Problem birds

Does anyone else have a problem with turkeys at the bird feeders? They come every day, eat the seeds that I put out for the other birds and scare the other birds off. I have counted as many as 13 at a time.

This is out of the window. Excuse the grass. Its just starting to grow and with a solid week of rain I couldn't mow. Not the best of shots. Their head bobs up and down so fast picking seed sometimes they are just a blur. Some time right off I will try to get some good shots of the damn things.




I would much rather take pictures of these.

Ron Morse said:

Does anyone else have a problem with turkeys at the bird feeders? They come every day, eat the seeds that I put out for the other birds and scare the other birds off. I have counted as many as 13 at a time.

This is out of the window. Excuse the grass. Its just starting to grow and with a solid week of rain I couldn't mow. Not the best of shots. Their head bobs up and down so fast picking seed sometimes they are just a blur. Some time right off I will try to get some good shots of the damn things.




I would much rather take pictures of these.

Click to expand...

Ron,

I like that turkey! hmmm! Still the little one is interesting. Name it!

Asher

The small bird is a blue jay Asher. The turkey and the first blue jay were taken with the 70-200 f/2.8 and the last blue jay was with the 500. All from inside through a window.

I'm serious when I ask if others have a turkey problem.

Ron,

Seriously, is it non-P.C. to eat them? Not 13 at a time, of course! I doubt it would bother the wild turkey population, but i'm no expert.

Asher

We don't have much problem with them here on this farm (western NC)--I have seen small flocks in our back pasture--and had several that flew across our fenced veg garden. Where we used to live (northcentral NC very VERY rural county) which had the largest population of wild turkeys in the state, they came wherever there was food. We actually raised turkeys every year for Thanksgiving/Christmas dinners that were half wild, half bronze---and there would be no reason not to eat some of these--the wild added to the leaner meat but had smaller breasts but had a wonderful flavor (I've also been a vegetarian for over 8 years in the past after we sold our own meat animals and no longer raised them the way I though they should be raised--no longer but I understand feelings on both sides).

Asher probably doesn't know the Blue Jay since the jays on the west coast look quite different. Blue Jays are our noisy birds here (besides the crows)---they go off everytime anything is near, on the ground or in the air.

So--I can't help you about the turkeys around the feeders. Interesting though--I never even thought about them getting to the feeders though they love grain so if you are feeding sunflower seeds or similar I can imagine they think they have died and gone to heaven LOL.

Diane

Ron Morse said:

Does anyone else have a problem with turkeys at the bird feeders? They come every day, eat the seeds that I put out for the other birds and scare the other birds off. I have counted as many as 13 at a time.

Click to expand...

You might consider using an alternative feed more attractive to the turkeys and placing that at an alternate site to try and draw them away. Albeit, this might simply get you more turkeys.

I have no turkey problems, but then there are no turkeys out West here. Deer are an issue, but that is easy to solve by not replanting anything they ate and watching for them closely while driving near sunrise and sunset.

a thought,

Sean

Hi Ron,

If its just a question of wanting to only feed the smaller birds, put the feed inside a cage, with mesh/bars too small for the big ones to get through, and the cage big enough so they can't reach it.

What is the point in feeding 'wild birds'?

Best wishes,

Ray

Thanks everyone. I don't really mind feeding them. Its just that they scare off the other birds then it takes quite a while for the smaller ones to come back.

I put a lot of food on the ground for the doves, jays and a lot of other birds that seem to prefer to get it off the ground. This is what attracts them. I know that as long as I put it on the ground They will keep coming. Once the seed starts getting hard to find they start scratching. They will dig the lawn all up. I will continue to put up with them. I just wondered if others have this problem with turkeys.

Ray West said:

Hi Ron,

If its just a question of wanting to only feed the smaller birds, put the feed inside a cage, with mesh/bars too small for the big ones to get through, and the cage big enough so they can't reach it.

What is the point in feeding 'wild birds'?


Best wishes,

Ray

Click to expand...

I'm not sure that I want to weld up a jail on my lawn Ray LOL.

This was late last fall.

I've never heard of this kind of problem with wild turkeys, but a similar problem with whitewing doves is quite common around here. They can eat 3-4 lbs of seed in a day at my two feeders. My parents have a bigger problem and have actually seen 30+ on their porch rail at one time.

The only solution I've heard of is modifying your feeder so that the larger birds can't get to it. One friend covered it with spikes a few inches apart (narrower than our rather fat whitewings). If you're ground feeding that won't help much with your turkeys, though.

I live in a bird sanctuary, so killing them (even in season) is illegal. It might be viable in your area, though.

Revoke their visas and deport them!

On a more practical note, maybe remove the incentive to visit by stopping feeding for several weeks and get them to look elsewhere!

Asher

It's really interesting to me to see this thread because wild turkeys were something of a photographic challenge for me a few weeks ago while they were in their mating season. My Aunt has a country property a few kilometres north of me and has been feeding a flock of wild turkeys for several years. She has also been feeding woodpeckers, cardinals, blue jays, doves, pigeons along with a variety of other birds I can't even think of at the moment.

The turkeys (about 30 of them) feed twice each day on one side of her house....nearest where they can scuttle off into the hills to hide out between feedings. There are a number of feeders on the adjacent side of the house to attract other species and the birds all seem to be used to one another now. At last count there were about 14 'resident' bluejays who dash about her veranda and pick up peanuts off the railing even while she's only sitting a few feet away. The woodpeckers aren't quite as bold but they will come within about ten feet of the veranda while she's on it. All the others do as well even while the turkeys are busy feeding, gobbling or dancing. (And isn't their 'turkey dance' a fascinating thing?)

She was feeding the turkeys grain but now buys cracked corn because it's less expensive and buys various types of feeds to attract other varieties of birds. As a side note, her garden has been specifically planted to attract butterflies and all in all, it's quite a fantastic place to visit!

However, the real point is that there doesn't seem to be any frightening off of the smaller birds because there's so much feed for all of them. A rather time-consuming and perhaps expensive solution but it certainly does make for a beautiful 'nature preserve' and a remarkable photographic resource. It doesn't hurt that she has one of the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen either.