SCOTT SHALAWAY Attitudes and selectivity

If you're bothered by undesirable birds such as pigeons, crows, or starlings at your feeders, I have three solutions.
The no-cost answer merely requires an attitude adjustment. Simply welcome all birds to your backyard. I reject this option because I'm picky. I'd rather see and feed cardinals, woodpeckers, and chickadees than pigeons, crows and starlings.
A more costly solution is to buy feeders that physically exclude unwanted visitors. Many manufacturers now make feeders enclosed in a cage of plastic coated wire mesh. Only birds small enough to pass through the mesh can get to the food; bigger birds are excluded. Do-it-yourselfers can make their own excluder devices with chicken wire. Just form a simple cage to enclose your feeders.
A simple project
But if you think big, consider this relatively simple project. Instead of excluding pests from individual feeders, build an entire pest-free feeding station. It could be free standing, or you could attach it to an existing porch, deck, or even a wall of the house.
The concept is simple. Build a frame, eight-feet on a side, and cover it with chicken wire. It's a project that could be built in a day for less than the price of a single specialty feeder.
Begin by sinking four treated 4-inch by 4-inch by 10 ft. posts 24 inches into the ground on the corners of an eight-ft. square. Connect the top corners with two-by-fours to form the frame. Add several two-by-fours on each side for support, and frame in a door on one side to permit access into the enclosure to fill the feeders.
Stabilize the top with two more two-by-four cross pieces, and attach large screw-in hooks at 18-inch intervals. Suspend hanging feeders from these hooks.
Then cover the entire structure with chicken wire, sized to exclude whatever you're trying to keep off the feeders. If pigeons, crows, or squirrels are the problem, a larger mesh will suffice. If starlings are your nemesis, use a smaller mesh.
Nothing to waste
Small ground feeders such as juncos and native sparrows will eat the seed that falls to the ground from the hanging feeders, so nothing will go to waste.
That's the basic idea for a simple, effective, and selective bird feeding station. But none of these specifications is absolute. You may prefer to make your enclosure larger or attach it to the side of the house. You may want to use two-by-twos and anchor the entire structure to the ground with guy wires rather than sinking the corner posts into the ground. Or you may choose to place it right next to a favorite viewing window to create a mini-aviary. Be creative, and design a plan that works for your backyard. To make your enclosed feeding station even more attractive to birds, consider these options.
Position the enclosure next to some dense vegetation to moderate wind, driving rain, and blowing snow.
Cover the top with conifer boughs or a piece of plywood to provide cover for the birds and protect the feeders from rain and snow.
Place several dead branches inside the enclosure as perches for hungry birds.
Build a platform
In the center of the enclosure, build a multi-level platform for small ground feeders. On top of two large concrete blocks positioned in the center of the enclosure, place a two-ft. square piece of 3/4-inch exterior plywood. Anchor that piece with two more concrete blocks and cover with another piece of plywood. Then add two more blocks and one more piece of plywood. Anchor the top piece of plywood with another large block. You now have a four-level feeding platform. Each feeding level is protected from the elements by the o ne above it. The concrete blocks keep it stable.
This may seem like a lot of work, but it will keep larger unwanted birds and mammals from dominating your feeders. It won't, however, exclude house sparrows. Use feeders they avoid -- hanging bowls, upside down finch feeders, and tubes with very short perches and no trays -- to at least keep them on the ground.
sshalaway @aol.com