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Grape Jelly = Flies

14 years ago

I use a system of three stacked clay pot drip trays in which I place grape jelly for the orioles. I flood one which makes a moat that keeps ants away, so no problems there. I have the feeder on the porch rail so we can enjoy watching the orioles feed - they will land and feed even when someone is sitting in a chair three feet away from the feeder.

I kid you not - every morning when I go outside the orioles actually squawk and scold me to put jelly in the empty feeder. They land and feed immediately as I walk away from filling it. Birds have trained a human being to feed them.

The system works great but the jelly attracts masses of flies. It is kind of disgusting. Not thrilled about using poisons but I would consider using a fly bait except that I do not want to take any chances of having any birds pecking in the poison thinking it is food or grit. Anyone out there have any ideas of how to safely avoid or reduce the fly problem in a jelly feeder? TIA regarding any helpful responses.

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Comments (3)

donald lucius
14 years ago
i guess i'm lucky here in that there has been hot and dry with no rain for over a month. the birds are all over the garden and flowers and are keeping what few flys and insects caught and feeding their nestlings now.
Konrad___far_north
14 years ago
You might need to clean more often, don't think I would worry too much,...as long as the Oriole feels the same, they might want a few protein snacks?
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soilent_green
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for the replies. I clean the feeder out every morning before I put in new grape jelly. Flies do not seem to bother the birds as they feed - they are just a nuisance to us as we sit on the porch. I would place the feeder away from the porch but then we would not be able to enjoy the orioles as much as we do now. Barring any new ideas I will stay with the system I use and simply continue to tolerate the flies - I thought I would give posting a try because there are so many folks out there with good ideas.

Take care.

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