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.

The magic halo works for the first week or so until they get used to it and brave enough to ignore it. My HOSP use it to swing on and land on the short perches I use. They also swing on it back and forth to get the seeds out of the feeder without having to actually land on the perches. It does seem to keep the numbers down as some are wary of it and it does seem to hinder them somewhat, but I have lots of HOSP and they will try anything.

I found this on sialis.com : " I got an e-mail from someone who made a homemade halo out of one of those umbrella hats you can buy at a dollar store. They attached the line, using duct tape between every two lines to keep them from getting tangled. It worked like a charm, and for the first time birds normally intimidated by HOSP are visiting the feeder. She also said it worked to deter starlings from a suet feeder."

chickadeemelrose, I didn't see your last post when I posted last. I guess you are 'at home' working with wire, one of my favorite construction materials. If your jewelry wire isn't stiff or heavy enough to prevent tangling, you can switch to heavier wire. My theory is that the HOSPs are accustomed to flying together with other HOSPs when feeding, so when there is a 'startle' (a possible-predator alert), they expect to fly in unison straight outward, in 'parallel', which doesn't allow for ducking around obstacles. So the halo verticals make them feel caged and vulnerable. I think this explains why the halos don't deter HOSPs from nestboxes, because there they act as individuals. The other species act as individuals, not mobs, when feeding. The halos, especially when made with visible, stiff verticals properly spaced, will also deter starlings and grackles because birds with longer wingspans find it awkward to fly between the verticals. Unfortunately, this includes bluejays and cardinals. My guess is that it is less a problem for more agile fliers such as woodpeckers,which are accustomed to flying upside down and sideways (briefly) when needed. If the verticals are removable, it would provide an option to removing the entire halo when you want to do this. My feeders are so high that I need a small ladder to add or remove a halo, (but not for taking down a feeder). Also, I make the halo so that I can take down the feeder for refilling without moving the halo.