If you want Orioles, put out grape jelly, oranges, or nectar in feeders designed just for them. Finches like thistle, and if the hole is small enough, thay won't be able to get at it. Unfortunately, Lisa's correct. If they're House Sparrows, you may have to stop putting out regular seed. They prefer millet, however, they will eat almost anything else if it's not available, including Black Oil Sunflower seed.

Kris, all of us in this neighborhood have stopped putting out anything but niger thistle seed...the english sparrows were becoming overwhelming and it was to the point that we saw very little else in our yards year round (with the exception of robins).

Two years later, we have finches, both red and yellow, lots of chickadees again, gold crowned sparrows (not sure why, those can't feed from the thistle socks)... and a big plus, 4 pairs of swallows moved into nesting boxes this week that are not controlled by aggressive english sparrows any longer.

I couldn't help you with the orioles, much as I'd love to have them - not in this area. :)

Morz, I wish more people understood what the end result will be. I have noticed the same thing that the species diversity plummets the longer your encourage or don't do anything about the non-natives.

When you trap the HOSP though, you have to do a little encouraging. I've notice a sharp decline in them around our here since I started trapping.

Terry, what do you mean by encouraging? I noticed the same thing. I have much more diversity around here and less plant diseases. It proves the point that diversity leads to overall ecosystem health. Not a scientific study or anything mind you, but just my own observations.

selkie, I spent a number of years feeding just the mixed food and didn't know a Sparrow from a Finch. LOL!

You mean they're two different birds? ;)

so if I'm already using black oil sunflower and I'm still ganged up on by sparrows and grackles, now what?

Pull out the slingshot. KIDDING!!!!

I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think grackles are native birds. I am going to post a link and you can go and read about the HOSP problem. Beyond that, you have to make up your own mind.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bet's site

In order to trap the HOSP or EUST that already come into my yard uninvited and because they are such a huge problem here, I put down some cheap seed that they like on the ground near the trap and in the trap. From this site
http://www.sialis.org/hosp.htm#traps
TRAPS

* The two main types of traps are ground traps (baited and placed on the ground) and nestbox or inbox traps (used to catch a single HOSP entering or claiming a nestbox.) There are other types (mist net, bottomless pit, tipping can, etc.) that I am less familiar with. They are all live traps, which means they are not designed to kill the captured bird.
* See review of various types by Paula Ziebarth.
* If you only have a few HOSP, go with a nestbox trap, as they are less expensive, effective, and directly address the issue of proliferation and nestbox competition. They may also be more likely to catch the older agressive male. My personal favorite is the Van Ert.* If populations are higher, get a ground trap. These may be more likely to catch juveniles and first year males. My personal favorite is an escape proof repeating trap like the Deluxe Repeating Sparrow Trap.

I should of said to encourage them into the trap....sorry about the confusion.

The reason those damn things are such a problem is because the idiots in prison feed them because, get this, they think they're cute. They'll pick up a rock and throw it at a Starling that's singing a beautiful song (cause Starlings supposedly "bully" sparrows), but they'll feed the sparrows bread until the can barely fly! My suggestion is that you replace the millet in your feed with bullets and bbs. Ha-ha!

The only thing I've found that hosps won't eat is safflower and thisle seed. It took my other birds Dees, Titmice, Finches, Juncos and such a while to get used to the safflower but they do eat it now. I still feed boss and peanut butter suet and regular suet for the birds but the hosps will eat all of these if they can get to them.
Cathy

I've stopped feeding the mixed seed to the house sparrows so now they go to the finch feeders. Who says they don't like nyger seed. They also love the black oil sunflower seeds. I have a magic halo around the sunflower feeder and for the first 2 weeks they were wary of it and wouldn't try feeding from it, but now, they are brave and hang on the vertical wires and even if I take out the perches all together, they still hang on the opening and get the seeds. They are not suppose to like suet, but they eat my suet. I don't think there is anything they don't eat. Their population is down considerably since I stopped with the mixed feed, but they are still around. Short of trapping them, I don't think anything deters them.

Joan, what kind of feeder (style) are you using? If it's one designed for only thistle seed and the sparrows are still feeding, cut the feeding perches down to about 1/4"...finches and the smaller birds that 'cling' to eat, like chickadees, will still be able to eat but the sparrows won't.

Many of the thistle feeders are designed to be sparrow proof, either made of metal mesh instead of actual designated openings - they can't hang from those to eat, or with perches above the feeding ports rather than below them, sparrows don't usually hang upside down to eat either.

Or try the thistle socks, mesh bags that only clinging type eaters can use. I have several and rotate them - when one is empty and dirty, I replace it with clean and fresh and toss the dirty one into the wash with jeans and hot water, soap to be ready for the next use.

Morz, I have both an upside down finch feeder and a right-side up one. The sparrows feed only from the right-side up one. I leave the right-side up feeder filled because it seems some finches have a hard time figuring them out, especially this time of the year. I still have some finches around and they go to the right-side up one; they seem very confused with the upside down one. I believe these are young finches so maybe they haven't figured them out yet. I will try cutting the perches to about 1/4" and see if that stops the sparrows. Cutting the perches on my sunflower feeder doesn't help as the sparrows cling to the openings if there are no perches. It greatly reduces the numbers but one thing I can say about house sparrows, they sure can figure things out lol.

I'm with bbcathy, the only kind of seed I can feed in this area is Thistle and Safflower. I cannot even put out BOSS or the HOSP will be into it.
I would love to be able to put out other seeds but can't find a feeder that HOSPs cannot overcome.
Now I just need to fix my covered deck so they will quit nesting there......

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For the first time ever, I am feeding SAFFLOWER seed exclusively and have seen no sparrows or grackels for the 3+ weeks since I started. BUT, I am getting a family of DOVES or PIDGEONS. I am getting the cardinals that I really wanted and am happy to also get tufted titmouses, chickadees, nuthatches, and NO SQUIRRELS (YAAAAAAYYYY!)
I love the safflower seed and will never go back to mixed seed. I'm afraid if I start nijer seed, I'll get the squirrels back. We only have a few sparrows around this neighborhood for some reason, so far so good.

Love this forum and the sharing. Thank you.

Pat

I exclusively use safflower. Chickadees love it. Mourning doves eat what falls on the ground. A cardinal family stops by too. I enjoy having all those species around. Happily I haven't seen any sparrows or starlings take an interest in it, but I have heard that sometimes they can adapt to it if they're hungry enough.

I found that monofilament fishing line repels sparrows. Haven't watched long enough to see if it repels other birds too

Gentlemen and Gentleladies!
Thanks to all for you posts which helped solve my problems. I live in Toronto and last year installed a tube bird feeder which worked really well until the spring of this year when it was overwhelmed by sparrows and squirrels. Reading the above helped devise a satisfactory solution.
I should mention that feeder developed its own microcosm until the sparrows took over. Regular visitors to this source of food included - cardinals, chickadees, red-breasted nuthatches, goldfinches, blue birds, cowbirds, grackles and the ground feeders such as mourning doves. squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits and this past winter, deer.
They were a delight to watch until a combination of sparrows, squirrels and grackles displaced them, In particular between 35 - 50 sparrows would descend on the feeder and the surrounding area below and not budge until it was empty or chased away by the squirrels.

So here's what worked: I suspended a suet cage nearby and let the tube run out. The native birds migrated to the suet leaving the rest to quietly return to normal feeding habits. Now I have downy woodpeckers, chickadees, the nuthatches, cardinals and three grackles to marvel at. I am quietly discouraging the grackles with a spritz from the hose as they tend to devour a packet in less than 2 days.
Interestingly, the three grackles seem to have 2 sparrows in tow who feed on the scraps or may even work in a symbiotic relationship..not sure.
All in all, seems we have a winning recipe. I intend to add safflower seeds to the tube shortly.
Thanks again for the good ideas

http://www.thebirdhouseny.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Peanut-Silo.jpg

I have a whole peanut feeder. Basically it's just stainless steel mesh that you could put sunflower seeds in instead.

I don't get any sparrows or starlings. It'll last close to a month per fillings. I just saw a flicker, titmouse, blue jays, cardinal, chicadee, nuthatch.
It's cool because they all seem to take their turn on the feeder.

I'm with terryr here; just trap them. Usually, I trap for a few weeks in spring to keep their numbers down. I didn't take the time to do it this year, and they (House Sparrows) came back in force. They killed just about all the titmice, chickadees, and Downy Woodpeckers around. I had almost half of a a huge elderberry die off, due to sawflies. Usually, I'll see the woodpeckers pecking at it, killing off the sawflies before they cause a big problem. I also had an infestation of caterpillars in my trees that the chickadees and titmice usually eat. The House Sparrows just don't help out with insect problems like the native birds do. I won't neglect it next year, that's for sure.

....and keep a close eye on the trap because native birds, smaller ones, can get in also. It's been 10 yrs, and I'm still fighting the HOSP and EUST....

The Hosp will eat suet!!! . There is almost nothing they will not eat. I wish there were something else we could do about them besides buying something again in attempts to control them. Baffles, different food , different feeders. I miss my finches, golden & house & nuthatches. We just have way too many to keep them around. Although all of these things have worked for a short time. They will find a way around just about anything you do.

Hi- thanks so much for all of your suggestions. I live in a neighborhood where houses are close together connected by courtyards. I had bluebirds nest in my courtyard last spring, but we weren't yet infested with HOSPs. A new neighbor recently moved in next door & she has feeders all over with cheap store-bought seed. I'll see 30 HOSPs at a time in her yard & now, they're eating my mealworms. I've spoken with her about this & she's willing to change what she puts out, but doesn't want to spend a lot of $. I think I'm just going to buy her some safflowers myself. I'm so mad that HOSPs are everywhere, when they weren't before. I also have a new neighbor behind me that's feeding mixed seed, so need to talk to them too. I may have to get into the practice of trapping, but don't know if I can euthanize. What do y'all do with HOSPs once you trap them?

In the spring you can catch tons of invasive house sparrows as they are mating and or raising their fledglings. I use the Sparrow Trap Door trap sold on the web by Bird Barrier. It has a sparrow call built in that makes the trap very effective. After catching a decoy sparrow or two you can then move the decoy sparrow a simple funnel trap. Then you will catch sparrows at 12 at a time. That is the only way to make a dent in the huge spring flocks. By the say the Sparrow Trap Door is a quick deploy, fast response trap for catching sparrows indoors like in airports and Home Depot's.

I have had good luck with Penningtons Ultra songbird mix. The sparrows do not seem to like it, with other mixs we had mostly sparrows. Its available at the big boxes but a bit pricey.

Another option is to plant native seed-producing plants that native birds can take advantage of, but House Sparrows cannot. Plant sunflowers, anise hyssop, coreopsis, thistle, coneflowers, black-eyed-susans, monardas, etc. The native birds know how to cling to these plants to get the seeds out, but the sparrows do not. So, the sparrows will starve, or go somewhere else.

Martha

I find that the halo is the only thing to keep the HOSPs away. They eat everything and anything and in vast quantities as far as I can tell. It is very discouraging because they do keep out the other, far more interesting birds.

Last year I had 2 pairs of Eastern Blue Birds in 2 of the nest boxes ( my husband built) they even came back to have their 2nd brood. This winter I had a feeder ( up on my flag pole due to the bears) filled with Nyger sunflower seeds to feed the birds. I've never seen so many sparrows in a flock in my bushes. This spring I put Nyger thistle in the feeder to discourage the sparrows. My husband made 2 wren houses small holes to only fit wrens. A pair Eastern blue birds came back to the nest box and pair of wren;s came to one of the wren houses. The pair of Sparrow's came chased away the Eastern blues and the wren's. The lousy pair of sparrows have taken over the Blue birds box knocking out pieces of the nest. I don't have the heart to clear out the sparrow nest & destroy the eggs if any. I guess I'll have wait until the first brood hatches and fly off and I'll have to discourage them from coming back or maybe I won't drive myself nuts doing that.

If you don't have the heart to destroy the HOSP nests, or their eggs, then you'll probably never have Bluebirds again. Sad, but true. The HOSP will take over everything. The only birds you'll see will be the HOSP.

HOSP nest has been destroyed, luckily no eggs. HOSP came back again, chased them out and stuffed the hole with paper towels. They've now gone, saw Bluebird on top of house then I went out and removed what I have stuffed in the hole of house. I hope the Bluebirds come back not the HOSP!!!!!

That's good Patty! I hope the Bluebirds come, make their nests and the HOSP leave them alone. Keep an eye out! Good luck!

Thank you! I did see the male Sparrow come back and start to chirp by the box, I went out there and chased him away. It's sad, I'm so obsessed with having my Eastern bluebirds back and hearing the soft sweet sound they make.

I don't blame you Patty! I'd want Bluebirds too! I, unfortunately, can't get rid of the HOSP :( The neighbors all feed and allow them to nest.

I'm up in the woods. I have a lot of property the only neighbor next to me is 94. I know she does not have bird houses. I was lucky to only have 1 pair of Sparrows and I think I've finally chased them away. I do hear the Bluebirds in the woods, so I'm praying that they will return. Maybe when they are ready for their second brood and looking for a new nesting box they'll return. I'm going to do my best to keep the HOSP away.. Sorry you're inundated with HOSP'S:{

Oh...I wish we were in the woods! I hope your Bluebirds do return, who knows, maybe they haven't found a box yet. That would be nice! My parents live out in the country, surrounded by woods. I gave my dad 2 Bluebird houses many years ago, and he finally put them up last spring. He got lucky and 2 sets of Bluebirds found the houses...yay! ☺

My husband built two nesting boxes last year and we had a 2 pairs that made nests, had their babies in July & they flew off. We cleaned out the boxes and had another two pairs (or maybe the same ones came back for the 2nd brood) had their babies in August I got to see from one of the boxes the babies leave their nest. I was happy the 5 flew off with their parents calling them from a tree. I was also sad knowing fall and winter were near by.

Then you have time! How cool...you and Bluebirds, the HOSP and me...where's the Genie so I can make a wish? Haha ☺

I've had a young male Bluebird on the empty box ( that was cleared out of HOSP). It was flighty and softly singing to a female up in a tree in our yard. This is the first time I've seen a male B.B go into the nest box and show him self peeking out with twigs in his mouth.

There's no Gene, just pray to St. Francis the lover of all birds and animals.

Wishing you the best and stay in touch.

Thank you Patty! I hope that pair nest! I need to buy a statue of St Francis...we're going to sell ☺Hopefully the next house is void of HOSP! Good luck!

Hi terry,

Good luck house hunting, my husband and I were looking to get off the mountain of West Milford, N.J. due to the winters up here. Now it's summer and everything looks beautiful around here I think we're going to hold off for a while. I wish you luck! Stay in touch. By the way I heard the Blue bird from my bedroom window this morning he's sitting on the perch of the box house trying in entice his mate to take a look inside. I hope he succeeds....

Patty

Thank you Patty. We don't mind winters...although I'd love to move back to SE TN...lol! We need a ranch...not a big old rambling 2 story. And...something where there's something other than HOSP...I have a Bluebird house...I'd love to put it up again. Some day ☺ Good luck with those Bluebirds! How about the worms that they eat? Feed them, they will come? Maybe? Hopefully?

Hi!

The Bluebirds, well I think the male is trying to hard to get the little girl. From the Bluebirds we've had last year the male were more masculine and the female knew what she wanted. The male this year needs to build some back muscle and the female should look prettier, not so disheveled. What do I know? I've seen the male B.B with a bug in it's mouth trying to offer it to the female, she is such a BB.B and flew off. She's playing hard to get....I have plenty of grubs in the ground, they have a field day eating. I want them to fend for themselves. I'll keep you updated on the B.B's.

Patty

We live in Ohio..and we just SHOOT the stinking, aggressive house sparrows with a pellet gun. The only good HOSP -is a dead one. They are like wild rats. They breed like rabbits--- come in droves and there is NOT ONE thing you can do to get rid of them, or get a handle on their numbers around your home----except KILL them. They eat ANY food put out for other birds. Don't waste your time trying to figure out a solution....there are NONE that work. .... --just buy a pellet gun....and help the native birds.

I know nothing about birds i have had a small wooden bird house on my porch for 20 years

i have had small sparrows or wrens living there and mating there for years This year i bought

a hanging house like feeder which is hung about 4 feet away i never knew that people

hate house sparrows i enjoy watching thrm sitting on top of the bird house once or twice i saw them at the feeder not much action

I filled the feeder with classic wild bird food

i hope i see more birds in the Spring any

advice for me about seeds or sparrows

i have never had a problem i just wanted to

feed thrm thanks for your advice