Do you want to know how to prevent blackbirds from visiting bird feeders?
The experience of watching birds in your backyard is wonderful. However, if blackbirds take control, that doesn’t persist for very long.
Blackbirds may initially seem innocent. However, you quickly learn that they are hostile, opportunistic, and will frighten off all the birds you enjoy watching.
And I know you’ll be annoyed at having to spend extra money on bird food because they empty your feeders virtually every day.
The trick is to learn how to entice the birds you want to visit your yard while keeping the aggressive birds at distance. You will learn how to achieve it by reading this guide.
In a Rush? See what I use to deter blackbirds from my feeders.
If not, I advise you to stay put to learn everything you need to know about preventing blackbirds from visiting your feeders. These advice will also assist you in keeping starlings, pigeons, and other large problem birds away from your bird feeders.
All right? So let’s get going.
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How to Keep Blackbirds Away From Bird Feeders
1. Feeder type
The feeders you already employ must be taken into account initially.
My best guess is that your bird seed is easily accessible to the blackbirds.
As a result, your yard is likely to feature a platform, tray, or ground feeder. Am I correct?
If you have a blackbird problem, these feeders are not the best option.
Moreover, despite the fact that they are ground feeders, do not be deceived. This year, I had a very tenacious pair of blackbirds using my tube feeders.
At a platform feeder, I’ve observed a male blackbird grasp on for dear life while scooping seed for the chicks with its head.
How can you then stop that?
I would advise using only feeders that smaller birds can use readily.
This contains feeders in the form of tubes with short perches. Thus, blackbirds won’t be able to easily feed on these.
Another option is a feeder with a weight sensor. This kind of feeder is excellent since it restricts access to the food inside to tiny birds exclusively. It won’t be possible for the blackbirds to open it up.
2. Use the right food
I’m going to reveal a tiny secret to you right now.
Would you believe that there is bird seed that blackbirds detest eating? And that by putting this on your feeder, you can probably prevent blackbirds from visiting it?
I’m not giving you magic beans, I assure you! It really does exist.
The most attractive birds, including chickadees, cardinals, thrushes, and songbirds, adore safflower seed as a source of nourishment. The best thing is that squirrels, starlings, and blackbirds deem it to be far too bitter to consume.
The fact that blackbirds have soft bills is another wonderful fact. Thus, they are capable of handling seeds with a tough hull.
Given this information, I would strongly advise providing a mixture of hulled safflower and black oil sunflower seeds.
This combination won’t appeal to blackbirds at all. The majority of blackbirds will leave your feeders alone and go for an easier food source after receiving this mix for a few weeks.
3. Don’t use the wrong food
What about the foods that blackbirds do enjoy? We’ve talked about the foods that they don’t like.
Offering them a favorite seed is a certain method to get them to come to your yard for more, after all.
Milo appears to be a favorite food of blackbirds. Most birds avoid this seed, but blackbirds seem to like it.
Millet, corn, and sunflower hearts are other goodies for birds that you shouldn’t put in your feeders. By providing these meals, you actively encourage blackbirds to visit your yard.
Stop using commercial bird seed since it is the greatest approach to avoid consuming these seeds. These are jam-packed with these inexpensive filler seeds like milo and millet. These seeds are generally disliked by songbirds.
Try creating your own own blend of seeds, as I suggested above. The greatest strategy to draw particular bids and deter bothersome birds is to do this.
4. Use barriers
Preventing blackbirds from ever reaching your birdfeeders is another strategy to keep them away from your feeders.
Let’s examine the two most popular feeder barriers for preventing blackbird entry.
Cage Feeders
Large metal square grids in the shape of cages surround your feeder. They are available for suet feeders, platforms, and tubes.
The metal squares are supposed to be big enough to keep the blackbirds out while allowing the smaller birds easy access to food. So easy, huh?
This Droll Yankees feeder is an excellent option if you’re interested in this type.
The disadvantage is that these feeders can be very expensive. Although you’d certainly make up for it in money by not having to buy more bird seed once the blackbirds eat all of your leftovers!
Domes
Using a dome is a more cost-effective solution to keep the blackbirds out of your feeder.
This contraption resembles the top of a plastic umbrella that hangs over your feeder. Blackbirds are prevented from accessing the meal by the plastic, which serves as a barrier. The songbirds can still utilize the feeder even when the blackbirds are too big.
Feeder domes, such as this one, are ideal for shielding your feeders from the snow and rain. Additionally, it will aid in keeping squirrels away if you have issues with them emptying your feeders.
5. Offer a distraction
You can do all you want, but you won’t be able to stop tenacious blackbirds from reaching your feeders.
It can be annoying if you’ve tried the majority of methods to get rid of blackbirds from your yard yet they keep returning.
In that case, I’d advise offering them a place to feed in order to contain their activity. Your songbirds can feed peacefully if you do this.
The solution should be a ground feeder filled with inexpensive mixed bird food that is placed away in a hidden part of your yard.
Combine that with the other advice in this manual. In this manner, you won’t have to see the blackbirds, and they will avoid your quality feeders.
Pigeons, starlings, and grackles are just a few additional pesky birds that you might be able to divert.
You might eventually learn to either love or tolerate the blackbirds in your lawn with time.
Final thoughts
You have now learned how to prevent blackbirds from visiting bird feeders thanks to this article.
Blackbirds at your birdfeeders can be a real annoyance. They can be violent and avaricious, which keeps the gorgeous birds away.
We’ve covered 5 strategies for preventing blackbirds from visiting your bird feeders:
- Apply the proper feeder.
- Use the proper diet
- omit foods they enjoy
- Employ a barrier
- Provide a diversion
Try combining a number of the strategies if you don’t succeed with just one of them. Blackbirds that are persistent won’t easily abandon a reliable food supply.
Please let me know if these suggestions are helpful to you or if you have any other advice for the readers of Birds + Wild.
FAQ
Are Blackbirds beneficial?
Injury to Crops These birds offer some advantages by eating dangerous insects like maize earworms and rootworm beetles as well as weed seeds like Johnson grass.
Are Blackbirds considered pests?
Farmers gain from blackbirds’ consumption of hazardous insects during the breeding season, despite the fact that the birds are sometimes viewed as pests since they eat grain in cultivated fields.
Are Blackbirds destructive?
Blackbird numbers are primarily destructive to agricultural crops, despite the fact that they can be advantageous because they prey on many insects that cause harm. Blackbirds are able to completely destroy entire fields of maize, rice, and other crop plants because they frequently forage in large groups.
How do you get rid of nuisance Blackbirds?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ywNAPm Jbs
Are blackbirds a pest?
Commonly annoying birds include starlings and blackbirds. According to the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, cause harm to crops, gardens, and structures with their unwelcome nesting and roosting behavior.