I have had good luck with upside down feeders. The kind with the screening
on the bottom and a wooden roof on top. The crows are just too big and
apparently not graceful enough to flip to the underside, and I have only
had one starling figure it out. She was feeding babies, but never came back
after that. I have nuthatches, chickadees, downy woodpeckers and flickers
using it on a regular basis, during all seasons of the year. The first year
I had it up, the flickers would just sit underneath it and wait for bits
dropped by the others, but now they've figured it out, and come several
times a day.

Yesterday, a nuthatch brought a baby down, perched him on top on the feeder
hanger, and fed him several pieces. I agree with you. That's the reward!

----------
> From: ravenn at premier1.net
> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Subject: Nuthatches and Hairy Woodpeckers
> Date: Tuesday, May 27, 1997 1:35 AM
>
> Hello all,
>
> This morning I reaped the rewards of having suet feeders in my backyard.

> There was a flurry of activity and small gray bodies flitting in and
> out. Two adult Red-breasted Nuthatches were flying back and forth from
> my suet to their two young ones. The young moved in and among the
> branches of the trees behind my feeders, stopping every once and awhile
> to flutter their wings and beg. As I watched this, two much larger
> birds appeared on the scene. An adult male Hairy Woodpecker with his
> red patch on the back of his head claimed the suet and broke off a
> chunk. He then took the chunk to a nearby tree to feed his young. This
> was a young male with the red patch on the forward part of his head.
>
> For the past three weeks I've been considering taking my suet down
> because of a battle with Crows and Starlings. I'll keep working with my
> upside down feeders and cages. Does anyone have anything that works?
>
> Yvonne Bombardier
> Everett, Wa
> ravenn at premier1.net