Bird table bars (1 Viewer)

Bit of an unusual request I think.

I'm thinking of attaching some vertical bars to our Bird table to, hopefully, prevent the larger birds (pigeons, magpies etc) from being attracted by the contents and hoovering it all up, and keeping the smaller birds away. I'm quite happy for blackbirds and anything smaller to have easy access, so I was wondering if anyone would know the optimum gap I should have between the bars to achieve this.

Does anyone else have a similar 'problem' and if so what have you done to solve it?

I wound up investing in birdfeeders called Squirrel Busters which also keeps the larger birds off the feeders as their weight shuts down the open ports to the feeders.

As to your question, I would think maybe the bars should be around 3" apart?

I was thinking though, unless you are going to cover the top of the feeder, there's nothing to stop them from coming in from the top.

Hi,

I've used galvanised stock netting with about a 2" mesh to make cages for bird tables. It's widely available from diy and hardware stores. You could also use the plastic coated garden mesh available from garden centres, it has a square mesh, as opposed to the hexagonal mesh, it's more expensive but a bit more attractive.

This will keep out larger birds, including Blackbirds, Starlings etc but they're more than happy to feed off the floor. If your bird table is the sort with a roof over it, it's pretty easy to attach the wire to the woodwork.

Cheers

Thanks to all for your suggestions and advice. This gives me a chance to have a go at modifying my bird table, with roof, in order to prevent the larger birds scaring off the smaller ones.