Newbie - help with grackes knocking food out of feeder (1 Viewer)

Hi all, new to birding. My wife got me a bird feeder for father's day and now I'm obsessed. I filled it with wagner's deluxe blend. I also got some peanut butter suet and a cage and hung everything on a shepards hook.

Only the grackles ate the suet, preventing any other birds with their aggressive nature. They ate 2 blocks in 2 days! Now that the suet is gone, the grackes are landing on the bird feeder and then kick off when they fly away. This causes the feeder to swing all over the place and the food spills out. They emptied an entire feeder in about 8 hours.

Questions:

How do I deter the grackles? I'd like to see woodpeckers, maybe I'll try the regular suet?

Is mounting the feeder on top of a pole the only option to stop the spilling? I hope not since I just got a new shepards hook. Maybe the holes of the feeder are too big for the seed?

Maybe I should get another feeder? I see the squirrel buster on Amazon but $50 is a bit steep for me.

Being delivered today:4-way shepards hook and some safflower seed......

Too many variables/too many questions......thanks in advance!
Joe

I use the Squirrel Buster feeders and they do work like a charm, but I understand the expense for a lot of people. I just got so tired of fighting the larger birds and going thru what youre going thru now.

I would try a tube feeder with smaller perches. The feeder you have makes it easy for the larger bully birds to feed because of the large perches that stick out from the sides.

There are also caged suet feeders out there that might work for you that are inexpensive. I have several of these: https://www.amazon.com/Stokes-Select-Squirrel-X-Squirrel-Capacity/dp/B003NTGXF6/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=stokes+select+squirrel+x&qid=1561905727&s=gateway&sr=8-1 They work wonderful and woodpeckers have long beaks so they feed easy, no problems.

There are the upside down feeders like this: https://www.amazon.com/Natures-Way-Bird-Products-CWF2/dp/B00C59535Q/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=upside+down+suet+feeder&qid=1561905867&s=gateway&sr=8-3 You might even be able to do a DIY feeder with the suet cage you already have. Most of the suet feeding birds you want to attract will know how to use this one including woodpeckers.

As far as safflower seeds, I've heard that squirrels and the bully bird wont eat it, but they go after it like candy in my yard, it didnt slow any of them down.

Here's a DIY version of an upside down suet feeder that would be really simple to make :eat:

Thanks! Funny, I was just thinking of plans for building an upsidown suet feeder this morning.

The caged feeder looks interesting. Those holes look so small....

I saw the regular squirrel buster is $30 on Amazon...

And.....no dice with the safflower seeds. No animals including the birds seem to like it.

The perches on my feeder are too small for the grackles - which contributes to the mess. They try to land and can't, so they keep flapping their wings which causes the house to start moving and the seed spills out. I assume it's deliberate.

johnq86 said:

The caged feeder looks interesting. Those holes look so small....

Click to expand...

You'd be surprised at how the birds just hop right thru there like its nothing o