First, let me introduce myself. I have been lurking here for a couple of days and couldn't resist signing up because I am learning a lot from this place and enjoy reading the comments and discussions. I enjoy birds and gardening so this place is wonderful to find. I am happy to see a thread like this was started. I am having huge problems with the English Sparrows taking over my two feeders and preventing the other birds from enjoying some of my sunflowers. I have a tube feeder and a gazeebo style feeder and I am filling it constantly. The sparrows waste most of the seed in the gazeebo style feeder and I scoop it up and put it in my coconut shell feeder which a squirrel has taken over. I tried not putting seed in them for a week in hopes the sparrows would find another place to dine, but I always break down when I see a chicadee or a cardinal there trying to get seed when there isn't any. I am going to stop putting seed there again but am getting worried because I want to feed the birds this winter when they need it most, but don't want the sparrows to prevent the other birds from eating. I don't mind the sparrows eating my food, but I don't like how rude they are. :o(, This evening the sparrows tried to gang up on a cardinal, but the cardinal wouldn't budge and I believe the cardinal hissed at them. :'0. I need to come up with some kind of solution before winter and before I go broke.

Sue, I would go with the types of feeders that the grackles won't like so much. You know, the kind the birds have to hang off of, hang upside down from, or crawl into small places to get their treat. The nuthatches and chickadees love those round globe feeders with the holes in the sides. They are about the only birds that will feed from them on a regular basis because the bird's body has to be a certain length to be able to perch on the edge of the hole and still get the head and body forward 'though' the hole. House Finches and Gold Finches will give it a go too but they are just a titch too long in the body to do it comfortably. Grackles would in NO WAY be able to perch or feed from these feeders. They are sold by the company called Yule-Hyde and this is what they look like: Other feeders that feed birds in ways that grackles may not like are the feeders that exclude the larger birds but allow the little winter birds to feed safely: For your finch feeder and suet feeder choose a variety that feeds the birds upside down to exclude the grackles: One more thing that might help is a "dome" to go over your feeders. Most of the larger birds don't like to have to go "underneath" something to get to their food and most domes you can buy today are adjustable so that if you lower it too far, you can raise it up and if that's too far you can put it down a notch so the distance between the feeder and dome are just right to let in the species you want and keep out the undesirable species. Here's a recent thread on the domes: http://nature.gardenweb.com/forums/load/bird/msg111749196145.html?8 After moving to my new house with a woodland backyard I also learned quickly that metal feeders are the only way to go. They cost a bit more but the squirrels can't ruin them. An all metal feeder that might work great against grackles is the "No No Feeder". It's all metal with wire mesh sides and depending on which version you buy, the perch is either wider or narrower. These come in a variety of colours like bright red, forest green, copper, galvanized steel etc... and fold completely flat for off season storage. Here's an example: Once you keep your grackles off the feeders they may be content to nip away at stuff on the ground or just move on to better pastures. It's been 3 weeks now and still not a single House Sparrow on our feeders. Not only have their been no house sparrows but there's been no sightings of grackles or starlings which are a SUPREME NUISSANCE at our feeders normally. They usually perch, dip their beaks in the seed and sift back and forth until the entire feeders are emptied and spilled to the ground. So far this year there's been NONE. I'm SOOOOOOO pleased and the birds are loving it that they aren't harassed by those nasty HOSPs. Barb

Could you put the mealies into an enclosed feeder so that Robins can't take all the food? I have one with 1 1/2 inch wire that keeps the larger birds out. I do sometimes get a Red-bellied woodpecker that tries to get in. While he's there the other birds don't go near it. But he gives up eventually and then the Blues can feast on the mealworms.

The deer eat me out of house and home during this time of year. Why wouldn't they? The snow is several feet deep with a hard icy crust on top, and it's still well below freezing all the time. They have already eaten all the berries they can reach from the crabapples, they've already cleaned all the sunflower heads from the fields. Here is food, easy to get to (as long as the dogs are in the house), and tasty. We put out sunflower seeds and corn for the deer, the resident herd (about a dozen deer) can eat it in ten minutes. We feed the birds, the birds and deer empty 10 feeders in two days. To me, it's part of life in the country. I love watching both birds and deer and I take a deep breath and go buy more food. The newspaper recently had an article that February and March are the most critical times for the deer - they are running out of accessible food. If eating my bird food helps even a few of them get through the winter, good for them! There are those who say we should not feed the deer - it spreads disease, and there are too many deer anyway. The disease issue seems to be significant only where large numbers are feeding in a very small area. As for numbers, the hunters do their best to take care of that problem in the fall. As for eating my garden plants in summer - for the most part they stay out of the yard in summer - there's food in the fields and there's dogs in the yard. But, they do eat some of my flowering plants. Again, that's life in the country. I learn what they like less and plant more of that. Or I spray my roses with a repellent. So, another vote for feed the deer. And enjoy them. Look at this lady's beautiful eyes, how could you resist?