Help please! Bird table attracting thugs!

[koali]

I have recently set up a bird feeder in my garden hoping to attract the variety of birds that I see around the villiage where I live.
Unfortunately, as soon as I put food out, a flock of starlings decend and eat the lot.
These starlings are really thuggish and there are loads of them. I have seen them crash into blackbirds and yesterday 4 of them joined forces to tip an enormous woodpidgeon over the edge of the seed tray.
The smaller birds like the coaltits and blue tits rarely come, although there are loads about and they visit other tables within 1/2 a mile of my house.
On the feeder I have a fat ball and a seed tray with a mix of crushed peanut,sunflower seed hearts and a fine grain (millet?) I also sometimes put out dried mealworms and chopped up fruit.
Can anybody suggest a way of discouraging the starlings whilst encouraging the smaller birds?
Advice appreciated.

koali

[Mark43]

I have the same problem although my Starlings don't seem as bad as yours.

I look at it this way.........the Starlings need to eat as well even though they do seem to eat everything.

Have you tried the cages you can put round your feeders which only allow access to the smaller birds or maybe an upside down suet feeder.

Tube feeders are hardest for them to work on but they are very adaptable and will normally work out how to get the food.

[John]

If you have Starlings around you and you put food out they will come. If you were to put your feeders elswhere you may keep the smaller birds on them whilst the Starlings stay on the table. Mind you Starlings love fat balls also. Perhaps keeping some fat balls by the table then some others further away with your repositioned feeders might balance it out.

Personnaly I love the Starlings, especially when the youngsters are out. They are brash, noisy and skittish and their antics make me laugh. They can also be incredibly good photographic subjects.

John

[Tornado]

Hi Koali and a warm welcome to WAB,
unfortunately this is all too common where there are a large count of Starling, we tried everything in the beginning to stop them from muscling in and demolishing the feed, from waving our arms (the neighbours thought we were crack pots!!) to spraying water each time they arrived. The only thing that has worked so far is feeding them in a diffrent part of the garden. A new bird table was constructed and placed at the back of the garden, then we began feeding sultanas which the Starling seem to love. I'm not a lover of Starling but since I know they are in decline I have just learnt to live with them. The other birds who visit our garden now give as good as they get the Blackbird especially! he really chases 'em off. Don't get too discouraged as bird adapt quickly, if the small birds are hungry they usually get over their fear of Starling and wlll feed nervously but happily with them in close proximity.

Happy feeding!!
Tornado

[eeyore]

You can get cages to go arround your Birdtable or ground feeder to exclude bigger birds, while letting in tits etc, If on a budget you can also build your own with wire netting, unfortunately both of these will also shut out thrushes and blackbirds too so make sure you feed outside of the cage too.

You can also feed fat bells and things that recquire them to be upside down, most starlings cant cope with this.

Big choice on here http://shopping.rspb.org.uk/mall/dep...tpage.cfm/rspb

mind you IMO starlings are misunderstood, they are becoming endangered and you should just feed them with everything else - I'd be more concerned about the giant wood pigeon.

[koali]

Thanks Mark.
I'll try a caged feeder as you suggest.
Any ideas about how to attract other species in?
(My mother is laughing at this post. She lives just around the corner from me.
She just puts out kitchen scraps and has no fancy feeders. Yet she gets an enormous variety of birds in her garden- everything from coal tits to an occasional sparrow hawk!)

[Tornado]

You can also feed fat bells and things that recquire them to be upside down, most starlings cant cope with this.


Hey EEyore, if thats the case that "most" Starlings can't cope with being upside down my garden must have all the rest!! coz they sure are acrobatic here!! LOL

[canonman]

Hi
Sorry to say not a lot you can do.
Starlings are very cleaver at getting food even in feeders.
You could buy a cage to put around your feeders this will stop large birds getting to the food and allowing small birds in.
This may well stop the starlings but be prepared the small birds will take time to get used to it.
You could also set up a bird table and make it easy for the starling to get the food, and hopefully leave the feeders a bit longer.
Wish you luck
Mick

[Mark43]

Patience is a must with feeders.

It took weeks for me to draw in Goldfinches,Greenfinches,Great Tit etc.

[Wild-Woman]

A bit of a tip someone told me about. An upside down wire hanging basket over the food tray works well.ww

[May]

I've never seen a starling anywhere near our house .. in fact not a single one in the village which is odd, but where we did used to live, four starlings managed to bring down a hanging nut feeder! I actually saw it drop with the stralings still attached .. I know I shouldn't have laughed but it was pure comedy!

[Diane E]

Hi Koali, I too recently put up a feeding station and, like you, I had lots and lots of starlings arrive after a while. Mine don't seem so nasty as yours though - they are actually very amusing - its just that there are so many of them. And I definately saw less of the smaller birds after they arrived.

Have you been able to see what yours are eating? I found that mine were just eating the suet and fat things (which I had both on a tray and in a hanging cage). They basically ignored the hanging seed feeder and the hanging peanut feeder. So I have moved the hanging suet cage to a different place at the edge of the garden (on the washing line post!) and have taken all fat and suet stuff from the open tray. The starlings still come en masse but they congregate round the suet cage and not the feeding station. I have also sent off for a hanging peanut feeder surrounded by a cage to hang on the feeder station which I will fill with suet treats so the little birds can still have them.

Have you tried Gardman's Treat Feast? They are little suet pellets. There is a berry variety - which is pink - which all my bird visitors seem to go crazy for. Its that that I will put in my protected peanut feeder.

Do tell what you try and if you get any other ideas.

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

I personally love Starling, think they are great to watch, they are so funny and make some brilliant noises

I'd say try splitting the feed up a little, hopefully then you will get the starling feeding in one place and hopefully leaving another food free for other birds

[koali]

Latest update re starlings.
Took everyones advice.
Bought new hanging feeder and separated suets from seeds.
Put feeder for starlings in another place.
Result- Starlings ate all the food in the open tray as usual and had a go at the fat balls.
They then had a go at the new hanging feeder- some managed to get some, others just fell off, s o at least they didn't empty it.
The sparrows have taken to the hanging feeder with great delight, so hopefully, with time, this might attract other small birds.
Thanks for the advice everyone- I'll keep you posted on any new varieties that choose to visit.

[koali]

An update.
The feeders are all still in place and the starlings,sparrows and pigeons have been joined by greenfinches and coal tits.
The most recent wildlife to attend the table though is a mammal!
Every night at about 9.10pm a very fat Hedgehog waddles around the base of the feeder seeing what it can find.

[Jonny]

Sounds like you have a good system ther Koali. I have to say I love starlings too and I love there squabbling and the way they copy calls like car alarms. I love the irredecence (sp ?) of their feathers, but I know that it is annoying when they don't allow other birds to feed. Maybe some more feeders would help..............Jon

[Airehead]

I really think this topic could be turned around to "love your starlings".
Have you seen a flock giving a flight display? Like Bill Oddy, I have found it to be one of the most memorable wild life sights that there can be - and they can't do it unless there are plenty of them, so keep feeding!

[Jonny]

Originally Posted by Airehead

I really think this topic could be turned around to "love your starlings".
Have you seen a flock giving a flight display? Like Bill Oddy, I have found it to be one of the most memorable wild life sights that there can be - and they can't do it unless there are plenty of them, so keep feeding!

I can remember as a kid, the sky going dark above me as a immense flock went over.............Jon