Please help my Robins!

[jezlee]

Hi everyone - I wonder if anyone can help me? I recently bought some live mealworms, as I have a pair of Robins living in my garden and I know how much they love them. The only trouble is, whenever I put any mealworms out, they are always scoffed my a flock of starlings before the robins have had a look in! I have tried several ways of presenting them - in a dish on the floor, hanging in a little tub off a twig of a tree, in a yoghurt pot on top of a bamboo cane stuck in to the lawn - but it doesn't matter, the starlings always get them in the end!

Bar putting the dish containing them in some sort of cage, with gaps large enough to let a robin in, but too small to let a starling in, is there anything else I can try?

[witham]

I would think the cage is the only option having had a similar experience, making sure it's big enough that the pesky Starlings can't reach the mealworms by poking their heads in through the holes, but there again it's amazing at just how small a hole they can squeeze through as I've also found out

[dmclean2]

Hi!,
I bought a Mealworm feeder and for the same reason as you , for the robins and blue tits, and great tits, I lowered the top about 4 times to stop the starlings getting in, until a racing snake couldn't even get under the top ,
Iv'e given up on that one just now , and will get some small mesh sheet and make a box so that small birds can get in but not the bigger ones , they get enough at the other stations , e; bird table and seed feeders,
Duncan

[Astra]

I think you will have to resort to the cage idea as the starlings will demolish a dish in seconds.

I have tried three types:

a caged worm feeder from www.gardenbird.com - looks like this:



A multifeeder from CJ wildbird foods, using the supplied cage bars and adapted to be totally starling-proof with a small bowl inside like this:



You have to drill a hole in the bowl for the brass rod to go through and secure it at the bottom with some plasticine to stop it from wobbling, but the birds like this feeder the best.


Or finally a small bowl placed inside the feeder guardian that CJ wildbird foods sell for use with their suetcakes.
Looks like this:



Robins can access all three feeders but out of them all I prefer the modified multifeeder because the plastic roof keeps the worms dry in the rain, and there's nothing worse than wet worms!!

[Astra]

A Happy Robin!

[Elean0r]

Brilliant ideas.

Has anybody has any success making their own feeders?

[dmclean2]

Yes,
I made a small mealworm feeder from a large clear yoghurt type pot with a domed lid, and a 7" length of 4mm studding,
the bottom of the pot was secured between 2 nuts and the lid is able to screw up or down the studding, again with a nut top of lid and below the lid,
good atempt, just wish the starlings would leave it alone ,
Now that iv'e seen those photos I will be able to adapt the bought mealworm feeder with some small guage mesh,
Cheers,...Duncan

[witham]

did you use any sticky back plastic, I'm sure I might have seen you on Blue Peter

[Gill Catton]

Bear in mind though that whereas robin numbers are pretty stable nationally, starling numbers have plummeted - over 50% decline in the last 25 years so they perhaps need a little help too noisy little hooligans that they are

[ChrisJB]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

Bear in mind though that whereas robin numbers are pretty stable nationally, starling numbers have plummeted - over 50% decline in the last 25 years so they perhaps need a little help too noisy little hooligans that they are

An excellent point this. I have just tried live mealworms for the first time in the past couple of weeks and also, the starlings 'demolish' them at an alarming rate of knots. But, in view of what Gill has said, I'm just letting them get on with it.
If the 'nice' robins and blackbirds want the juicy mealworms, well they will just have to get up earlier than the starlings!

Regards, Chris