Sure do whatever works. Maybe in time the doves will relocate. Al little sad for you though—you have wait all day to see the birds you like?

But are the other birds around after 6pm? IME most birds go to bed at about the same time if they’re day birds.

I agree--birds aren't feeding after 6PM as a rule. The saucers are an issue, how do you not get squirrels raiding or water spoiling the seed? Stick to a tube or house feeder...the birds will adapt--but the Doves may also!!

Well, cardinals and grosbeaks among others will feed after six but they may move elsewhere without food all day.

tj

Are they the smallish grey mourning doves? I didn't realize they can be so pesky. Pigeons, yes.

Could be the darned collard doves. I had bird feeders in Phoenix and I eventually gave up since all it did was attract hoards of those pests. One day I counted over 60 in my tiny yard. There was three Inca doves mixed with them but it wasn’t worth dealing with the others.

Now I can’t have bird feeders because we have an army of house sparrows and mice. I put up oranges for the Orioles but that’s it.

i don’t know how to discourage pigeons/doves, I wish I had a better answer. You could go with only putting out a finch feeder at the expense of not getting cardinals and grosbeaks. In my experience, many other birds except finches (including house sparrows) can’t access the seed through the small openings and don’t like to bother with the tiny nyger seed.

You could always take them out during dove season.

;-)

Zach, I LOVE Cardinals and Grosbeaks the most, but your idea makes the most sense. Darnit.

I’m in SE Michigan and have several feeders but have not ran into a situation like that. The doves in my area all feed on the ground. The birds that kind of bully the other birds in our yard are the black birds.

It used to frustrate me because I love seeing a variety of birds, but one day it dawned on me that it’s not my place to decide who eats and who doesn’t. So now I leave it up to Mother Nature to direct the traffic and I just try to embrace them all.

Cardinals do a late evening feeding up to darkness to tank up for the night. Most other birds have already retired for the night. This behavior is more noticeable in winter. Cardinals prefer sunflower seed over any other. At my feeder, they ignore the small spherical seeds such as millet. Experiment to discover what food your doves prefer, and then set up a separate feeder with that food for the doves in hopes the doves will leave the cardinal feeder alone. But then, that might attract more doves!

As an aside, the city of Milwaukee had a severe pigeon problem. These birds were fouling manufacturer's products that were temporarily stored outside, for example, pickup truck frames made by A.O. Smith. Peregrine Falcons were imported and nesting sites set up with cooperation of the power company. After about 3 years, a breeding population was established and pigeons began to disappear. The pigeon is a favorite prey of the Peregrine falcon. Today, there are barely any pigeons in Milwaukee, and a breeding population of Peregrines have been established. Peregrins were threatened 40 yrs ago.

I wish my Cooper's Hawks had the same effect.