Bird feeders and starlings

[Bobbie Ireland]

I am going to ask Donna to send pix of our bird feeders - showing a gang of hungry starlings and a view of the suet feeder I was describing. Also in the pix will be the peanut feeders we always use. Do you use these Stateside? Our birds love them! We buy the peanuts in bulk, but you MUST get nuts which are suitable for feeding birds. O'wise, fungus and mould can cause problems.

Will also try to get a pic of the apple feeder. Again, a fave.

And... I am sure everyone knows that we must put out water, even in the coldest conditions.

Pix coming, Donna - thanks for obliging when you can.

[Patti from Kentucky]

And... I am sure everyone knows that we must put out water, even in the coldest conditions.

Yes, I have to use a birdbath heater for most of our winter, though it's too soon yet; we're not getting consistent enough freezing temperatures.

[Donna]

Here ya go Miss Bobbie!

[Bobbie Ireland]

Here ya go Miss Bobbie!

Thanks, Donna Girl!

Hope everyone can now see what I am talking about re the suet/fat feeder.

[Dot_Forrester]

Starlings are a major pest in my area - they eat all the suet in no time and viciously peck at any other bird that tries to get a share.  If you get tired of your greedy starlings, you could try what I do and put a baffle on the rope/chain just above the suet cage. Very few starlings seem to be able to fly under it and grab on at the bottom of the cage but woodpeckers, chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice manage just fine. 

Dot in PA

[Patti from Kentucky]

Starlings are a major pest in my area - they eat all the suet in no time and viciously peck at any other bird that tries to get a share.  If you get tired of your greedy starlings, you could try what I do and put a baffle on the rope/chain just above the suet cage. Very few starlings seem to be able to fly under it and grab on at the bottom of the cage but woodpeckers, chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice manage just fine. 

Dot in PA

I actually have tried a couple of models of feeders that work for this purpose.  The first was an "upside-down" suet feeder, where the only access to the suet is at the bottom...the birds have to be able to hang on the bottom, which as you said, other birds manage to do, but starlings, not so much.  However, I discovered that squirrels also manage just fine, and were cleaning out my suet very quickly.  The other model that works for both squirrels and starlings is a model that has a cage around the internal suet feeder.  Starlings and squirrels are both too big to fit through the bars on the outer cage.  Unfortunately, so are bigger woodpeckers, but downy woodpeckers do OK.

[Nic1Pic]

Here are 2 ideas for suet feeders. You can see inverse feeder as Patty said.

http://ccfa-montreal.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=36&Itemid=19&lang=en

I hope it will help. Nicole

[Patti from Kentucky]

Here are 2 ideas for suet feeders. You can see inverse feeder as Patty said.

http://ccfa-montreal.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=36&Itemid=19&lang=en

I hope it will help. Nicole

Exactly!  On that first page of your link...top right, is the up-side down feeder that worked well against starlings but not squirrels, and bottom left is the current model I'm using, mostly visited by Downy Woodpeckers, Carolina Chickadees, and Carolina Wrens, and NOT squirrels or starlings!  I have a major squirrel problem...very old neighborhood with mature trees, including about four magnificent oaks in the surrounding neighbors' yards.  On Halloween we enjoyed sitting on the front porch looking up at the oak canopy counting the squirrels gathering acorns...we counted up to eight squirrels simultaneously harvesting the two oak trees directly in front of us.

[Bird Crazy]

My problem is raccoons I have the little buggers (well they are not very little) they unhook the chain and make off with the whole basket, so they can eat at their leisure. Not sure how many I lost that way. Not sure how they do it either because its not on a tree but on a shepherds hook.