I have a mocking bird hogging my suet feeder and keeping most other birds away
Any suggestions on ridding myself of him other than shooting him? I have plac
e another feeder in the front of the house based on the assumption that he canno
t easily guard both sides of the house. On the weekends I chase him with a slin
Gshot shooting near him just to scare him, but he keeps coming back and I can't be there all day.




Wes

... but he keeps coming back and I can't be there all day.

You must decide to kill him or tolerate him. I urge toleration.

Daniel B. Martin

Just put up more feeders, I guess! My suet feeder was being monopolized by
a Brown Thrasher, but he mysteriously disappeared when it snowed, so now the
feeder's accessible to Carolina Wrens, Chickadees, and my 2 favorites,
Brown-Headed Nuthatch & Pine Warbler (I never knew warblers came to feeders
at all, but this gorgeous little guy is apparently an exception).

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh

wrote in message
...
I have a mocking bird hogging my suet feeder and keeping most other
birds away
Any suggestions on ridding myself of him other than shooting him? I have
plac
e another feeder in the front of the house based on the assumption that he
canno
t easily guard both sides of the house. On the weekends I chase him with
a slin
Gshot shooting near him just to scare him, but he keeps coming back and I
can't be there all day.




Wes

In article , Daniel B. Martin wrote:
... but he keeps coming back and I can't be there all day.

You must decide to kill him or tolerate him. I urge toleration.

Daniel B. Martin

I don't want to kill him, which is why I chose to put another feeder
in the front on the driveway. I am considering putting one way out
in the garden in hopes he will run himself ragged between that one and the
backyard one close to the house. he does not seem to bother the wrens and
smaller birds, but I have seen no woodpeckers, cardinals and other
larger birds.

I do have a squirrel trap and just might try trapping him on a weekend.
I don't know that he would even enter one. Maybe if I put a fake bird
in it?

Wes )

In article , Anne Lurie wrote:
Just put up more feeders, I guess! My suet feeder was being monopolized by
a Brown Thrasher, but he mysteriously disappeared when it snowed, so now the
feeder's accessible to Carolina Wrens, Chickadees, and my 2 favorites,
Brown-Headed Nuthatch & Pine Warbler (I never knew warblers came to feeders
at all, but this gorgeous little guy is apparently an exception).


I have had quite a few warblers since I started feeding suet with sunflower
seeds.

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh

wrote in message
...
I have a mocking bird hogging my suet feeder and keeping most other
birds away
Any suggestions on ridding myself of him other than shooting him? I have
plac
e another feeder in the front of the house based on the assumption that he
canno
t easily guard both sides of the house. On the weekends I chase him with
a slin
Gshot shooting near him just to scare him, but he keeps coming back and I
can't be there all day.




Wes

I too have a selfish Mockingbird. I noticed last weekend that although it
harassed the bluebirds, titmice, etc. for a while, eventually, I would see
bluebirds and other birds eating also. This morning before I left for
work, it was right back guarding the feeder.

I will put out another feeder or two. This is a strategy which has worked
with rufous hummingbirds in the past when I lived in Colorado. There is
only so much territory they can guard!

Let me know how this works for you. I'll keep you posted on my results

Diane

wrote:

In article , Daniel B.
Martin wrote:
... but he keeps coming back and I can't be there all day.

You must decide to kill him or tolerate him. I urge toleration.

Daniel B. Martin

I don't want to kill him, which is why I chose to put another feeder
in the front on the driveway. I am considering putting one way out
in the garden in hopes he will run himself ragged between that one and
the
backyard one close to the house. he does not seem to bother the wrens and
smaller birds, but I have seen no woodpeckers, cardinals and other
larger birds.

I do have a squirrel trap and just might try trapping him on a weekend.
I don't know that he would even enter one. Maybe if I put a fake bird
in it?

Wes )

--
Diane

Anne Lurie wrote:
Just put up more feeders, I guess! My suet feeder was being monopolized by
a Brown Thrasher, but he mysteriously disappeared when it snowed, so now the
feeder's accessible to Carolina Wrens, Chickadees, and my 2 favorites,
Brown-Headed Nuthatch & Pine Warbler (I never knew warblers came to feeders
at all, but this gorgeous little guy is apparently an exception).

Isn't that yellow-green coloration gorgeous? Last year I had one
regularly at my suet feeder into spring. I'm guessing the one I have now
is last year's first timer.

cl

Anne Lurie wrote:

Just put up more feeders, I guess! My suet feeder was being monopolized by
a Brown Thrasher, but he mysteriously disappeared when it snowed, so now the
feeder's accessible to Carolina Wrens, Chickadees, and my 2 favorites,
Brown-Headed Nuthatch & Pine Warbler (I never knew warblers came to feeders
at all, but this gorgeous little guy is apparently an exception).

Funny, despite having a mockingbird establish territory in and around
our yard, he's not the one that sets fierce guard on the suet baskets -
it's the bluebirds! *grin* The mockingbird spends most of his time it
seems sitting on the gutters of the second story of the house surveying
his domain. Only thing I can think that might have him a bit nervous is
the hawks and owls that also have territory congruent to his.

As to the type of suet we put out - I've got a recipe for making suet
patties but so far have been too lazy or too busy to get a round tuit.
After experimenting with all the different types offered at Lowes, we
settled on the "peanut treat". It seems to be the one that makes the
birds the happiest in our yard and they also eat it year round. I think
our daily 8 a.m. visitor - a red bellied woodpecker - would be extremely
put out if we didn't have it out year round.

Thanks everyone for the mention of the pine warbler - I've been seeing
lots of them for a while but hadn't bothered to look them up. (I still
don't know why....)

As to the bluebirds - I was really surprised last year that within two
weeks of puttin gup the first bluebird house we had a nesting pair in
it. That's when I went out and bought another one. *smile* All in
all, we had three broods raised last year - two in the first house and
one in the second. Since they've managed to keep ownership of the
houses over the winter, I'm looking forward to my first broods this
year. I do clean out the boxes fairly soon after the nestlings are
fledged.

I also put out a "nesting basket" which is simply one of the black pots
a tree I bought came in from the nursery with cat fur, twigs, and long
grassy type weeds. It seems the bluebirds definitely prefer the fur
from our grey cat Spike as of the three nests I have cleaned out of the
boxes, they have all had his fur in the lining of the nest. *smile* I
guess it's time to start brushing him again....

Susan
s h simko at duke dot edu

... with cat fur, twigs, and long grassy type weeds.

Cotton lint from your clothes dryer filter might be preferable to cat fur.

Daniel B. Martin

Susan H. Simko wrote:
Anne Lurie wrote:

As to the type of suet we put out - I've got a recipe for making suet
patties but so far have been too lazy or too busy to get a round tuit.
After experimenting with all the different types offered at Lowes, we
settled on the "peanut treat".

Yeah, they wolf that one down, but I try to buy the other with the
sunflower seeds in it as the squirrels love the peanut treat too.

Damned squirrels!

cl

C.L. Lassiter wrote:

As to the type of suet we put out - I've got a recipe for making suet
patties but so far have been too lazy or too busy to get a round tuit.
After experimenting with all the different types offered at Lowes, we
settled on the "peanut treat".

Yeah, they wolf that one down, but I try to buy the other with the
sunflower seeds in it as the squirrels love the peanut treat too.

We've got a few feeders in the yard - two dedicated to a wild bird seed
mix, one black oil sunflower seed, one cannola seed, one thistle and one
"bluebird treats" in addition to the two suet baskets. I've yet to see
squirrels in the suet baskets but I suspect it's because the baskets are
close to the house and they never seem to be able to get past the
sunflower seed feeder that's between them and the suet baskets.

Damned squirrels!

Low velocity air powered pellet guns act as a good deterent. Doesn't
harm the squirrels (if you can even hit them at a distance!) but it does
scare them enough to make them go away for a while.

Susan
s h simk at duke dot edu

Susan H. Simko wrote:
C.L. Lassiter wrote:

We've got a few feeders in the yard - two dedicated to a wild bird seed
mix, one black oil sunflower seed, one cannola seed, one thistle and one
"bluebird treats" in addition to the two suet baskets. I've yet to see
squirrels in the suet baskets but I suspect it's because the baskets are
close to the house and they never seem to be able to get past the
sunflower seed feeder that's between them and the suet baskets.

Well, I've got 2 sunflower seed feeders and a thistle seed feeder,
and the suet feeder is about 5' from my front door, but he goes for it
routinely.

cl

Damned squirrels!

Low velocity air powered pellet guns act as a good deterent. Doesn't
harm the squirrels (if you can even hit them at a distance!) but it does
scare them enough to make them go away for a while.

My dogs used to be good at chasing them, but in their old age, I
think it's "Stay out of my direct line of vision, and I won't mess with
you." :-)

cl

"Daniel B. Martin" wrote in message
...
... with cat fur, twigs, and long grassy type weeds.

Cotton lint from your clothes dryer filter might be preferable to cat fur.

Daniel, I was wondering why you'd say that lint is more preferable than cat
fur? I'd think fur would be a more natural substance in that setting --
I've even seen birds snatching hair from a dead raccoon (awaiting animal
control pickup due to possible rabies). Also, I *thought* that I saw not
too long ago that lint was actually not that desirable for birds' nests
because it could have dryer-softener chemicals and also it holds more
moisture when wet.

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh

Daniel, I was wondering why you'd say that lint is more preferable than
cat fur? I'd think fur would be a more natural substance in that
etting --

My reasoning is intuitive and possibly wrong. I thought birds would be
disturbed by the scent of a natural predator.


... lint... not that desirable for birds' nests because it could have
dryer-softener chemicals ...

Good point. I didn't consider that angle because I use non-scented laundry
detergent and no dryer-softener products.

Daniel B. Martin

On Sat, 01 Feb 2003 15:44:45 GMT, "Daniel B. Martin"
wrote:

Good point. I didn't consider that angle because I use non-scented laundry
detergent and no dryer-softener products.

Daniel B. Martin

May I ask the name of the non-scented laundry detergent and where you
can buy it? I have looked and looked and they ALL seem to have some
chemical crap in them that I am allergic to (like virtually ALL
perfumes on the market today).
But to keep on topic: a friend has a used and abandoned birdnest
that is one of her treasures. Her dad, a true mountain man,
occasionally cuts his long white beard and hair outside his cabin and
just lets it blow away in the wind. This nest is lined just
beautifully with her dad's long hairs. So neat!!!!! Her brother
found it and gave it to her.
Kira