Grackle killing and eating sparrows (1 Viewer)

[neilgunton]

I'm afraid I've admitted defeat for now, after finding yet another freshly killed sparrow next to the dog cage today. Apparently the grackles will kill whenever there is not abundant food, so they feel pressured (I guess) and get more aggressive. Even though the larger grackles cannot get into the cage, they still walk around on top of it, and I've seen them peck at any sparrows in their way. I guess that's how the incidents get started - a sparrow gets in the way, or perhaps it's just sheer frustration and rage. Grackles are extremely intelligent, so I wouldn't put higher emotions past them.

I took down all the other feeders, to try to get rid of the grackle population and pigeons who have started hanging around all the time. I've left the bird baths out, since water would seem to be in short supply this time of year, and I don't think it causes the same kind of frenzy that food does.

But then I saw that there were literally around 100 or more sparrows in and on top of the cage, completely covering it. That is just too much. I took down all the feeders, including the ones in the cage, even the thistle feeder. I'm going to try to let things cool down for a while before (slowly) re-introducing food into the garden. I will probably not put food on the ground again - it just attracts the grackles, pigeons and starlings, who then proceed to harrass any other feeders in the area if you don't keep their food plentiful. That gets very expensive very quickly, and the yard starts to look like a huge bird cage, quite unpleasant and smelly too. So screw this. I think I need to rethink this whole concept.

 

[Lady Eagle]

Neil, according to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Northern Cardinals weigh in between 1.48-1.69 oz. Grackles weigh 2.61-5.01 oz. Hopefully this information is correct, or I'll be in trouble with my new feeder!:eek!:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Northern_Cardinal.html

 

[neilgunton]

That's great info, thanks. For now all the feeders are in, but perhaps when I am able to start again I can tune the squirrel buster spring tension to the right level...

 

[bkrownd]

I'm going to try to let things cool down for a while before (slowly) re-introducing food into the garden.

That will probably help.

Generally, feeding wildlife is a bad idea. It develops bad habits and helps the pest species the most, and the good species the least. If you're going to do it, do it lightly. Well, that's my speech, anyhow...

 

[pstensli]

I know this thread is several years old, but I just found it, and I want to say my piece on grackles.

I have to say... I hate grackles. I first started feeding birds in my yard about 4 years ago. (We live next to a large pasture.) We got all sorts of wonderful and amazing birds to come to our yard. However, as time went by, our feeding attracted more and more "junk birds" (House Sparrows and Common Grackles). I didn't know what to do. I disliked the House Sparrows (because they present such a mortal threat to my Tree Swallows) and the grackles (because they come in such large numbers and dominate everything).

It was a terrible dilemma... I loved seeing the Brown Thrashers, Western Meadowlarks, Spotted Towhees, Gray Catbirds, Clay-colored Sparrows, Black-headed Grosbeaks and other birds that came to eat my seed; but I hated seeing my yard crawling with House Sparrows and grackles. For me, the last straw was when I asked a neighbor if his Western Kingbird had returned to nest in his yard. (It had nested there the previous two summers.) He told me, clearly saddened, that it had been chased off by grackles who were now nesting in his yard. At that point, I realized that my feeding of the birds was affecting the whole neighborhood, weakening the delightful native species and strengthening the grackles and House Sparrows. I did some reading online and discovered that it was legal to shoot grackles in some states under certain circumstances. (House Sparrows, being non-native, are not a protected bird.) I contacted our state's game & fish division and explained my problem. I asked if it was legal to shoot grackles under those circumstances. She said it was fine. So I did. In time, the number of grackles dropped dramatically. It was wonderful to see a grackle-free yard again. The problem is, you have to keep it up to keep them away. That's not very practical.

I have to say that I have stopped feeding birds altogether during the summer on account of the grackles. That was a very hard decision for me to make. They're still in the area though. Two days ago I was delighted to hear... and then see Chipping Sparrow fledglings tumble about in my neighbor's yard. Later that day, I was standing in my yard, watching them when a grackle swooped into the bush where they were perched. The parents were alarmed. It was some distance away and my view was obscured, but I thought I saw grackle take fledgling, kill it and eat. I didn't think a grackle would do that. After reading your post, I see that it probably is what happened. The Chipping Sparrows have only one fledgling left. The others are all gone. I don't know if the grackles got all of them... but something did. Another reason to hate grackles.

Well, enough of that. I'm sure nobody will read this old thread anyway.

 

[longbow]

Well old buddy, I can certainly sympathize. Last year I had to stop all feeding towards the end of summer, just when the migrators could have used it the most, because my feeders were overwhelmed with hordes of brown headed blackbirds. How I wanted to blast a few with an air rifle. But I didn't. Those guys are just doing what they do, just as all the lovely passerines are doing, trying to get a living.

A couple of years ago I sold a truck to a guy in my town. When I went up to his house, he had about two dozen feeders out and birds by the hundred. He proudly told me that over the summer he had shot 40 red squirrels which are not legal to shoot here. I was pretty damn disgusted.

I know how you feel. But, what we consider varmints, just like what we consider weeds or any other kind of pest is so subjective. Remember that only a comparatively few years ago eagles were mercilessly persecuted in the US.

At the end of the day my personal decision is just to watch what nature sends along, or quit feeding.

Am not saying what you should do, just offering my own perspective. In any case, I wish you luck.

 

[longbow]

I was thinking more about this while having dinner, and it put me in mind of my two-mindedness about hunting. As I get older I have become increasingly adverse to killing anything at all, and when I shoot a deer in the fall for my winter meat I feel so bad emotionally that I almost have given it up several times, last year no exception. But I end up reflecting that it is the way of things for all animals, even us, to participate in the big revolving medicine wheel that is nature. All life, only manages to survive through the death of other beings, even if it's only a cabbage. Someday it will be our turn, and eventually in several billion years we will be part of some star again from whence we came. Those grackles are just doing what they are bidden, their prey the same, and someday somebody is going to eat the grackles. What goes around comes around.

Well, hope that doesn't sound too weird or arcane, but that's just some more thoughts on the matter.

 

[ilbirdwatch1]

I’m in a bit of a similar situation with grackles and other nuisance birds. I noticed that the grackles, starlings, house sparrows, and brown headed cow birds are out in full force. Luckily these have been very limited. I have 2 grackles at the most visit the feeder, but did notice one with a fledgling last night. I’ve also had 2-3 starlings visit at a time same with the brown headed cow birds. Luckily the Cardinals, Robins, sparrows, finches and woodpeckers are still stopping by on a regular basis. I really notice these birds stop by more when there is suet on the menu. I’ve been a little bent out of shape because a few days ago there was a black-capped chickadee hanging out in my backyard, but I haven’t seen the little guy for a few days. I’m thinking about hanging all the suet on a different pole or in a different area to keep the nuisance birds away. So far they haven’t been a big problem, but I think they are keeping away some of the smaller birds from feeding.

 

[Sweets84]

A few months ago, I would have been devastated by something like what happened to you. ( Big animal and bird lover. When I see a cracked egg on the sidewalk, I get a little tear forming... etc... lol.

I recently learned, however, that House Sparrows and Starlings are horrible invasive species. Its not their fault they were brought here, but when they kill Bluebird & Swallow babies and adults to steal their box, and steal Red-headed Woodpecker's (and others) nesting cavities, making them rare, it makes them my enemy. Male sparrows will even go around on a rampage destroying eggs and babies for no apparent reason. House wrens do it too. Grackles aren't the only meanies around...

I would literally welcome any native bird to take care of my sparrow and starling problems. This may sound like I'm a mean person, but they really are doing nothing but damage being here. ( I just read today that cowbird females lay up to 40 eggs a year in other birds nests, also. They are naturally supposed to be here, but I don't wanna feed them either. They can mess up the numbers of warblers, which I love.

But good luck when you continue feeding the birds. Maybe try spreadable suet butter on a flat bored (with no perches or places to sit) and hang it up for woodpeckers and also put out finch socks. Or feed the orioles with oranges and nectar. )

 

[Zoogoer2000 - Packwatcher]

I had something like this almost happen today aswell, a grackle hopped on top of a sparrow and started attacking it, others were about to join in but I just could'nt help myslef and ran out back to scare everyone away... they all got away fine but it was slightly frightening to watch

 

[SaVas]

I had this happen early last month. The largest Grackle of the flock that comes by on occasion killed a House Sparrow. Now I love birds, of all kinds including both of these types, but I found it disturbing. I thought "man this is my fault. if I had no feeder out, it would not have happened"

Then I noticed something peculiar. Maybe it was a fluke that I saw the dominant Grackle's behavior, but I think it was protecting its young. There was a juvenile that looked fresh from the nest learning to feed, hopping around on the ground and any House Sparrow that would get near it, would be run off by the adult and one that got too close was attacked. This time I was able to save it from demise, but I honestly think its parental protection.

Now that the young Grackles have grown quite a bit, the adult Grackles and the House Sparrows don't seem to mind each other.

Than again, maybe I am wrong.

 

[Joe1980]

I've read in several different books that grackles for some reason will kill house sparrows. They don't do it to other birds, only house sparrows. The reason is unknown, but who knows, maybe they also think house sparrows are a pest and are stealing real estate from them. I myself don't fault any bird for its behavior. People are quick to throw certain birds under the bus, but the reality is, humans are to blame. We are resposible for the spread of invasive species. House sparrows have been in the US for over 150 years now, so I think its time to accept that they are here to stay. Also, house sparrows, and starlings for that matter, are not present in the deep woods, or natural areas. They fill in the space where native birds have left due to human development of their habitat. The best thing we can do, as someone said, is to plant native trees and shrubs, to try & keep the native birds from disappearing. That said, I don't really try too hard to keep any one or two species out of my yard, I try to find the silver lining, such as the grackles preference for lawn grubs and june bugs, which have drastically decreased since I've allowed them and not discouraged them. I do see house sparrows chasing bugs, so thats a plus. I do however try not to encourage starlings too much, so no bread or scraps.

Oh, and a note on the house sparrows, if you keep evicting them from a nestbox, if the do "give up", they usually go and find a different one, possibly with other birds in it, and kill the resident birds to steal the box. How you look at that can vary, because on one hand, you're not letting them nest in your nest box, but on the other hand, they may be going and killing or evicting a native species that may have bred successfully if you would have just left the sparrows alone. Its a tough call.

 

[ScottB123]

I just witnessed a grackle chasing, killing, and flying off with a small bird, likely a sparrow. I had no idea they did this.

 

[RebekahS]

We went to PetSmart this evening and purchased a 48" dog crate, which happens to have wire mesh that is about 3.5 cm apart, exactly the same as the tube feeder cages from WBU. So that should be just wide enough for sparrow-type birds, but hopefully not wide enough for grackles. I put it up around the pole feeder we already had, resting on the ground, then hung two of the tube feeders inside the cage, away from the walls. So any birds on the feeders at least should be out of reach of the grackles on the outside. Yet to be determined: a) Whether grackles can figure out a way in, b) whether the squirrel will find a way to destroy it, and c) whether grackles will continue to target sparrows hanging around the periphery of the setup. I'll post a picture of the thing as soon as I can, if it works...

We also moved the open trays (with striped sunflower and safflower) further away from the cage, hopefully to take some pressure off that small area. We also hung the Squirrel Buster, thistle seed feeder and a cage sunflower seed feeder on the three hooks on the main pole.

To placate the squirrels, who have now lost the two trays that were previously accessible to them, I'll go get one of those squirrel feeders with the lid that opens (I think Wal-Mart has them, but haven't found them anywhere else unfortunately). Thus, with a lid, this should keep the squirrel happy without having the birds steal it all before the tree rats get their chance...

Boy, I never thought bird feeding would feel like planning a military campaign... complete with casualties. Sigh.

It sure is crazy how much drama birds can stir up! I'm having alll kinds of problems with birds knocking eggs out of other birds' nests and so sad, we saw a hawk come and grab babies out of a robins' nest up in our maple tree. I know its nature, but like you it does make me sad and frustrated.

 

[KBinNebraska]

Here's a couple of pics of the new setup, with the dog crate. The wires are about 3.5 cm apart, which is just right for letting sparrow-sized-objects through but won't permit access to grackle-sized-objects. Cowbirds and smaller grackles can get in, but they don't seem to cause a problem, maybe they are younger or whatever but I've been watching for a while and for whatever reason, the smaller grackle-like birds that can get in seem remarkably non-aggressive.

Currently I am thinking that a combined approach seems to work:

1. Protected sparrow area, a la dog cage with appropriate spacing for bars.
2. Separating feeders to different parts of the yard; not so much frenzy in one place.
3. Sacrificial feed (cracked corn, safflower and sunflower bought in bulk) on the ground in other parts of the yard to distract the grackles, pigeons and starlings.

This takes pressure off the sparrow area, which formerly had everything in close proximity (I have a pole with three hooks on the top, plus another three that could be hung off the body of the pole - too much in a small area, I think). I now have just the two feeders in the dog crate for the sparrows (with millet and no-mess), hanging from the detachable hangers on the pole itself rather than from the roof of the cage (which isn't strong). The Squirrel Buster hangs by itself above all this, with safflower/black sunflower. One grackle at a time can use this, but it doesn't seem to be a problem. The cardinals like it early morning and late evening.

Then in other parts of the yard, we have the thistle feeder hanging on the tree, about ten feet away from the pole; a cage sunflower feeder on tree; three squirrel feeders on the tree (one with two corn spikes and two containers with the lid they push up to get in - this protects it from the birds, who otherwise always get to the nuts before the squirrels can). In these squirrel feeders I am thinking that the whole peanuts in the shell are good, since they seem to be a favorite (preferred to corn, it seems) and it's easier for them to reach in and grab'n'go.

There are three bird baths scattered around the yard, which are refilled at regular intervals because so many birds (particularly grackles and starlings) seem to love bathing and emptying them out. That's fun to watch.

The two hanging trays have been moved out from next to the tree to farther out, hanging from long string on a branch. The larger tray has striped sunflower, which the blue jay, pigeons and grackles seem to like, and the smaller tray has safflower, which the mourning doves seem to love, and of course the cardinals.

Finally, I sprinkle liberal quantities of cracked corn on the ground in an area far away from the sparrows, which keeps the grackles and pigeons busy far after there's none left (they seem happy rooting around). Safflower also seems to work well here.

The one mistake I made was that we got a bag of Purina Pigeon Checkers, which looked good in the store, but it turns out nobody will touch it at all - not even the pigeons (I know, rock doves really). Strange though, I thought at least they would eat just about anything, or the starlings. Nope. So I chucked that.

The best selection for bulk for my birds seems to be: Cracked corn (sacrificial ground offering), safflower (ditto, and on the small tray, and in the Squirrel Buster), black striped sunflower (everybody loves that), striped sunflower (large tray, ditto), and finally a 50lb bag of peanuts in the shell that should keep the squirrels busy for a while. They will be heartily sick of peanuts by the time we leave here, methinks. And, of course, millet and no-mess blend for the sparrow feeders.

Since we spread things out, I haven't seen any more aggressive behavior on the part of the grackles. Fingers crossed. I think the spreading out, combined with the bigger space available inside the dog crate will give the sparrows more chance to get away should some grackle decide to go mean again. But I'll try to keep enough sacrificial feed out elsewhere to keep everybody distracted... we're a full service station, indeed.

beautiful idea, the dog cage. I too have grackles killing my house sparrows. a wonderful idea that I plan on trying. thank you for the wonderful advice.

 

[Zoey]

Grackles have killed three of my finches so far, this really upsets me and I have no idea what to do about it, they killed 2 in one day and found another one dead this morning, very sad from Texas, any advice would be welcomed.

Sharon Rackley

 

[amberday]

Hi, I am wondering if anyone has advice for me.

We recently started feeding the birds in our back yard, with a number of tube feeders from Wild Birds Unlimited. They seemed to be working well, a little too well in fact... now we are overrun with grackles, starlings, pigeons and sparrows. To cut a long story short, I noticed today that one or more of the grackles is actively attacking sparrows, killing them and proceeding to eat them. This happened three times so far today. I had earlier found a dead sparrow in the yard, but I put it down to nature at work.

Now to be clear, I know all about the arguments for letting nature run its course, but I truthfully just feel bad about this. I don't particularly have anything against any of these birds on an individual level, but right now the grackles are just ruining it for everybody else. They are so hyper-aggressive... I was able to live with that, but now they have actually started killing my other "customers", and my wife is quite distraught about it. I don't know if it makes any sense, but we wouldn't have such a problem if it was a hawk of some kind coming occasionally and grabbing a bird. It's just that this is the last straw - these grackles already totally dominated my yard, and now they're killing too. They aren't even supposed to do that, I called the store and she told me she had been doing this for 30 years and never heard of a grackle killing a sparrow. Now I've seen it three times in one day, so obviously someone figured it out and others are maybe copying.

At any rate... I don't feel good any more about this entire situation. I don't really want lectures on nature, please, this is just a simple request for help in fixing what is quite a distressing situation. Does anyone who feeds birds want to see this kind of thing on a regular basis? That's not what we signed up for.

We got a couple of the cages that go around the tube feeders (again from WBU) and it was actually from inside one of these that the grackle grabbed the sparrow, dragged it out, carried it down to the ground, and proceeded to peck it to death.

I tried taking the cages away, thinking that perhaps this was just the grackle taking out its frustration and rage at not being able to get to the food, but very soon after I took the cages away, I observed a grackle (same one? no idea) doing it again, grabbing a sparrow sitting on top of the pole and going for its head. I banged on the window, which broke it up, and the sparrow got away.

Any ideas? Feeding the birds wasn't supposed to be like this...

Thanks,

/Neil

p.s. I also have a "Squirrel Buster" feeder that we just got today. The grackles solved that one quickly... if I adjust the spring tension so that cardinals can use it, then this is apparently enough for the grackle to be able to insert its beak into the crack and lever it up so it can get into the food. So it just keeps doing that.

p.p.s. We are feeding millet and no-mess blend in the two main tube feeders, and safflower/sunflower in the Squirrel Buster, along with a couple of open trays, one with striped sunflower and the other with safflower only. The grackles seem to like whatever we put out, safflower included, whatever, they eat it. And they have no problem hanging onto the perches on the tube feeders.

I know this post is ages old, but I wanted to comment in 2023 to say I’ve also witnessed grackles killing sparrows in Michigan. I absolutely hate it, too!

 

[dorothy1]

Hi, I am wondering if anyone has advice for me.

We recently started feeding the birds in our back yard, with a number of tube feeders from Wild Birds Unlimited. They seemed to be working well, a little too well in fact... now we are overrun with grackles, starlings, pigeons and sparrows. To cut a long story short, I noticed today that one or more of the grackles is actively attacking sparrows, killing them and proceeding to eat them. This happened three times so far today. I had earlier found a dead sparrow in the yard, but I put it down to nature at work.

Now to be clear, I know all about the arguments for letting nature run its course, but I truthfully just feel bad about this. I don't particularly have anything against any of these birds on an individual level, but right now the grackles are just ruining it for everybody else. They are so hyper-aggressive... I was able to live with that, but now they have actually started killing my other "customers", and my wife is quite distraught about it. I don't know if it makes any sense, but we wouldn't have such a problem if it was a hawk of some kind coming occasionally and grabbing a bird. It's just that this is the last straw - these grackles already totally dominated my yard, and now they're killing too. They aren't even supposed to do that, I called the store and she told me she had been doing this for 30 years and never heard of a grackle killing a sparrow. Now I've seen it three times in one day, so obviously someone figured it out and others are maybe copying.

At any rate... I don't feel good any more about this entire situation. I don't really want lectures on nature, please, this is just a simple request for help in fixing what is quite a distressing situation. Does anyone who feeds birds want to see this kind of thing on a regular basis? That's not what we signed up for.

We got a couple of the cages that go around the tube feeders (again from WBU) and it was actually from inside one of these that the grackle grabbed the sparrow, dragged it out, carried it down to the ground, and proceeded to peck it to death.

I tried taking the cages away, thinking that perhaps this was just the grackle taking out its frustration and rage at not being able to get to the food, but very soon after I took the cages away, I observed a grackle (same one? no idea) doing it again, grabbing a sparrow sitting on top of the pole and going for its head. I banged on the window, which broke it up, and the sparrow got away.

Any ideas? Feeding the birds wasn't supposed to be like this...

Thanks,

/Neil

p.s. I also have a "Squirrel Buster" feeder that we just got today. The grackles solved that one quickly... if I adjust the spring tension so that cardinals can use it, then this is apparently enough for the grackle to be able to insert its beak into the crack and lever it up so it can get into the food. So it just keeps doing that.

p.p.s. We are feeding millet and no-mess blend in the two main tube feeders, and safflower/sunflower in the Squirrel Buster, along with a couple of open trays, one with striped sunflower and the other with safflower only. The grackles seem to like whatever we put out, safflower included, whatever, they eat it. And they have no problem hanging onto the perches on the tube feeders.

 

[dorothy1]

I was almost hit with birds pursuing eachother on a neighborhood walk and witnessed this very same thing. I was very unexpected, shocking and traumatizing to see this. The poor little chickadee was being defeathered and crying. It was a ruthless sight. I'm in my 50s and never saw anything like this. From raptors...yes, but not from your regular neighborhood birds. The grackel just kept flying it from one spot to another within a fenced in yard the whole time feathering it and plucking it to death. I can't unsee that now.