Big Bird trouble

[bjonesreborn]

Good afternoon all,

We have just developed a problem with jackdaws and crows coming onto our bird feeder. It's a pole with 4 hanging feeders off it.
Does anyone have any tips on how to stop them?
They seem to be most attracted to the suet block bird feeder, I don't have a squirrel/big bird proof one if anyone can point me in the right direction of one of these I'd be really grateful.
Many thanks.

Can you take the feeders off and hang them somewhere where larger birds cant reach like inner branches. Small birds dont always eat the suet blocks and prefer seed. Wilko have a good range of feeders.

I've been putting broken up suet blocks in a ground feeder, which tends to keep the bigger birds off the seed feeders. Maybe worth a try

Thanks both. We don’t have any trees in our garden - downstairs flat with small garden so no option for that!
Small birds are loving the suet block this year! I’ve taken it off the table for the night as pesky birds seem to come before 6am when we get up!
Will perhaps try a decoy suet block on the floor!

I thought you meant the big yellow one

I'm getting arm ache at all the saluting of magpies though, and they don't half splash in the bird bath, they're massive things.
We had an owl really close up too. Scary bloody things and massive beasts.

Try looking at how they feed. What are they standing on?

We stop big birds on our feeders with a roof on the table, a roof over the one with bigger perches, and moving the rest away from any branches. You can make a temporary roof from an old biscuit tin lid with a hole in it or similar. Anything to test if it works before you invest in something nicer looking.

Thanks peajotter it’s not a table we have but a pole with 4 arms with hooks on the end. They are standing on the arms and ending over basically.
Maybe I should try and figure out some sort of roof for the arms?

We had this problem. We got a 'caged' suet feeder - ours was from Dobbies, I don't know the brand but like this

shopping.rspb.org.uk/suet-feeders/rspb-suet-feeder-and-guardian-2-bird-cakes.html?ClickType=Image&ListType=&ListName=&Position=17

Oh... just noticed the rspb one says it's out of stock.

Caged feeders are the way to go. I have s seed one that looks like a UFO. Stops spilling of seed and keeps the bloody clumsy pigeons off it!!

There are some on amazon - I think this is the type I've got. It does the job well.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gardman-Heavy-Squirrel-Proof-Feeder/dp/B00FF9IA76/ref=pdsbss861/261-4387695-1987255??encoding=UTF8&pdrddi=B00FF9IA76&pdrddr=8aa65460-69f2-43b7-b974-d58dca8f8d08&pdrddw=l4Alt&pdrddwg=l8q2G&pfrddp=2773aa8e-42c5-4dbe-bda8-5cdf226aa078&pfrddr=EGC7M4QAEQ1EH0JKY0X2&psc=1&refRID=EGC7M4QAEQ1EH0JKY0X2

Bungee cords or elastic. Hang the feeders from them so the weight of the crows etc drag them down and scare them into flying away.

Or shoo them away. We have crows but they're staying clear now as I shoo them away and I stay indoors when it's the little birds.

The cage feeders are amazing when you get a lot of little birds in together.
I hope I've picked the two photos from last year I meant to...

Yes - long tailed tits and an excluded wood pigeon, juvenile blue tits and goldfinch.
I've seen it with more than that in at a time. I think they feed for longer because they feel safe.

Thank you so much, that’s so helpful

CJ Wildlife and Ark birdfood both do feeder guards. They're expensive, but more satisfactory than trying to fashion something for yourself from a bit of wire netting.

The one I've got seems very robust, I think it will last for years.

I'm very excited, the great tit took mealworms from the window feeder.

I don't mind the hooded crow which comes, but the woodpigeons clear the food out and the magpies top up on blackbird fledglings so they are out of favour. I don't so much salute them as scream 'get out of my garden'!

I had a problem with jackdaws last year. I got two half round hanging baskets and put them together to make a hanging basket ball with the feeder dangling in the middle of the ball.
Cable tied the baskets together with one tie at the top so the "ball" opens at the bottom and I can still take out the feeder to fill it up/clean it
This ball is just hooked onto the arm of the feeder - ours is also a 4 arm feeder

The little birds can get in but the big birds can't
Wood pecker can reach through the holes to still get at the fat balls

Annoyingly though the squirrel as realised he can squeeze through the holes and sits inside the call with the feeder like a little hamster in a hamster ball. 🙄
Never had a problem with the bigger birds since 😊

I've once had to liberate a daft young starling which had managed to squeeze in but couldn't work out how to get out again. (I don't suppose it had fattened itself up too much a la Winnie the Pooh.

Tang! Thank you, I'd misidentified my hooded crow. It was a jackdaw!