My feeders are being overrun with pigeons and blackbirds who eat all the food and keep the nicer, smaller birds away. What can I do?
A. First consider switching the type of seed you are using. Most seed mixes are more attractive to “problem” birds than they are to chickadees, cardinals, goldfinches, and other feeder favorites. Sunflower seed, particularly striped sunflower seed with its thick, hard shell, is more difficult for blackbirds to open, so switching to that might help. You might also try bird feeders designed to exclude larger birds. Some have “cages” around them that only small birds can pass through; others close access to the food source when a heavy bird alights on the perch.
