Grackles wipe out all of my bird food in mere minutes and scare off the small birds, can they eat from this feeder? Or are they too heavy?
802853
The Brome 1055 squirrel buster busted the squirrels but also busted most of the visiting birds! Only the very small birds can eat from this feeder (i.e. finches). I do not recommend for the larger birds.
802854
If it is hug correctly they are too heavy, they still eat what the other birds throw on the ground. If you have a number of wrens and sparrows they empty the feeders pretty quick. It still is funny to watch the squirrels try with out success.
802855
it's not there weight that keeps them from feeding,they find it difficult to perch. maybe one or two will try over and over again, but it is so much work to do so that they give up and leave.
802856
If you leave the perches attached they can. The come off pretty easily, and since I took them off they cannot feed. The song birds can grab the mesh but the grackles and similar large birds cannot.
802857
I have not seen grackles at this feeder. I believe that they are too big to be able to rest on the perch and access the seed.
802858
We have some grackles who are persistent, but they are too large to perch AND eat. The perch is too short for their big bodies. Mostly we have purple finches and a few cardinals. We hang suit squares for woodpeckers, bluejays, and starlings. The doves and pigeons hang out at the bottom of the feeders and catch the seeds that drop. The squirrels have never been able to feed there. We sometimes throw peanuts out the window for jays and squirrels and grackles. We like them all.
309927
If you have few birds, it's not because of the Brome Feeder. It could be several reasons: (1) Not the right bird seed, (2) Too "traffic" area, (3), Not many trees for the birds to feel safe, (4) Not many birds in that location. Not knowing your situation, you might move the feeder, and see if you have the correct seeds for the types of birds in the area. They can be picker eaters, although once all is right, they eat and eat. I love this feeder!
2103170
I've never had any crows on ours, but I still think it would be a little too small. Stellar Jays, Scrub jays, Yellow-Headed Blackbirds...they will all feed from it. But I've never had a crow sized bird on the feeder.
884390
I've had a bit of a problem with them and have had a bit of success with plain scare tactics - like tapping the box when they're in there - and putting only hard seed in like safflower, large sunflower (not black oil) and thistle. I got this from http://nestwatch.org/learn/all-about-birdhouses/managing-house-sparrows-and-european-starlings/ in the section on feeding.
2137685
Hello Bobbie...the answer to your question is "no." These little birds are having no trouble reaching the seeds. The only trouble they will sometimes have is waiting their turn as this feeder is very popular. I recommend purchasing two of these feeders. Happy Birding.
499905
I have had a bad experience with starlings and grackles sticking their head and long beaks inside the small squares and devouring the suet cakes in about 1/2 hour! It was amazing watching these aggressive birds figure out how to hang on to the bottom of the cage. Blue Jays have the same long beak and I am sure they will find a way into the cage. I actually decided to return the cage but received a credit from Amazon instead.
32854
We have doves and they don't use the feeder, I think they are to heavy when they land on ring. We have it set so Cardinals can feed. Also Crows can't use it, we love ours. Saving money on bird feed.
917361
Hmm, that is a good question. If they are heavy enough, when they climb onto the circular bar that the birds sit on to feed, the bar will be weighted down - drawing an outer plastic sheath over the feed holes (I hope this makes sense), which makes them completely inaccessible. The birds are so light, which is what makes it possible for them to sit on the bar and still access the seed. If possible, I would check what the weight threshold is for the spring inside the mechanism...if you have big rats....should be no problem!
2191198
Don't have that problem, but it does take birds a few days or a week before they use a new feeder. Perhaps if u r sitting on the porch it scares them away. First put feeder on a branch and slowly bring to porch. They don't like traffic. I have it hanging outside my kit window when I do dishes. They seem to like it under the overhang. Be patient. Parent birds r nesting Good luck. Oh and make sure the see isn't moldy. I opened up a new bag and it was all moldy. The whole shipment was
576315
Yes. The size of the wire mesh around the feeder tube is far too small to allow grackles or anything larger than the smaller hedge birds; chickadee, wren, finch sized birds. I've had to replace the center tube as the plastic died from three years of UV exposure. Not hard to do and a $7 tube from Lowes was an almost perfect fit. I also created a coroplast cover to keep off the rain and discovered it gave some immumity to the smaller birds from a local Kestrel. Zero squirrel access.
331466
I don't know. We have mixed bird seed in it. There is a bar that you set to a certain weight. Anything heavier than that weight will drop the bar and close the feeder.
2056083
Yes it would be suitable. I have even small softbills using it. The only thing is: You got to sand down the acrylic perch inside of the feeder to make it more secure for pearching, because it is too slippery for the birds.
1179804
We have the perch set as sensitive as possible and it is effective in keeping away grackles, starlings etc. the largest bird to successfully feed is the rose breasted grosbeak, which we were thrilled to see! However the squirrels still manage to outsmart us by hanging over the top! So we had to put this feeder on a pole with a squirrel baffle.
1111323
Hi Grace......at first our birds would come and peck at it and fly away. I thought this is not going to work, but then low and behold they started coming back and figured out how to feed from it. Now we have them all back plus the morning doves, raccoons and squirrels. The spring is too tight to close the doors when the doves and squirrels get on it so we close it at night with a small bungie cord. Hope this helps :)
1156060
They managed to knock down and badly damage by gnawing on the edges, two of them! I gave up on this design. Amazon does have a pricey vertical "squirrel proof" feeder I bought 4-5 years ago (around $65), and it IS totally safe from squirrels. I've watched squirrels on it several times, totally frustrated and defeated. Worth the money.
2083172
Blackbirds are pretty big so they may be too heavy for it. However we do not have that bird so I coould not quarantee it.
1712055
I've put up to two suet cakes inside. I have zero squirrel problem because all my feeders hang off a baffled pole. I've never seen (recognized?) a flicker. The grackles (reason i bought this feeder) can access this only a tiny bit. They use the helicopter approach which is very challenging for them and cuts out their binge eating.