Hi, I am utterly fed up with pigeons and magpies messing on my balcony, and although I regularly sweep up any seed droppings, they always seem to find enough new ones to warrant a messy visit !
I usually have multiple feeders, and don't seem to have any issue with nyger seeds - goldies happily munch this with no interference. I also have mixed seed, peanuts, and sunflower seeds on the go. The seeds which attract appear to be from either peanuts, mixed seed or both.
I know probably no magic bullet, but hoping to get some ideas on feeders which minimize or catch discarded seed, how else the pigeons/magpies can be discouraged, and whether a power hose can be used to clean up the mess (on a city balcony), and maybe even to deter these larger pests ?
I have seen varied reports on the success of feeders with built-in trays, attaching trays to feeders which catch the stuff and stop it depositing on the ground, and using power hose to clean pigeon crap off concrete.
Thank you to all who constructively reply
TheGeezer
Check out my post on my MKII bird feeder. It's in the 'Feeding garden visitors' forum in the Wildlife section of RSPB forums.
Trays are made from some 2mm or 3mm steel mesh I bought on Amazon. You need heavy duty scissors or wire cutters to cut the things. Held on to bottom of peanut/fat ball feeders with thin wire.
I would suggest trying to build a cage out of 2"x3" (50mmx75mm) garden fence mesh. Needn't be as elaborate as mine. A simple cube, but with one side you can open - either hinge it or hook it on.
We used to get up to 8 wood pigeons and 20 rock doves/feral pigeons visiting our garden every day. Now down to one rock dove and a couple of occasional wood pigeons.
Still get magpies, but only a couple for brief moments during a day.
Cut off their food supply and they disappear.
90% luck, 5% field craft, 5% camera skills.