Tactical Advice....

Hi,

I live in the middle floor of a three storey apartment block in Milton Keynes. That might sound sad and dystopian but thats not why I’m here.
I have a small balcony out by my living room and I’ve hung some bird feeders over the balcony, (and regularly distribute some seeds on the balcony floor) for the last 9 months since moving in.
Initially it was great, I have two large Horse Chestnut trees directly in front of my balcony so have had lots of sparrows, blue tits, collared doves, wood pigeons and the occasional robin.
But, the Starlings are driving me mad.
They attack en masse, screech, squabble over the feeders, and as working from home my direct view is over the balcony looking at the feeders, and it’s not even vaguely entertaining listening or watching them. And it’s driving the little guys away.
For some reason the area I live in MK seems to have a huge Starling population.
I’ve tried confiscating the fat balls for a day or two, which reduces the numbers but I’ll still find them attacking the seed feeders as well.
I understand they need feeding but is there anyway I can get less of a Starling mob every day?
Thanks!

  • Hello Elmore, in a nut shell, No, there is no way to try and attract only a small number of Starlings nor can you stop them coming at all, if you have feeders out. If there is food and they know where to find it, they will come. Maybe the only way to enjoy them is to stop feeding from your balcony and enjoy them from the trees outside the flat. Something you could try is to buy a guardian cage, you hang your own bird feeder inside it, and depending on the type you get, you can set the size of the gaps on the guardian feeder, so that only the wee birds can get into the food. Google Guardian feeders and you will see the choice available.

  • Hi Catlady,
    Ok thanks for the advice, I pretty much assumed it was going to be a rhetorical question! I like the idea of the guardian cage will investigate the ones you mentioned. Thanks again