How to keep crows and jackdaws off your bird feeders (but still let them share nicely!).

Awoken by cackles  and gleeful shrieks outside the bedroom window, I looked
out early one morning to see a dozen or more crows and jackdaws  swinging on my
bird feeders and 'drinking' the contents .  I spoke later with a neighbour who
had experienced the same problem and because of this she had eventually given up
feeding the birds altogether.  New to birding, and not one to pass up a
challenge, I scoured the internet looking for ideas to prevent them stealing all
the food before their smaller colleagues got a look in.  Squirrel proof feeders,
although successful were expensive - after buying three I decided to look for a
less costly solution.  I found one economical solution sitting on the shelf in a
local agricultural store in the guise of hanging baskets. After buying six round
bottomed baskets and a pack of cable ties, I rushed home to try out the idea.  I
tied two cable ties loosely at the top, spaced wide enough to slip the feeder
handle through.  The weight of the baskets keeps the edges together with no
gaps.  I suspended the feeder and it's cover from a tree and within seconds the
birds were demonstrating their approval.  The roundness of both baskets together
provide a roomy internal space and the wires lots of comfortable perching space
while awaiting one's turn.  An additional use I have found is that if I hang a
small feeder and a single basket onto a tree hook and place it within the hedge,
the sparrows keep their own feed for themselves, away from the beady eyes of
sparrow hawks and other flying predators.
One message that was often repeated in my internet searches was 'crows and
jackdaws etc. have to eat too', a sentiment I thoroughly agree with. We are all
satisfied now as the small birds sift through the mixed seeds looking for
their favourites and toss the rest to the ground for the crows and friends to
feast upon.

Note: baskets of different sizes accommodate most sizes of feeders.
  •  I found these bag clips were quick to use as fastenings, and squirrel proof Grinning

  • Cheers. I'll look out for some in case our squirrel gets nibbling ;-)
  • Brilliant idea, I'm definitely going to try his. I am guessing you need to try and find a hanging basket with the smallest possible 'holes' to stop the big birds from feasting on the small birds food!
    I am wondering whether this method deters squirrels too? if you are really fed up with them, grey squirrels are classed as vermin and your local 'pest controller' is allowed to trap and kill them!
  • Problem: I feed the birds every morning round about 8am. Lately the visitors have included a couple of families of crows who are nesting in tall trees about two doors down, and the juveniles are shrieking fit to bust to be fed by their parents. I'm sure the neighbours must be getting very tired of the early morning shrieking, as it's quite a quiet area! I shall make two or three of those hanging basket guards - they're a fantastic idea. I'm also going to get some of that rigid clematis netting to make a safe place for the ground feeders like the blackbirds and the robins. However, I don't want to deter the crows from coming - they deserve to be fed just as much as the others - but what's the general feeling on the time of feeding? Maybe filling up the feeders in the late afternoon would ensure there's plenty in them for the small songbirds the next morning but not have the crows yelling and annoying the neighbours at the same time. What do you all do?
  • Hi Dave - thanks for replying! Will admit to having been in two minds whether or not to feed the bigger birds, as they hade been bullying the smaller ones and working out how to nick food from the feeders. Didn't feed them this morning and they did their best to work out how to breach the hanging basket contraption I've put round a small feeder but were defeated. Am probably too soft - I feel as though they're missing out as I put out seeds and finely chopped peanuts for the songbirds.

    How do you deter the big birds from trying to commandeer the songbird feeders in winter - is it just a case of using guards round feeders and ground tables?

    Am on top of the water and all the birds come by at various times for a drink and a splash - took three refills yesterday it was so hot.
  • Thanks again, Dave. Very helpful posts. Still feeding them, but in a different part of the garden restaurant! :-D