If you have a birdfeeder in your yard, you may have dealt with “bully birds”. Bully birds are usually blackbirds, grackles, house sparrows, and pigeons who want the birdseed in your feeder or on the ground and will chase away your favorite birds so they can inhale it all.
Bully birds are usually bigger than the birds you are trying to attract with your feeder, so try to limit accessibility of the feeding ports and keep the area under the feeder as free of seed and suet as possible to discourage pigeons. It can also be beneficial to eliminate favorite bully bird foods from your bird feeding area-they seem to prefer bread, corn, wheat and sunflower seeds. Finches prefer hanging thistle bird feeders, while safflower seeds in hopper or tray feeders will appeal to cardinals, nuthatches, and chickadees.
Tags: bird feeders, thistle bird feeders