Experiment - switching to Safflower seed to deter sparrows
paulsiu
14 years ago
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rachel_frome_ky
14 years agopaulsiu
14 years agoRelated Discussions
What kind of seed isn't attractive to raccoons?
Comments (4)Racoons, being omnivores, eat almost anything. You probably cannot stop them. I would put up a sturdier feeder. Mine is a metal one, that closes with the weight of a squirrel, on a length of copper pipe. Usually works and not harasses by racoons, although they are common. In N. Jersey, they are having trouble with black bears raiding the bird feeders,so racoons seem like pikers to me. My feeder will be totalled if the bears move into S. Jersey....See MoreThe Magic Halo anti-house sparrow project
Comments (5)It's not my invention, it's basically a variation of the magic halo, which has been available for quite some times. You can see description at: http://www.sialis.org/halo.htm Unfortunately, the ring is not so effective against breeding pairs of HOSP. The site does have various ideas to deter nesting. I don't have experience with repelling grackles and starlings from nestboxes, but I do notice that starlings do not like to have something that block their view of the sky. A dome of some sort over suet feeder for example seems to deter them. However, it's hard to verify since Starlings don't seemed to come to my yard. Paul...See MoreAny Way to Attract More than Just Sparrows?
Comments (16)kilian, I'm between Ann Arbor and Ypsi and the lack of birds lately is really bothering me. My husband reminded me that our Cooper's Hawk may be the reason so tomorrow morning I'm going to move my feeders away from my windows and closer to our huge conifer lot line, where I had them last year. I, too, got more birds of all types in Spring and Summer. However, this year I am not feeding after June 1 and not before November. I said that last year, but hope I follow through this year. I do think the lack of snow and very cold weather recently is a contributing factor. I feed safflower in one feeder, BOSS in another, a mix in another, and 2 or 3 suet feeders. 2 of my neighbors also feed, but I haven't talked to them about their business. In this drab weather I am really disliking the BOSS shells piling up on the ground. I wish safflower seed was not more expensive because I would put it in all my feeders as House Sparrows here didn't eat it. The millet in my mix just stays on the ground and I rarely see a Junco or native sparrow anymore. Even the chickadees are rare. I want to feed everything that comes to my yard too -- one can keep so-called bully birds with a mix in its own feeder away from other feeders if one wants to. Squirrels will go to a mix on the ground too. I don't understand the lack of birds either, but we'll see if moving the feeders makes a difference. I have baffles on my shepherds hooks, and 18-inch domes on feeders hanging from my eaves to keep the squirrels on the ground. I want to feed the doves and squirrels but I want them on the ground. I can't help you, kilian. I think the weather is a factor for you. I will keep you posted and you do the same. We're really lucky with our weather, compared to other parts of the States, so I don't really want to complain too much. Pat ....See MoreBest tasting baking oil ? Can’t find safflower now
Comments (35)Isn't everyone talking about refined oils? Most have very little, if any discernible flavor, IMPE. Unrefined oils, OTOH can have quite strong flavors. I got some unrefined organic canola and sunflower oils from Aldi, and I thought the canola had an unpleasant, strong flavor, while the sunflower has a distinct sunflower seed taste. I often use extra virgin olive oil in baking sweet breads & cakes - usually mixed 1/2 & 1/2 with butter. It makes for very rich tasting results, and nobody has ever said they tasted olives....See Morenmgirl
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