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Message: <blockquote data-quote="anitje" data-source="post: 3666234" data-attributes="member: 144844">First, a big hello from a first poster!I hope somebody out there can solve my conundrum.I have a big hanging feeder just outside my window from where I eat so that I can dine with the birds....I fill it with black sunflower seeds as per recommendation of the wonderful owner of the local birdfeeder store in Massachusetts.I also have a hanging suet feeder just next to it, all in front of a large bamboo grove that gets filled with birds.In past years I have had large numbers of diverse species joining me there....cardinals, jays, titmice, chicadees, finches, juncos, woodpeckers, many others....you name it.   And...oh yeah....sparrows.This winter that all changed.  Now 80-90% of what I get are house sparrows, and they were eating me out of house and home.   I have read such awful things about them and their aggressiveness but I cannot bring myself to dislike them and would never engage in sparrowcide like I read about in birder sites online....I do find them entertaining.So that was bad enough...down from a panoply of species to almost all sparrows, eating me out of house and home.  And the suet feeder, which was my favorite spot for birds in the past, now goes almost entirely ignored. But then, mysteriously about two weeks ago, even the sparrows disappeared.   Whereas I was filling the feeder with seed every other day in the past, now it goes a week or more.   All I can think is that perhaps a neighbor opened a more inviting restaurant than mine as the neighborhood gentrifies.So my questions:1.  Is my theory about loss of visitors likely, and if so, how do I keep up with the Joneses?2.  Did the sparrows scare off or kill my other fine feathered friends, and if so, how do I bring them back (nonviolently)  ?3.  What other factors can be in play...eg what's going on here?Thanks in advance for your indulgence,anitje.</blockquote>

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