Ask BirdWatching Magazine: "What should I do about House Sparrows at my feeders that eat everything in a few hours?"

Posted Tue, Aug 16 2011 10:30 AM by Chuck Hagner

We asked participants in a recent cover survey to send questions that Contributing Editor Julie Craves could answer in her popular column Since You Asked in our upcoming December issue. The response was amazing! We received far more interesting questions than Julie could address in the December issue, so we're jumping right in and answering questions for her. We'll answer more on the blog and in future issues of our newsletter.

Doreen Pinkham of Woburn, Massachusetts, asked: "My feeders are overwhelmed with large flocks of birds, such as House Sparrows, that eat all the food in just a few hours. I simply can't afford to replenish the food that frequently. Any advice on how to address this issue? Thanks!"

And Doreen wasn't the only one to ask. Jennifer Russell of Fayetteville, Arkansas, Ontra Rhoades of Hyattsville, Maryland, Suzanne Gaye of Beaverton, Oregon, Rick Hughes of Sherwood Park, Alberta, Rosalind Kutler of San Francisco, California, Edward Dukart Jr. of Fountain Hills, Arizona, Hugh Reid of Toronto, Ontario, Patti Galli of Parker, Colorado, and Vivian Penniman of La Quinta, California, all asked similar questions, but about grackles, starlings, crows, and pigeons as well as House Sparrows.

Julie wrote about this topic in October 2007, as did contributors Anne Schmauss, Mary Schmauss, and Geni Krolik in their 2008 book For the Birds. Here's the bottom line:

Most bird species that come to feeders are extremely adaptable, so it’s difficult to exclude one while accommodating others. Most feeder birds are also abundant. Often the best you can do is to try to control their numbers.

Since House Sparrows like cracked corn and millet, your first step should be to try a mix high in black oil sunflower with little or no millet.

If this isn't effective, try offering safflower in a tube feeder. Cardinals, chickadees, and other birds will eat it, but grackles, starlings, and House Sparrows are rumored not to care for it. The same is rumored to be true of squirrels. But is it true? As they say in the auto business, your mileage may vary.

The best general rule for keeping feeder hogs away is to stop offering seed on open platforms or on the ground, and to keep spilled seed from accumulating under your feeders. Pigeons and House Sparrows in particular prefer feeding on the ground, and so do rodents.

Feed birds from feeders that allow fewer birds access to food and that generate less waste. Tube feeders are great, especially models that have short perches that only small birds can use. Provide nyjer in a nyjer sock or a stainless-steel mesh-style feeder. (House Sparrows don't cling well.) Also, do not provide suet in sacks, open cages, or nailed to a tree, because these methods make it simple for starlings to raid the stash. Instead, use suet feeders that require birds to cling upside-down.

Finally, if you're attracting mostly House Sparrows, pigeons, and other feeder hogs, severely restrict or stop your feeding in the summer. Most birds are raising families then, and even seedeaters will be feeding their young insects. Natural food is abundant. If you continue feeding, House Sparrows and Rock Pigeons will dominate your feeders, and their offspring will learn that yours is the place to go all year long.

And don't forget: A supply of clean, fresh water -- especially with some sort of drip or circulation -- is often more important than food to bring a variety of great birds to your yard. -- Chuck Hagner, Editor

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