Messy feeding sparrows ...

Hi,

I get up to 20 sparrows visiting my tiny front garden most days. Lots of cats around here so I started to put bird seed, in a fairly standard seed feeder, in the ancient hawthorn hedge that they love. This is well visited and fought over - generally leading to perhaps 50% or more of the seed being spilled onto the garden below the feeder. Probably because it is not easily visible to overflying birds, it just sits there and goes gooey or lots of sprouting takes place  - or a mixture of the two!

This is a terrible waste ... so what's the best option for feeding these squabbling sparrows? Different food, different feeder? Suggestions please!

 Maggie:0)