Something To Scare The Crows Away From Bird Feeders (But Not The Little Birds)

[shivvy]

Rooks, magpies, jackdaws etc are eating me out of house and home! 

We are in a rural location and it is always worse at this time of year when the nests are being built and the chicks start to fledge.  The only thing I have done in previous years is to not fill the feeders for a few weeks so that they find a food source elsewhere. But then that means that we lose all the little birds too.

Can anyone suggest a solution?

I have seen the large bird of prey models that can be flown above the area, but do those scare off the little birds as well as the large?

Thanks.

[Canary42]

I asked a similar question earlier, you might like to look at some of the answers.

 

https://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Animals-and-Nature/Question1867095.html       

 

[Canary42]

You can get grills/cages to put round feeders I believe which limit the size of birds using them (I haven't tried it though so don't know how effective they are).

Here's an example (bit pricey though) 

https://shopping.rspb.org.uk/bird-feeders-boxes-tables/bird-care-accessories/feeder-guardians/rspb-ultimate-bird-feeder-guardian-small.html      

 

 

 

[DTCwordfan]

our local farmer tried an LPG gun going off every twenty minutes during post-seeding. All the rooks steamed off into the ether - the pheasants kept on bobbing their heads like those flamingos balanced on a glass. No effect at all on them!

[shivvy]

Thanks Canary.

I couldnt get RedHelens link to open - an alternative to the CDs.  What was it?

[shivvy]

DTCwordfan - the local farmers set up crow bangers every year but I think it only scares the birds in his field, not us a few fields away.  We have a pheasant that calls to the garden so I hope whatever I do won't scare him.

[Captain2]

shivvy, this should be Redhelen's link

Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation?tag=theans-21

[shivvy]

Ah thanks Captain.

I'm thinking of trying one of the birds of prey on a long pole.  Because they are 4 or 6 meters high I'm hoping it will scare the bigger birds which come down from the trees above that height, but not the little ones that flit in sideways from hedges below it.

[Canary42]

Sorry about the link problem shivvy, but Captain's provided a working one.

 

One day the answerbank techies might sort links out properly.