moment so I don't have any expense that way yet, however a pair was househunting yesterday and today so we will see.

Donna

I have the same situation vis-a-vis the chickadees,titmice, nuthatches, downies, plus I also have song sparrows and Carolina wrens, and worst of all, HOSPs. All except the Red-bellied WP can get into the cage feeder and I was going through 10,000 mealies every 2 weeks. So now I put them out and stand there while they eat. It gives me a lot of photo ops since I am only 10 feet from them. If a HOSP comes, Papa Blue usually chases it away. If Papa is not there, I chase them off. When it seems the good birds have had all they want, or what I consider enough, I collect what is left. The HOSP get very few and I am seeing them less and less.
My red-bellied WP is funny to watch too. He can't get into the feeder but he sticks his head in as far as he can and then with his long tongue, he can reach the bowl and spear the worms.

Dave

Same here, Papa Blue knows the sound of my slider so he comes to that, the Robins have not figured that out yet. He also knows the sound of my microwave and shows up promptly at 6:00 pm every evening and parks himself on a branch right outside the kitchen window. When I talk to him through the window he runs to the feeder and waits. The Dees, Nuthatches amd TUTIs know to watch the Blues and thats ok, but so far we have been sneaky enough to get around the bigger piggies untill all the little guys are done. The Robins, etc. get whats left.

This really is a problem right now with all the mealworms in the country going AWOL. I have a dome feeder that keeps the bigger birds out, and no Dees or TUTIs to share with, but my family of five Blues is eating me out of house and home. And I feel really guilty when Ms. Robin sits on the patio wall and ponders the feeder and then does a "crash and burn" in her unsuccessful attempt to get at the treats. She wants them soooo badly, poor baby. But I can't find enough of the silly things to keep her big belly full too.

With the shortage of mealworms..I am going to have to ration the worms. Because it has been so cold, I was putting worms out all day for the blues (and everyone else) It is supposed to be warmer over the weekend so they will be on their own except early in the morning and right before bed time.

We may all have to grow our own worms. I think with the shortage and the high demand....the prices may skyrocket:(

Karen I have just been feeding the peanut butter suet this year and everyone is happy with that. I do have a cage over the bowl though to keep starlings and grackles out.
Cathy

Cathy, I fed the blues peanut butter suet all winter. I do not put it out in the summer because it goes bad in the heat and it melts. They learned to use the jail feeder for the suet. The starlings would clean out the log suet feeders in 10 minutes. I have a ton of money invested in these blues...they better bring the babies by for a visit pretty soon!

Same story in my neighborhood. I have all the same birds eating worms out of a dome feeder which I can lower the top to discourage larger birds. Generally, I don't do that, its an equal playing field at my house... It started out as a blues only meal, now the chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, chipping sparrows. I especially enjoy the male cardinals and (recently) orioles coming to the mealworm feeder. They are so pretty. Its funny how the size of the bird determines who eats the worms first and who waits for whom. The orioles and cardinals trump the blues and the sparrows, titmice and chickadees and nuthatches have to wait for everyone else. I have not seen any woodpeckers eat the worms - YET! I spend $100 a month feeding about 30,000 mealworms. I just heard about this mealworm 'shortage'. It seems Sunshine is not taking any new customers to assure its current customers have the supply they need. There is money to be made for those who enjoy working with squirmy worms!

I went to order some meal worms and just learned about the shortage. I've been able to limit the meal worms to the Bluebirds only. I built a feeder that has an entry hole in each end. Rather than glass or clear plastic sides, I use 1/4" wire mesh (hardware cloth?) sides that they seem to prefer. When the juveniles discover it, you may have to let a few out until they learn how to exit. I also have a community feeder where I use the peanut butter suet. For Summer, I increase the oat meal and corn meal so it doesn't get so runny. I've been experimenting with a squirrel spooker on the community feeder. The weight of the squirrel activates a 9V motor that has a propeller on it. The propeller raps against the feeder roof and scares the squirrel away. So far it's been successful.

You may have to patent your little squirrel away propeller. That sounds awesome. I for one need something to keep them away. They climb up on my deck and hang with their hind legs and eat BOSS. Thanks for the tip on suet. I will try that as the blues are still eating suet, but I don't put out very much because it does go bad. The blues are not coming to the worm feeder so often with the nice weather, they are getting enough bugs. I do feed them when it rains and first thing in the morning when it is kinda cold.

If you can, will you post a picture of the propeller? I would love to see it.

Karen

I posted a picture in Garden Galleries.

To those putting out jelly or peanut butter do you have to put out new jelly and or peanut butter everyday, and what do you put it in or on. Would like to experiment with other things for the other birds,

I have put up a humming bird feeder but no luck other then I noticed a pair of wood peckers of some sort has visited it a couple of times now.

Keith

Go to the pics in Garden Galleries, click on "most recent" and you'll see my feeder with the peanut butter suet mixture. I let the mixture sit there until it's eaten which is usually within a couple of days. If it sits longer than that I replace it. It may take the hummers a while to find your feeder, but they will come.