Background: If you have a lot of sparrows
where you live and you feed birds, you might
already know, House or "English" Sparrows are a non-native pervasive
bird species that invade, and interrupt your favorite native songbirds
nesting sites, habitat, and bird feeding stations. English
sparrows (aka HOSP or house sparrow) are very aggressive, high-strung, and in quantity will keep multiplying and
take over your backyard environment if food is plentiful. There
are products on the market like magic halo, however our solution uses only a
few strands of monofilament line attached to the roof edge corners of the
Rollerfeeder costing pennies compared to commercial products.
~
See also Bird
Feeding Tips how to control house sparrows with bird seed.
See native songbirds using feeder
with lines on Click Here
Monofilament
line
Using monofilament fishing line
is a University tested method of stopping, or vastly reducing house (English)
sparrows from using bird feeders, the method can be 99%
effective in some cases.
Rollerfeeder has tested
monofilament line on its products for several years with great success
and squirrels don't
entangle themselves
in the lines or can the line be removed easily.
There are after-market products that use monofilament line costing up to $25. Monofilament fishing line
is
easily attached to a Rollerfeeder with no added cost, if you have some
handy in a fishing tackle box or know someone....also inexpensive to
purchase.
It is important to repeat squirrels do not entangle
themselves or remove the lines easily using our method.
This technique is very
inexpensive and does not require using a magic halo type product where
squirrels can get tangled in the lines and pull the whole system down.
Works on all RF
models.
How to prevent house
or English sparrows by using
monofilament fishing
line on a Rollerfeeder.
(Use
this technique for difficult house sparrow
problems,
otherwise it is not required)
Adding lines help prevent houses
sparrows up to 99% in
some cases, native songbirds keep visiting.
Cut 4 pieces of monofilament
line approx 9-12" length.
Loosen the 4 edge roof screws
nearest to the perch. Simply loop the ends
of the line around the 4 roof screws and let hang outward as shown
in photos and illustration, bottom of page. Or, tie string to
stainless steel roof edging.
If you have unmanageable house
sparrow problems, make the line a little longer, then tie each end
to the 2 roof screws (or roof edge) creating a loose loop (from one roof screw to
the other). Do this on each side of the feeder. After
the sparrow problems subside, cut the line in the middle and let them dangle along the sides of the
feeder, as shown in below graphic illustration.
(Use
this technique for difficult house sparrow
problems,
otherwise it is not required)
Note:
Small-medium size birds like
chickadees, nuthatches, finches, tufted titmice etc. will adjust quickly
and use the feeder, but house sparrows will be dramatically
reduced.
Tip: Also use
"black-oil sunflower", avoid inexpensive mixed seed with millet
& cracked corn, sparrows don't like to open the sunflower shell.
~
Cut monofilament lines 9-12" length, then attach
to 4 roof screws.
Note:You can also tie the lines to the stainless
steel roof edge.
Native Songbirds using feeder with lines on
& house sparrow nearby watching
RollerFeeder video - House sparrow proof bird feeder: Notice in the beginning of the video, how the MALE HOUSE SPARROW TO THE RIGHT stays away from the feeder because of the
monofilament sparrow lines attached to the roof edges - yet OTHER SONGBIRDS have no problem with the lines. The monofilament SPARROW LINES cut down sparrow traffic as high as 95%
or more and are very easy to attach. This technique will cut down invasive birds such as the house sparrow and leave the feeder more open to
desirable native songbirds. This technique is not 100% effective but is very effective and will change your feeder activity greatly with more quality birds.
Background: If you have a lot of sparrows
where you live and you feed birds, you might
already know, House or "English" Sparrows are a non-native pervasive
bird species that invade, and interrupt your favorite native songbirds
nesting sites, habitat, and bird feeding stations. English
sparrows (aka HOSP or house sparrow) are very aggressive, high-strung, and in quantity will keep multiplying and
take over your backyard environment if food is plentiful. There
are products on the market like magic halo, however our solution uses only a
few strands of monofilament line attached to the roof edge corners of the
Rollerfeeder costing pennies compared to commercial products.
