Expert: Roger Lederer - 5/7/2004

Question
Hey, Roger;
I've had a large birdfeeder outside my home office window for several years. We live on the shore of Lake Erie and have traditionally had a widely varied population of migratory birds using the eastern flyway over the years. Amazingly, (to me) this year we seem to have had nothing but starlings and grackles! The feed offered is a top end blend that I've always used with excellent results, plus a variety of suet cakes at each end of the feeder. But, outside of an occasional single individual, the overwhelming majority of visitors are starlings and grackels. Got any ideas?

Answer
Well, it's hard to know since I don't have the data on previous visitors to the feeder. There are always normal population fluctuations of birds, up and down, migratory paths and timing change a bit each year, and I don't know the local environment - rural, urban, forested, open, neighbors close by, etc. The fact that you have starlings tells me that it is more or an urban or suburban environment than rural or wild. The simplest explanation is that the Starling and Grackle populations have increased, and being aggressive, have kept other birds away. You might try one of two things- change to a hanging or tube feeder without perches so that the starlings and grackles have a harder time feeding or change the food to the smallest seeds you can get. Or both. Hope this helps. For mor information on wild birds, see www.ornithology.com. Roger Lederer