Steller's Jay (1 Viewer)

Steller's Jay feeder placement

Hi there from the wet Northwest,
I'm new to bird feeding but have gotten good response from finches, nuthatches, even hummingbirds since the late summer when I put out the feeders. However, the Steller's Jays seem to scare off the small birds. Should I put their feeder by itself on the other side of the house? Will they find it?
Thanks.

Just wanted to specify what my question is.

Hi, JF! A warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum!

LOL, boy, you're right about the Steller's can spook everybody else in the yard. Because they like to eat larger seed, I do feed them (and the scrubs, pinyon jays, and northern flickers) away from the other birds. I didn't need to go to the extreme of the other side of the house, though; just about 10 feet from the other feeder/seed bed area works just fine. The jays' overflight will occasionally flush those feeding, but within a few seconds, they're back on the ground again, as are the jays in their own area.

If you want to entice the jays to the other side of your house, if that's where you decide you want to put their feeder, try tossing a few handsful of ROASTED (not raw) peanuts (in the shell or not) on the ground under and/or even on the feeder itself. They'll go after those peanuts in short order! I use the in-shell nuts since they're a lot less expensive and it's hard to find the shelled where I live in the boonies.

Good luck! And keep us posted on how it works out!

Thanks for your advice. The area is small where all the feeders are, so I will put it on a corner of my house where they can see it and I'll gradually move it to the back. I don't want to put peanuts on the ground due to neighborhood cats.
Thanks again.