Hi Doug,
I hope it keeps working. I, too, tried the halo and it was wonderful - at
first. Just a day or two later, one bold house sparrow made it under the
hoop. The next day, a few more found it possible, and by day five, they
were all back, scaring away anything with wings. Sheesh.
I wish you MUCH better luck!
Susan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug Plummer" <2doug at dougplummer.com>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2004 4:34 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] House sparrow repellent


> I picked up a device at the Seattle Audubon store that is reputed to repel
> House Sparrows from feeders. Well hey, it works! It's called a halo, and
> it's basically a 2 foot diameter metal hoop with four weighted
monofilament
> lines that effectively block only House Sparrows from the feeder. I have
> four feeders set up, and even though it's only mounted on one feeder it
> works to keep them off the adjacent ones too. One feeder that wasn't next
> to the hoop I just tied on a single line of monofilament about 6 inches
off
> (from the hanger), and that keeps them from that feeder too. Now the house
> finches and goldfinches cluster with no harassment from the bullies.
> Previously I only had an occasional bold goldfinch who would tolerate
> feeding in the presence of the thugs. With the House Sparrows removed, the
> entire flock is feeding now from the thistle feeder.
>
> I wonder if this is an innate or learned behavior with HOSP, and if this
is
> only a temporary solution.
>
> Doug Plummer
> Seattle
> 2doug at dougplummer.com
>
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