How to bring smaller birds flocking to feed
sir – Researchers at the University of Exeter and the British Trust for Ornithology think that sparrows muscle smaller species such as blue tits aside at bird-feeders (report, September 6).
They must have used the wrong kind of bird-feeder. Every morning we watch a range of birds at our suspended cylindrical seed-feeder, which has side holes and twig-like perches, and at the peanut-feeder.
Blue tits and great tits swarm around these, but sparrows, blackbirds and pigeons content themselves on the ground with breadcrumbs and the fallout from the seed-feeder.
Bruce Denness
Whitwell, Isle of Wight
sir – Small birds manage to feed in our garden untroubled by the larger birds, once they and their offspring learn the schedule at the feeders.
Between 20 and 40 starlings arrive at fairly regular intervals three times a day. Thus the robins, sparrows and blackbirds know when to sit patiently in adjacent shrubs and trees. When the messy-eating starlings eventually fly away, they just swoop in and clear the area. Tits, goldfinches and woodpeckers don’t seem to mind the starlings and feed throughout the day with equanimity.
The trick is to have no flat-surface feeders. I use ones with short perches, which dissuade pigeons, magpies and other large birds from stopping by.
David Fisher
Leicester