You’ve seen it in your yard before I’m sure. A little Carolina Wren feeding a big fat Cowbird baby. Or replace the wren with a Northern Cardinal or Eastern Bluebird. It could be up to two hundred and twenty different species of birds that may end up fostering this parasitic bird. That’s how it works with the Brown-headed Cowbird. Adult Cowbirds do not build a nest nor do they raise their young. The female doesn’t want to waste any energy so she lays her eggs in the nest of another bird species such as a Wren or Bluebird or Cardinal.
This is why many people want to get rid of Cowbirds in their backyards. They hate seeing their beautiful songbirds raising these invasive birds that take over their feeders and bully the other birds.
About Brown-headed Cowbirds
The male Brown-headed Cowbird has a black body with a dull brown head. The female is smaller and are a solid brown with a whitish throat and light streaking on their undersides. Cowbirds are considered one of the smaller blackbirds at 7.5 inches long. Compare that to the European Starling at 8.5 inches long and the Crow at 17.5 inches long.
These Cowbirds are native to the northern continent found throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. You can find them in residential neighborhoods, pastures, fields, orchards, prairies, and near woodland edges feeding on seeds from grasses and weeds, grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, and spiders. They will also come to your bird feeders if you provide sunflower seed, cracked corn, or millet in them.
Nesting Habits
Breeding season for these birds starts about mid to late April and goes until mid July. The female lays one egg per day for up to seven days. She may lay one egg in several different bird nests depending on how many there are. She takes a few days to rest then she starts this process all over again and will do this for several weeks. She may lay up to forty eggs in all.
She finds nests to deposit her eggs by observing. When she spots a bird that has been building a nest she waits for it to leave then quickly goes in and lays an egg. Or if the nest already has eggs in it, she will either destroy one or two eggs or throw it out of the nest then lay one of hers in place of them. The female Cowbird can lay an egg in a matter of twenty seconds so she may never be seen by the host bird and the host bird may never notice that there is a different egg in its nest.
If the host bird does notice that the egg is different it may not be big enough (for example a wren or finch) to throw it out or destroy it so it incubates it with the other eggs. Bigger birds like the Blue Jay, Cedar Waxwing, and the Brown Thrasher will reject the eggs but sometimes the Cowbird will just come back and destroy the entire nest. It is one mean bird if you ask me.
Here’s the kicker! If the Cowbird is successful in laying an egg in a nest and the host incubates it with its own the young Cowbird is the first to hatch. Cowbirds usually hatch about one day before the host eggs. Not only does it hatch first but it grows so much faster and bigger than the others and consequently becomes more demanding for food. This could mean life or death for the other nestlings as the foster parents pay more attention to the young Cowbird’s demands. In addition, the big, fat Cowbird may smother the other smaller babies.
The young Cowbirds fledge the nest at around 13 days and will be fed by their hosts until about 39 days. Then interesting enough once they are on their own they learn to recognize other Cowbirds by their sound and sight. They will begin to congregate with other Brown-headed Cowbirds before their first winter. Cowbirds also mix in with other blackbirds too such as Red-winged Blackbirds and Grackles.
Note: Brown-headed Cowbird eggs are white to a grayish white with brown or gray spots or streaks in it. Other species’ eggs resemble the Cowbird’s so keep that in mind. You may have to wait until the eggs are hatched to know for sure.
How To Get Rid Of Cowbirds
So how do you get rid of Cowbirds in your yard? There are a few things that you can do:
- Use tube bird feeders that have a shorter perch and smaller ports for the seed.
- Feed the birds thistle/nyger, safflower seed, whole peanuts, or suet. Cowbirds will not eat this.
- Eliminate cracked corn, sunflower seeds, and millet from your feeders unless you have a smaller feeder that the Cowbirds are unable use.
- You really are not suppose to destroy Cowbird eggs according to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act unless you have a permit to do so.
- Do not search for bird nests in your yard when Cowbirds are around. Sounds kind of silly but if you are checking in on your Bluebird boxes for example, you may help a female Cowbird discover it too.
- Do not use platform feeders as Cowbirds can easily perch on them.
- Keep the ground clear from seed under feeders as Cowbirds can easily access it.
In Summary
You have to admit, Brown-headed Cowbirds are pretty smart birds. The fact that the female watches for other birds building nests so that she can sneak in, knock out one or two of their eggs and deposit one of hers in place of them is amazing. Plus, she may do this in several different nests before she is finished.
Additionally, the fact that they can identify other Cowbirds by sight and sound when they are so young and instinctively flock together with them is fascinating.
Getting rid of Cowbirds in your yard can be a little tricky but by eliminating the type of food that they like from your feeders such as cracked corn, sunflower seeds, and millet and providing feeders that they cannot get on may help. Plus, following the guidelines that I have mentioned earlier.
You still may end up seeing a Cardinal raising a Cowbird or whatever bird it may be, but hopefully it won’t be as often.
If you have any other ideas or solutions that have worked for you or if you would like to make a comment about this post, please feel free to do so below.
Happy Birding!
Affiliate Disclosure – I am an Affiliate of many products promoted on this website and may earn a commission if you purchase something at no cost to you.
“You really are not suppose to destroy Cowbird eggs according to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act unless you have a permit to do so. However that is totally your decision.”
So, you’re essentially telling people they can choose to ignore federal law?
No that’s not what s/he’s saying. But I would get a permit. Then cowbirds be history.
Kate, thanks for pointing that out to me. It definitely sounds like I am saying that after reading it again. No, I would never tell people to ignore federal law. What I meant to say was that people disagree with me about this permit as they think that since it is their yard they can do what they want.
Quite frankly, it is hard to watch a wren or a warbler raising an ugly cowbird but it is just nature at work and you should leave it alone.
I do not have any bird feeders up. It is May and I stop filling my feeders. This cowbird comes everyday to look at itself in my slider door. And of course poops all over
Gail, the cowbird is seeing its reflection in your slider door thinking it is another cowbird invading its territory. While cowbirds do not build their own nests, as they lay them in other birds’ nests, they want to defend their particular territory so as not to have to compete for them. You may want to put some reflective tape, a sun catcher, or anything that will break up the reflection to keep it away. Bird poop all over your deck or patio is not enjoyable for sure! Keep me posted. Thanks for your comments!
Thanks for posting this. I will definitely try your suggestions. We get flocks of cowbird emptying out our platform feeder every couple of days and have seen these birds bully the smaller birds! Do they ever migrate away from the mid-Atlantic region? We have a smaller adjustable feeder we can use when the cowbirds are around but like to see the greater variety of bird also. Thanks.
Hi Sola, during breeding season in spring/summer they are more abundant at the feeders but this time of year they tend to be more distributed. I do not see them near as much thank goodness. Yes, I agree with you, a variety of birds at the feeder is much more enjoyable especially the little birds like the chickadees and titmice. Thanks for your post!
Juvenile cowbirds are flocking to my feeders. they can get into tube feeder spring loaded for small birds because they are still immature (sparrow sized.). tried switching to nyjer and safflower. they are still partying down. they have scared away all buy one big red bird (bigger than cardinal) and little black capped chickadees that come whenever the cowbirds leave. The cowbirds seem to stand guard on feeders even when they are not eating. I have have groups of ten or more around one feeder with safflower and nyjer only in it. They also sit in groups on the bath. any thoughts? Get to like cowbirds?
Hi Brian, are you sure that they are not House Finches? Juvenile cowbirds look like female house finches. The reason why I am asking is because they are feeding on the nyger. I have never seen cowbirds on my nyger feeders before (doesn’t mean they won’t) but they usually do not eat that. Their behavior really sounds like finches to me. Also, I am curious where you live. Here in Kentucky the cowbirds and the other blackbirds (red-winged, grackles) have left and are gathering in large flocks right now. I do not have any blackbirds hanging around at all and enjoying my other birds at the feeders.
If you are sure that they are juvenile cowbirds then I would take the feeders down for a week or two. They should move on.
If you want you can take photos of them and send them to me. I would be able to ID them for you and the bigger red bird. I am very curious as to what that might be. You can email photos to me at abirdsdelight@gmail.com if you want. Let me know. Thanks for your comments! Donna
So glad to see your website. I have been watching birds outside our kitchen deck for only a few years. We live in upstate SC at the NC border (Polk County). I started making note of the birds I would see outside in my “Golden Book” A Guide to Field Identification BIRDS of North America. What fun to ID birds I would see, and make note of the date I would see them for my first time! The first I saw a Cowbird at my feeders was 5-1-13. Now, this year they are showing up at the end of February!!! Earlier and earlier every year.
At the end of you info. website, I see several bird feeders that could deter Cowbirds. I hope these feeders are your recommendation. Can you please expound on the best tube feeders to get, and also what to put in them so the Cowbirds are unhappy and my “regular” wonderful birds are happy!??
Ann, yes the tube feeders on my post should be good to deter cowbirds especially if you use safflower seed and thistle/nyger. Whole peanuts are also good too. The thistle/nyger seed will attract goldfinches especially but chickadees and cardinals will come in to it as well. Do not include any corn, sunflower seed, or millet in your feeders because cowbirds love that unless you have a feeder with a shorter perch. Cowbirds have a more difficult time on smaller perches with smaller ports where they get the seed from.
Good luck and let me know how it all goes for you. Thanks for your comments!
Day before yesterday my feeder was covered in goldenfinches and even had a few cardinals and a beautiful blue bird that I have never seen before (we live in south Arkansas). By the next day the cowbirds had run everything else off, emptied the feeder, and basically taken over. I am going to try the tube feeder you recommend and see if that helps.
IMG_4867.JPG
IMG_4875.JPG
Kay, yeah the cowbirds are such a pesky bird. I hate when they come in and take over the feeders and scare all the pretty birds away. We have a platform feeder which I like for the hawks and other bigger birds that the cowbirds like to come in to but I will deal with them as we have other feeders set out for the smaller birds. Hopefully the tube feeder will work for you. Sometimes having two feeders helps because the smaller birds have another place to go. Let me know how it works for you and keep me posted. Thanks for your comments!
Switching to safflower seeds doesnt work. Adults and juveniles eat them. I dont think there is a solution to keep cowbirds away and keep Cardinals.
Jim, do you have more than one feeder? A tube feeder? I find that with more than one feeder I still keep my cardinals and other favored birds still coming in. I know that this method doesn’t get rid of them completely but it does help. Thanks for your comments.
Cowbirds in my yard in West Virginia definitely eat thistle/Niger seed – perching on the finch tube feeders. They dominate and keep finches away. They also go through the feeders with songbird size cages (expensive). They seem to scoop seeds from the feeders onto the ground for their hungry friends dining on the ground. I will try switching to only safflower seeds and see how that goes.
Pam, cowbirds are definitely a nuisance. Having more than one feeder helps and definitely try the safflower seeds. Tube feeders with shorter perches do work. Let me know how it goes. Thanks for your comments.
This is going to be long, but hopefully it will help! I have been dealing with this HORRIBLE bird for over 9 years now. Some of the things I have seen them do to the other birds comes close to a Horror Movie. The type of feeders you suggest only keep them away BUT THEY DO NOT REMOVE THEM FROM THE AREA. In my experience, these birds will eat anything! Where I live, Cowbirds have a bounty on them at .50 cents a head. Unfortunately, with the cost of ammo, this is not enough for young hunters to improve their aim and get reimbursed for it. When the Dove population gets to high, they issue a bounty on them at $1.00 a head. That pays for the ammo and a little in your pocket. The REAL THREAT is not the seed, it is the decimation of all our native songbirds. There are tons of articles on this. Female Cowbirds are way more destructive to the other birds nests then you have provided info on. They also can lay more then one egg in a nest. They will destroy all the eggs in the host birds nest. They will go back and kill the hosts birds babies. In Michigan, the Fish and Widelife Division with the Department of Natural Resources put a program in effect in the Hartwig State Forrest to catch and eliminate these birds as they had pretty much eliminated the Warbler. In three years they eliminated over 12 thousand Cowbirds and the Warbler is making a comeback!!! This will be the forth year. I dont have info yet if they will be at it again. So now back to my own experience with this menace. I have many feeders and my husband and I spend a fortune on many different kinds of seed. Our Native birds were starting to disappear. Cowbirds will use over 240 different species and they will raise the cowbird young. If they have young if their own, the young Cowbirds will push them back and get all the food causing the hosts babies to starve or the female cowbird just kills them. I bought traps. I have eliminated thousands of them in the last 8 years! Last year only about 50. This year only 35. ALL my native songbirds have made a HUGE comeback! We have SOO enjoyed watching them these last few weeks. We now have tons of Cardinals, Chickadees, Titmice, lots and lots of three different species of Wood-peckers, Blue Jays, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Baltimore Orioles, three Spieces of Finchies, Indigo Buntings, Blue Birds and many more! I cant keep the feeders full! THE PROBLEM, THE MAJOR PROBLEM is not your feed, it is the devistation they can cause to our Native Species. If you really care, do the research and do what you can to get rid (really get rid of them). I have spent many hours in my life addressing this, but it has been worth it!!!!
Kathi, wow it sounds like you have had quite a few cowbirds to deal with where you live. That can be frustrating for sure as they are such an invasive species. While I get my fair share (not quite as many as you), I will tolerate them as I am not one to kill any type of bird. I have found that I still get plenty of the native birds too so it must not be near as big of an issue here in Kentucky. Thanks for your comments.
Kathie, what type of trap did you use?
What trap did you use?
What kind of trap did you use?? We are desperate!! I will do anything to get rid of them…Thanks so much, Linda McNabb
I, like many others love all animals. I don’t kill spiders because I know how much good they do. March 14th is National Spider Day. I also like snakes. I lived in South Florida for ten years. We had black snakes in our yard. It is illegal to kill them.
We loved kayaking in the Everglades. But now the Everglades are being destroyed by Burmese pythons. They eat everything there, including alligators. They now have hunting days to try to get rid of them.
I believe when one species is a a threat to so many other other species, it is time to change the rules.
The cowbird, as many have concluded here, is that there are more and more of them every year and a definite threat to many of our loved birds.
I totally agree with you Kathi. They are truly garbage birds.
I’m in Utah where we have a very limited variety of desirable birds. I’ve been so sad to have two pair of cowbirds start chasing away my single chickadee, my favorite lazuli buntings, and now even my plentiful sparrows and house finches! I’ll try changing my seed. Hopefully this will help. At least they leave the hummingbird feeders alone! (By the way, I love this website. I just found it in a search to get rid of these awful, aggressive cowpigs—that’s what I’ve been calling them).
Jill, hopefully changing the seed helps and if you only have one bird feeder (besides the hummingbird feeder) maybe consider getting another one for the other birds. I find that having more than one feeder does help. I am glad that you like my website and I appreciate your comments. Good luck and keep me posted.
I too, here in WNY, have experienced the scourge of the Cowbird at my feeders. I have taken down my hanging feeders, except for the finch socks and the weighted feeder. Interestingly, the behavior I’ve observed is a nesting oddity that perhaps someone can explain to me. There is a nest in a tall Arborvitae that is being manned by Cowbirds and I’ve watched them routinely fly out of the tree, and land on our pool deck, then deposit a piece of poop they’ve carried in their beaks from the nest at the edge of the concrete! Every day I come home to many pieces of poop neatly lining the edge of the pool! It’s crazy? Anyone know why they do this? I get it, cleaning out the nest, but if their behavior suggests they don’t monitor their nests, why do this? Thanks for your thoughts in advance!
Mary, are you sure it is a cowbird? It may be a blackbird of some sort (ie. grackle). Cowbirds do not build nests nor take care of their young. Songbirds when nesting will take their nestling’s (young) fecal sacs and carry them away from the nest for cleanliness purposes. As long as the young are in the nest the parents will continue to remove them. Some smaller songbird adults will eat the fecal sacs.
Send me a photo of the bird to verify what it is if you want. abirdsdelight@gmail.com
I hope this helps. Thanks for your comments!
First Cowbird juvenile showed up a couple of weeks ago. The male Cardinal picked seed out of my tube feeder and flew down to my deck and was feeding the Cowbird, obviously raised in the Cardinal nest. Now however the Cowbird is eating from the tube feeder. I did not sign the Migratory Bird Act and consider them pests. My pellet gun works just fine.
Yeah Leo, for some reason Cardinals seem to be hit the most with cowbird invasions. It’s not fun to watch at all.
Hi Donna, I am so happy I found your site.
I am a rookie when it comes to birds.
I started a feeding station with natural habitat supplemented with feeders for the birds and hummingbirds in Orlando. We have lost so much natural habitat due to growth.
First we had to deal with the squirrels overrunning and destroying the feeders, so I had the hubs build me a 12 ft 4×4 round PVC pole to put the the feeders on. Success, squirrels averted. Then the two hawks started eyeballing the feeder and perching on it regularly, I expanded to make a separate feeding station for the squirrels and a kind of hidden one for the songbirds. And have a hanging nyger seed feeder which does not seem to attract any birds at all.
Then two quiet brown birds appeared. I took pictures and posted them to ask with help identifying them. No response, took more pictures and posted and was informed that they were cowbirds. In a matter of weeks, the cowbirds are flocking with grackles and red winged black birds and decimating the feeders and bullying the other birds. Even the squirrels seem to cower. Food went from lasting a week to a day and a half. They were throwing more seed out on the ground, so it made me question what they were looking for. Then I was curious how to get rid of them. And found your site. Thank you for putting up such useful information.
I was gonna pull in all of the feeders. I was using the word aggressive like a virus or weed, but parasitic seems to be more fitting for what is happening in my backyard. We run a live feed and made the decision to just focus on the suet and nut feeder the woodpecker likes. Once my back is better, I am going to pull the feeders. I tried leaving them empty but then the cardinals come looking for the seed. We have one with a gimpy leg so I try to make sure there is something for him. I will be posting my updates on my social media platforms on Twitter,
FB, Instagram and my blog. The BITBO project (birdsinthebackyardorlando) I will try your suggestions. Thanks again and I will definitely keep your site bookmarked.
Thanks for your comments Sheri. Good luck and keep me posted.
WE have hundreds of them that have over run our feeders. WE live on a farm. We still get occasional pretty song birds but not like before the invasion. It is obvious that I am going to have to declare war on them. They are an expensive pest that are diminishing our wonderful other birds!!!!!
John, I completely agree with you. Cowbirds are just plain pests. Thanks for your post.
Hi there,
I tried to reflect on hundreds of birds flocked into my backyard during winter. Just knew this year that cowbirds are invading my songbirds’ sanctuaries. I have a firsthand interaction with my cardinals and titmice and woodpeckers nesting and raised in my backyard. I hope to publish them soon as planned. Anyways thanks for your insights about cowbirds and cuckoo birds. I love wild birds particularly songbirds talking to me and graze and nest in my backyard successfully helping them reproduce more. I will try to discourage cowbirds this year onwards.
Mila, thanks for your comment.
Yes I would like to know also what kind of trap you used for I have gobs of these nasty cowbirds and they are extremely mean to the chickadees that come to my yard and crows started coming to my yard last year and I have to say I hate both cowbirds and crows. It’s a hard thing for me to harm anything other than a roach,ant, and or spider and well of course snakes. So please let me know what kind of trap to use. Now I also know what these 3 ugly baby birds were I saw that hatched in my cedar tree and it was swallow parents raised. One of these ugly things got under my porch and the swallows coaxed it out and they moved these ugly big baby birds to a big shrub tree in my back yard. And also now I know why I’ve been seeing some eggs laying on the ground that were small and didn’t look anything like the picture that I seen of the cowbird eggs. That makes me sad for I left the eggs alone that I seen a few different times on the ground. I’m rambling but it makes me angry but sad that the little birds that were in these little eggs more than likely died. I was raised not to touch nor breath on them. They were small light blue eggs that were on the ground. I have a variety of different kinds of birds. But these cowbirds are running them off. Cardinals,doves, chickadees, bluebirds, songbirds and a few more I don’t know what they are but their disappearing. SAD! I’m at a loss. I live in Mississippi. Discouraged I am.
Charlene, I do not use a trap for the cowbirds. I am just careful on which type of birdseed I use (no cracked corn as they like this) and when I have a number of them flocking in I stop feeding for a few days. They tend to move along to another place for feeding. Thanks for your comment.
This yard does not have any feeders as we are not allowed. There was a nest under the awning and we removed it. The cowbird keeps slamming into my window. I put up paper towels to cover the window also some aluminum foil. It came back. Today I am going to try cardboard. This crazy ird is driving me crazy. Although it is something to watch during this lockdown.
Hi Dolores, birds see their reflection and think it’s another bird in their space. Do you have the aluminum up on the outside or inside? Outside is more effective and you have to have it covering the window pretty good or they will still see a reflection. However, if it is entertaining to you during these crazy times, enjoy ;-). I hope this helps.
Stay well!
Donna
Wow! I just started having this problem with the cowbirds. They are chasing away all my birds. They are persistent buggers. I don’t like killing birds, but my son has no problem with this one. I took all my feeders down and I had mirrors to keep scrub jays always and removed them now they are at my sliding door constantly, so I will need to cover it. Thanks for the info
I live in the country and love my song birds. I started seeing cowbirds years ago, just a few. This year multiple feeders are overrun with them. Cowbirds are noisy, aggressive and the males are viscous to other species. The last straw for me was when I witnessed a male cowbird attack a female grosbeak and literally made her scream. My state allows for killing the cowbird if it is endangering protected species. My solution is giving the cowbird invaders lead poisoning. First day 20, second day 5, third day 1 and that seems to have done it. Now all the songbirds and other species have a chance. Male and female Cardinal, rose breasted grosbeak, Baltimore oriole, tufted titmouse, goldfinch, house finch, Carolina wren, nuthatch, and a wide assortment of woodpeckers all visit the feeders and get along.
How do you give the cow birds lead to poison them? We are having the same problem with our feeders. The cowbirds have taken over and now I don’t see the beautiful other birds. And they are devastating my feeders.
Mona, I never recommend killing birds. However, what works for me is having more than one feeder. There are feeders that only hold the small songbirds, the bigger birds are unable to perch on them and move on. I hope this helps. Thanks for posting.
I am so upset not seeing my birds because week or so ago the cowbirds have come many many of them I have 5 Acres and there are all over my yard and have taken over my feeder. They push the other birds away that try to come here and there. I would never want to hurt a bird but wish there was something I could do I have a house feeder.
Debra, maybe you should get another feeder that only holds the smaller songbirds. I have a few feeders in my yard (a platform, suet, tube, smaller one for songbirds) and it helps to keep the cowbirds, starlings etc. from driving the other birds out. I hope this helps. If you look up birdfeeders for songbirds it should point you in the right direction as to what type to look for. Good luck!
We used to have quite a few cowbirds that stayed in our garage/barn. We live in a small town in Michigan. I noticed that they kept flying in and out of this one hole. As soon as that was boarded up that resolved most of our cowbird population as we took away the home they kept returning to. Also, these stupid birds LOVE suet. My Red-bellied Woodpecker had to fight off one of the cowbirds just to get to the suet. I’m afraid the Woodpecker may never come back and this was the first year I’ve had them. Do you think of I mounted the suet feeder on the side of a building it would deter them? Also I am giving it a shot by moving my cylinder feeders in different spots. I would buy a small pellet gun to take them out but I’d probably do more damage to my neighbors garage. It would give me some kind of satisfaction! Lol
Gale, it may help to deter them but you’ll have to just try it and see. Moving the cylinder feeders may help too. Good luck they are a pain!
Thank you for your article. I live in a rural area and in the last 3 weeks this cowbird has been attacking our pickup trucks! Sitting on the back behind the window or on the mirrors pecking at the windows and pooping all over.. unfortunately there are many nests in the area so they will multiply here.. short of covering the entire vehicle and suggestions? It is a couple, I’ve seen them both, either one at a time or together.. very invasive, troubling behavior… and they seem to be new to this area..
Cheryl, I think it is mainly the mirrors that they see their reflection in. Start with covering them first to see if that helps. Yes, it is troubling to watch this happening. Good luck!
Donna I live in south Carolina. And I use cayenne pepper to keep the squirrels away they do not like it. Is there any kind of spice that you can buy to keep calibers from eating the seeds. The seeds that you said will keep them away are expensive I cannot afford that kind of seed.
Phyllis, I do not know of any. The only thing you can do is take the feeder down a week or two to make them think it is gone. It sometimes helps.
Every morning at 5:45AM the cowbirds go on our windows pecking at their reflections. I tried to put very thin deer fencing on the outside of the windows which worked for 2 days. Then they started perching on one of the holes of the fencing and continue to be our wake up call, pecking at the windows. Male and female alike! I’m going crazy with this rude wake up and they fly away as soon as we get our pellet gun out. I’m going to try to use some chalk water to reduce the reflection on the outside of the window (which by the way, is on the second floor OVER our window which has vertical windows-making it VERY hard to reach).
Phyllis there are seeds you can buy that are hot. Check out duncrofts web site and see what they have. Don’t know tho if the cowbirds will eat it.
We have 4 feeders and about a bizillion cow birds. They waste so much food. I’m ordering tube feeders and will remove the others. I will leave what they have dumped on the ground and hope they eat it. They are bullies and I wish they would move along so my red birds could come back.