Do you have a safflower feeder?

14 years ago

I have a Nyjer feeder and would like to get another type for larger birds this winter. My non-native bird problem here is House Sparrows. I read that they don't like Safflower but is this true? Suet is also not supposed to attract them but they go through my parents' suet cakes in two days flat. It's pretty insane actually, there are sometimes up to 7 of them on one little square mesh container with others waiting nearby for their turn. I'd love to try the black oil sunflower seeds but that would just be a mess with them. If you know of anything else that House Sparrows don't care for please let me know too.

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Comments (4)

lovefornature
14 years ago
Odd that you bring this up.
I use Safflower Feeders and the HOSP do not go near the stuff but your YMMV. With Safflower I attract Cardinals, Titmouse, Chickadees and House Finches. I have heard others say that HOSP eat Safflower.
While the HOSP do not touch the safflower here, they do go after the Thistle Seed. I had to cut down the perches on my Nyjer feeders to 5/8" so they cannot perch on them.
Here are some other options:
There is a feeder called the Clingers Only Birdfeeder. Mine is red, but they also have yellow and green. I feed BOSS in this and have had great success.
Another option is a wire peanut feeder. I have never had a HOSP on one, but I do attract Woodpeckers, Titmouse, Chickadees, Nuthatches, etc.
I also feed suet in a log that has holes in it. It hangs from my Bird Station. Only clingers can use this, unlike the suet cage.
Good luck :)
MojaveLove
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks! I think I would be able to attract some interesting birds where I live and can't wait to see if I'm right!
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In my many many years of bird feeding, it's the 'unnamed small round seeds" that get kicked out. I used to put a row of feeders, tube platform and lantern at the edge of a garden that got lettuce and tomatoes in the summer. Every spring I would shovel out easily an inch of wet moldy icky seeds that had been kicked out while they were digging for the seeds they like. so now I only feed black oil sunflower, niger and suet cakes....with a handful of cracked corn tossed out now and then if the going gets hard....deep snow, long snow cover. Sparrows have a purpose, if only as Cooper's hawk food to keep them from murdering the cardinals. It is also my experience that most "new to feeding" bird feeding people mistake everything that isn't a cardinal, blue jay, chickadee or woodpecker as a "sparrow". Gold finches in winter garb are often called sparrows. Pine siskins are often called sparrows, rosy finches are often called sparrows....as are all the native sparrows which are labeled as nuisances. Rochesterroseman, it's pretty cruel to put out feeders and then when birds become dependent on them, take them in. If you have no feeders out, you will have no birds. Either you feed birds, sparrows, starlings and all or you don't. Not feeding because you have sparrows tells me that you have nothing that is favorable for birds other than sparrows, no open water, no fruit bearing trees or shrubs, no dense stands of shrubbery, no evergreens to shelter birds during the winter. and you are feeding seed that doesn't attract the birds you want to see. get some place for the birds to hide, feed a variety of foods....and wait. You can't expect to put out some suet and sunflower seed and a week later see cardinals and woodpeckers. It takes weeks and in some cases months for the birds to find the food source. Feeding the birds is fun....keep trying! They will bring a lot of joy to your winter days....and if you feed in the summer too, your winter population will be larger.
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hawkeye_wx
14 years ago
Last year I tried switching from sunflower to safflower for a few weeks in summer and the hosps mostly stayed away from it. However, I switched to safflower again this fall but this time the hosps(house sparrows) loved it. Recently, I've begun putting some sunflower seeds in the feeder and sprinkling some on the ground only in the morning and evening when cardinals are active and hosps are not. After 4pm I often see up to 11 cardinals feeding and zero hosps. If I fill the feeder in the middle of the day a mob of 20-30 hosps will quickly clean it out. In past years I just kept seeds in the feeder all the time, but this year the hosp population seems to have doubled and they've become a real pain.
jomuir
14 years ago
We feed safflower, gave up sunflowers years ago mainly due to the mess of the hulls. No hulls from safflower, and the cardinals love it. We do get hosp's but not terribly many, and they'll be around no matter what I feed, I believe. Safflower sure is more expensive though!

The cardinals come in all day long, but we get most right before dusk, so we also refill in late afternoon.

Do you have a safflower feeder?

Comments (4)

lovefornature

MojaveLove
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Do you have a safflower feeder?

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lovefornature

MojaveLoveOriginal Author

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jomuir

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MojaveLove
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