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Is there a way to keep House Sparrows from knocking all the seed

13 years ago

to the ground? I have a Safflower feeder in the backyard and whenever I refill it, the pesky HOSPs sit there knocking all the seed to the ground with their beaks and won't leave until the feeder is empty. How do I keep them from doing that? It is such a waste and it takes them only a couple of hours to finish their "job". Has anyone found a good solution to this problem? Thanks in advance for any tips.

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Comments (3)

Aurore
13 years ago
Maybe try a sock (I think that is what they call it) like what they use for thistle/nyjer feeders. Think birds can only pull seed out one at a time.
stl57
13 years ago
When you say Safflower feeder, I'm going assume a standard tube feeder. I had the same problem but with House Finches rather than HOSPs. I have a four-station tube feeder with metal rods that protrude through the tube to provide a perch at each station on opposite sides of the tube.

Try wrapping some type of mesh around the tube. The perch rods will stick through the mesh. Use cable ties to hold the mesh in place. I wanted to try something with about a 1/2" grid that would allow the birds to grab seeds but not shovel the seeds out like the HFs were doing. I have a pond so I ended up using a remnant of the nylon netting I use in the Fall to keep the leaves out. About a 12" long by 8" tall section covered the openings. The nylon flexes so I assumed the birds could reach in and grab a seed.

The cardinals would land and stare at the feeder but wouldn't touch it. After a week, I started cutting slits in the netting to make the openings larger. The cardinals finally gave it a try and could grab the seed out of the feeder. The dees and titmice have no problems, either. I have seen HFs on occasion throw seed out but it's rare. Much nicer filler the feeder up once a week rather than once a day.
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lisacarter
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you so much for the advice. I put some mesh around the openings of the feeder and it seems to be working. I also ordered a wire mesh feeder for sunflower which hopefully will have the same effect, It doesn't have perches so it might be hard for the cardinals to eat from it but they can keep using the Safflower feeder. Thanks again.

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