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Question about Magic Halo and other house sparrow deterrent (1 Viewer)

P

paulsiu

Member
Hi,

I am a new bird feeder who put up a feeder about two months ago. Since then, I have been fairly successful. After a bit of observation and trial and error experimentation, I have been successful in repelling the squirrels.

For a while, I enjoy lots of cardinals, chickadees, woodpeckers, red wing black bird, juncos and mourning dove (the later two through ground feeding), then the sparrows came. They crowd out everyone, and empty the feeder in a day. And they are far more difficult to deter than squirrels.

I tried switching to Safflower seeds, while this seems to reduce squirrels under the feeder, it doesn't deter house sparrows at all.

I am thinking of using the magic halo and was wondering if you folks have any experience with them. The goal is to deter house sparrows without eliminating the cardinals. Does the halo affect cardinals?

Paul
 
I realise that they are finishing the food quite quickly but couldn't you put up with them? No offense intended but you shouldn't have "species bias" when bird feeding.
 
TheSeagull said:
I realise that they are finishing the food quite quickly but couldn't you put up with them? No offense intended but you shouldn't have "species bias" when bird feeding.
Click to expand...

Well, I used to think that way, too, but house sparrows are a invasive species. Ever since the house sparrows have show up, all of the birds are been crowded out and can't get to the feeder any more.

I am also thinking that feediing them will also increase their numbers in my area, resulting in less nesting sites for native birds during breeding seasons. So by not practicing "species bias", I may actually be harming the birds in my area by feeding them.

Paul
 
paulsiu said:
Well, I used to think that way, too, but house sparrows are a invasive species. Ever since the house sparrows have show up, all of the birds are been crowded out and can't get to the feeder any more.

I am also thinking that feediing them will also increase their numbers in my area, resulting in less nesting sites for native birds during breeding seasons. So by not practicing "species bias", I may actually be harming the birds in my area by feeding them.

Paul
Click to expand...

I understand that but there is really no way to scare them away unfortunately. Whatever your native species eat they will eat, I can't find a way around it. |=(|
 
Since I have gotten no further response, I will make a magic halo like device without the lines. No one seems to sell them locally. With luck, this will actually work.

Paul
 
By the way Blue Jays and some cardinals will also avoid your feeder if you put up a halo device. The halo device will also not definitely repel the sparrows, the birds may become accustomed to it.
 
TheSeagull said:
By the way Blue Jays and some cardinals will also avoid your feeder if you put up a halo device. The halo device will also not definitely repel the sparrows, the birds may become accustomed to it.
Click to expand...

Well I read through this long thread on Gardenweb on this topic. If I put up the device with lines, the halos is more effective, but the cardinal will probably avoid it. The halo by itself would probably not repel the cardinals, but I don't know if it will work on its own. Blue jays don't come to the tube feeder, they can't land there any way.

One poster theorized that the halo works best when the sparrows are flocking. The devices interferes with the flocking instinct. Most studies indicated that younger sparrows are more likely to be able to get past the halo. Nesting house sparrows are apparently immune for some reason.

Nothing works 100% any way. My squirrel setup is close to squirrel proof, but no doubt I will encounter a super squirrel that can bypass it. If it reduces the amount by a significant amount, I will be satisfy.

Paul
 
Only read the last couple of posts in this thread but i would just like to say that i would gladly take all "our sparrows" back if you would do the same with "your squirrels". ;)
 
I've read that some of the weight-based squirrel-proofing systems can deter large numbers of house sparrows. When the sparrows are traveling in flocks, they often swarm a feeder, and their combined weight can close the seed ports. This would only work on a feeder where all the perches are interconnected, so the weight can accumulate. Also, the weight would have to be set low enough that a bunch of sparrows can set it off.
 
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