A Comprehensive Look At Reliable Tips To Stop Pigeons From Taking Over Your Wild Bird Feeder

By Debra Garrison


A wild bird feeder in your backyard is supposed to help attract a wide array of local birds for the avid birdwatcher. It is therefore a big disappointment if all you manage to attract are large flocks of pigeons on a daily basis. To stop these pesky and voracious feeders from ruining your plans, here are some handy tips to keep them away.

If you frequent a city park known for pigeon feeding, you will know that these large birds love feeding on the ground. As such, if you locate your feeders a few feet above the ground, you will leave these larger birds completely clueless that there is some grub in your backyard. Feeders located higher up are more likely to attract smaller song birds, the exact sort of guests you want to play host to.

However, it is not enough to locate your feeder high above the ground as pigeons are very fast learners and may soon figure out your little trick. To make bird feeders even more pigeon proof, ensure they are hanging instead of nailing them fast. Add even smaller perches that are suitable for small birds such as finches as well but not capable of supporting larger birds.

Pigeons are also naturally attracted to your backyard if there is always some spilled birdseed in the vicinity of your feeders. As such, to get rid of them for good, ensure you clean up any spilt birdseed as soon as this happens. Moreover, if you keep the area less messy and all tidy, there will be a lower risk of your feathered visitors picking up disease and infections from your yard.

If you want to attract plenty of songbirds to your yard, add plenty of black oil sunflower seeds to your bird feeders. Songbirds naturally love sunflower seeds as they are full of nutritious proteins but pigeons find them unpalatable. On the other hand, avoid any bird seed mixes comprising oats, millet and corn as these will attract pigeons by the hordes.

Electronic devices which emit a high pitched sound are said to serve as good deterrents to pigeons looking to gatecrash your back garden bird-seed party. It is said that the device discourages pigeons from landing in the garden to feed but has no effect whatsoever on songbirds. However, you will have to determine if the unwelcome sound the device emits can justify its usefulness as a deterrent.

Some savvy bird lovers do not go for solutions aimed at scaring pigeons away. All they do is make the food inaccessible to the unwelcome birds by having the feeding trays caged with an appropriate wire mesh. The mesh should have spaces that are just wide enough to let in small songbirds while keeping out those with heftier body sizes such as pigeons.

A god wild bird feeder can be a welcome addition to your back garden considering the number of exotic songbirds it can attract. However, it is not just enough to place the device there and keep well stocked with enough bird seed mixes. You need to adopt an effective strategy in order to keep birds such as pigeons from hogging the feed area all day.




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