When you put up your wild bird feeder in the backyard, there is no doubt that you expected flocks and flocks of exotic birds to start calling on you on a daily basis. It is therefore a big disappointment if all the feeder attracts are legions of pigeons. Admittedly, pigeons are wild birds too but they are voracious and pesky and it is important to keep their visits to a bare minimum.
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.
Some pigeons are too clever to figure out that the feeders have just been raised above the ground and can start the vicious cycle all over again. To ensure that your feeders are completely pigeon-proof, ensure that your feeders are hanging and swinging if a large weight is added. Even more effective is to ensure that the perches are much smaller to support only light birds such as hoppers and finches.
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.
Another effective way to keep pigeons from the food intended for songbirds is to make the feeders inaccessible to large birds. This can be achieved effectively by having the feeding trays caged with a wire mesh. The spaces in the mesh should be just big enough to let in the nimble songbirds but not enough for a pigeon to stain their necks in.
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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