Nobody likes a bully. They’re aggressive, they take what they want without regard for others, and they don’t fight fair. The bully birds at your feeders are no different: they hog the feeder, preventing other, smaller birds from feeding, and even start fights in the process. If you’re beginning to notice a few, or even a flock of, birds overtaking your feeders, here are a few tried-and-true ways to keep them at bay so that other birds can eat in peace.

Bully Birds: A List of Common Culprits

A starling perches on a bird feeder with corn in its beak.

Which birds are most often considered “bully birds”? Here are some of the usual suspects:

  • Common grackles
  • Magpies
  • American crows
  • Brown-headed cowbirds
  • European starlings
  • Blue jays
  • House sparrows
  • Mourning doves
  • Rock pigeons
  • Red-winged blackbirds

How to Prevent Bully Birds from Crowding Your Feeders

Grackles crowd a bird feeder.

Change your feeders

Bully birds are often bigger birds, so use their size against them by switching to a caged feeder or one with weight-activated perches. Both of these options give smaller birds the opportunity to feed (their beaks are smaller and fit through the cage holes, and they’re lighter so they don’t collapse the perch) without larger birds bugging them. When larger bully birds like grackles and starlings can’t get to the food in your feeders, they’ll give up and look for food elsewhere. The upside is that these types of feeders also work to keep the squirrels out! Win-win!

A small bird eats out of a caged bird feeder.

Use a baffle or guard

Want to stop bully birds from emptying your feeders and driving away smaller birds? Invest in a baffle or guard to place above and/or below your feeders. And since suet cakes are a starling favorite, don’t forget to use one with your suet feeder too. This method is especially effective for starlings, as they tend to avoid going beneath covers of any kind.  

Switch up your bird feed

Don’t like your “customers”? Change the menu! Bully birds won’t go where they don’t like the food, so fill your feeders with foods they don’t like (but which will still attract other backyard birds). Safflower seed, Nyjer seed, cracked corn, millet, milo, and wheat are all options that will keep your feeders bully-free.

Looking for just the right blend? Check out our Big Bear Blend Wild Bird Seed, custom-mixed for birds in the Big Bear and surrounding area.

Birds eat peacefully from a bird feeder.

Keep it clean

Bully birds love ground feeding, so don’t give them the option. Clean under your feeders—or, better yet, fill your feeders with no-mess bird seed—to keep spilled seed at a minimum. You can also use a seed tray to catch spilled seed and prevent ground spillage. This will also prevent rats and other pests like squirrels, chipmunks, and raccoons from invading your yard and home.

Chirp's Tidy no-mess bird seed mix.
Chirp’s Tidy No-Mess Bird Seed

Offer multiple feeders

Keep bird aggression at bay while feeding a variety of local birds in your yard—including the “bullies”—by putting out more than one feeder. Your best bet is to have a “bully-free” feeder that they can’t access or don’t like the food being “served,” and another feeder (a platform or tray feeder) across your yard for the larger bully birds. Be sure to mount the feeders far enough away that there won’t be any fighting.

A grackle eats from a tray feeder.

Get Your Backyard Birding On

Want to know how to make your yard a haven for backyard birds? Here are some resources from your friends at the Chirp Nature Center:

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