- 1). Refrain from using platform feeders and scattering birdseed on the ground if you want to keep cowbirds away. Like all blackbirds, the cowbird likes to eat on the ground or on a flat large surface.
- 2). Keep seeds from accumulating beneath your bird feeders. Birds are a messy lot when dining on seeds, and they frequently spill or knock seeds from a feeder. This creates the ground setting that a cowbird enjoys.
- 3). Cease placing any types of table scraps out for the birds in your yard. Such foods as bread, cake and vegetables will attract the cowbirds.
- 4). Buy and employ tube-type feeders with a shortened perch. While these short perches can accommodate smaller songbirds such as titmice, chickadees, sparrows and nuthatches, the larger cowbird will have a difficult time gaining a purchase on them, which will make your feeding station unattractive to it.
- 5). Purchase tube feeders with a wire cage encompassing them. These cages make it possible for the smaller bird species to slip through to grab a meal but exclude the larger birds such as the grackle, blue jay and cowbird.
- 6). Chase the cowbirds off when you see them in large numbers. At such a time, they are probably in the process of migrating to either their winter or summer quarters. By making it impossible for them to feed, they will eventually move on, leaving the more desirable birds to enjoy your wares.
- 7). Keep your yard's insect population low. Cowbirds eat large numbers of insects, so spraying and keeping your yard free of potential breeding spots for mosquitoes is prudent.
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