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| I notice that I am going through 40 lbs of seed in 2 weeks. The main culprit appears to be these giant flock of house sparrows that show up during the winter. Last year, I was able to repel them using a 3 foot diameter ring made of soft drawn copper pipe. Unfortunately, squirrels then started using it as landing pad from trees to get to the feeder and I took it down.
This year, I decided to start with a smaller ring and see if it will work. I went to Menards and purchase some 5 foot PEX tubing for $2 and form it into a 1.5 feet diameter loop. The pex tubing is better than the copper since it's holds its shape. I attached it to the tub feeder with some twine. I did not use the hanging wires. I was curious to see if the smaller ring would still work. Results
At the end of the day, the seed consumption was much lower than before the ring. I notice a larger number of house finches visiting the feeder. I suppose for many, that would be replacing one pest with another. However, there aren't that man house finches in the winter, so this is acceptable. I took it down and is revamping the ring. I'll replace the twine with some hobby wire and attach it more securely to the cap. I think the wiggling of the halo scares the cardinals. Ideally, I should be able to repel just the house sparrows. Paul |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Would like to see a pic of this invention Paul! I would be overjoyed to be able to repel the nasty HOSP's. I have had to close off 3 nestboxes already to discourage them from setting up house here this spring. That takes away warm roosting spots for the birds that I actually put the boxes out for. Hoping my HOSP's will head on over to my local Lowes, Home Depot, Kmart, or Walmart for nesting!! They seem to like those places. Wonder if your ring would repel the Grackles and Starlings as well. :o) |
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| It's not my invention, it's basically a variation of the magic halo, which has been available for quite some times. You can see description at: http://www.sialis.org/halo.htm Unfortunately, the ring is not so effective against breeding pairs of HOSP. The site does have various ideas to deter nesting. I don't have experience with repelling grackles and starlings from nestboxes, but I do notice that starlings do not like to have something that block their view of the sky. A dome of some sort over suet feeder for example seems to deter them. However, it's hard to verify since Starlings don't seemed to come to my yard. Paul |
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| Update, I managed to change the setup so that the wires go through the tube feeder (I'll post a picture soon). The reasoning is that birds get nervous when they see stuff wiggling around. Result Paul |
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| That sounds interesting Paul - I would love to see a picture too. How many days has it repelled the English Sparrows? I wonder if they will get used to the wiggling. |
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| I rarely post, but check this forum every day and I suffer with terrible plagues of HOSP. I encourage you to please please post a picture so I can fix this up in my yard..! Sissy |
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