Nuisance Birds
Unwanted visitors
Q: My feeders are being overrun with pigeons and blackbirds who eat all the food and keep the other smaller birds away. What can I do?
A: You can consider switching the type of seed you are using, and setting up a feeder that is difficult for these larger birds to use. For tips, please read our page on "Feeder Pests and Predators."
Hawks at Feeders
Q. We have a hawk that comes to our
yard on a regular basis, and yesterday he got a Mourning Dove. How can
I get rid of him and keep the songbirds and doves?
A. Like
the other birds, the hawk is coming to your yard because there is a
source of food. If you want to discourage the hawk, you'll have to take
your feeders down for a few days to disperse the hawk’s food
source--smaller birds. In the wild, birds face constantly fluctuating
food supplies, so songbirds, doves, and hawks alike will survive by
finding food elsewhere. Try putting your feeders up again in a week or
two. The songbirds and doves will come back but, with luck, the hawk
will have found better hunting grounds somewhere else. You can learn
more about feeder problems and solutions at our Project FeederWatch web site.
Ponds
Q: I have a pond behind my house that I’ve
stocked with fish. Several herons have been taking fish from the pond.
I don’t want to harm the birds, but I do want to stop them from taking
these fish. Do you have any suggestions?
A: I can certainly
understand not wanting the birds to eat the fish you’ve paid money to
have in your pond. Of course the birds are only doing what they have to
do: find food. You'd just like them to do it somewhere else. People
have tried a variety of techniques to discourage herons. We don’t have
specific information about which of these techniques work best since we
try to encourage the birds to stay at our pond here at the Lab. For
suggestions, visit the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds web
page on deterring herons.
For
other links, I'd encourage you to do a Google search using the terms
"heron deter pond." You'll find other suggestions at the Practical Water Gardens web site. There are many products available and many of the links that come up are to commercial sites.
You can read about the Great Blue Heron and other herons and egrets in the All About Birds Online Bird Guide.