I'm having the same problem. We have a colony of house finches and a few sparrows who prevail in the face of the flocks of doves. We kept filling the feeder at the rate of 2 cups a day of mixed BOSS and no-waste seed, but the doves are eating most of it.

They have also taken over the suet. I didn't know doves and finches ate suet, but they do! Yesterday I counted 10 doves at the tube feeder and 6 around the suet cage. The grosbeaks and woodpeckers have stopped coming to the suet. The jays, thrashers and doves are too pushy.

We decided to stop adding food until we have found a solution. I've seen feeders with wire baffles which may keep the large birds out. If someone has a better suggestion, I would be very grateful.

Cheryl

Black oil sunflower is a great all-around attractant for many different types of birds, but it can also get you some unwanted visitors if they're in your area. You could try just putting out some safflower seed. Starlings and grackles MAY shy away from it, but the doves will still eat it. However, you'll attract native songbirds like cardinals, grosbeaks, house finches, and chickadees. Your results may vary, though. I've successfully thwarted the starlings-and sparrows to a lesser degree-as I took down my suet feeder. They won't eat my safflower either. Other people have reported that their starlings will readily eat safflower in addition to whatever else is put out.

You also might want to try putting out some thistle seed in an upside down feeder to attract goldfinches.

goldfinchguy - safflower may help the OP. It won't help our problem which is the huge numbers of doves. I tried a finch feeder with nyjer seed, but got no takers. We kept up the supply of fresh seed for over 2 months before giving up.

Cheryl

Thanks everyone for the great advice. I do plan to try these ideas out!

jadeite, have you tried just feeding whole peanuts? That should take care of your problem with doves. Not sure about grackles and starlings though. Peanuts will attract blue jays and woodpeckers.

Oh, and there is a feeder called "clingers only" which is available at Amazon and garden stores. This feeder caters only to small birds like finches chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, ect. Doves, grackles, and starlings won't be able to use it. You might like it.

You can also make one of somewhat similar design. Take a small plastic jar and tape a stick to the bottom of it. Make sure it extends no more than 1/8 in past the edge. Cut a 3/8 in triangular hole above the perch. You could make the hole circular if you'd like. This feeder is designed for chickadees in mind, but if you want to attract larger birds, I'd imagine you would simply leave a longer length of stick extending past the edges.

I hope this helps, jadeite!

I feed my bird a mixture of nyjer,BOSS,regular sunflower seed, and peanuts. All my birds love it.

goldfinchguy - thanks for the suggestions. I was thinking about whole peanuts later in the season, but I would miss the small songbirds. I've seen clinger feeders on Duncraft's website, but hadn't thought about making one. I'll definitely try it!

Cheryl