How To Stop Crows Eating Fat Balls

Fat balls are popular bird food for garden birds.

They are perfect for house owners who want to entertain and keep small birds in their garden and around their area.

Fat balls or Suet balls are intensely packed with good nutrients that help birds get through the cold winter season.

They can be nicely placed in bird feeders, but here’s the problem 

Some crows are cleverly greedy who keep on eating and stealing this food. 

Large birds like crows often dominate the entire bird feeders where these fat balls are placed.

Since they are predators for other small birds, they will naturally drive the birds away and eat the food all by themselves.

One best way to keep the crows away from your bird feeders is to enclose the feeder in a cage.

This will prevent them from eating the fat balls, while letting small birds enter the cage and eat the food.

How Do I Stop Crows Eating Bird Food? (In Detail) 

Crows are highly intelligent birds, but they can really be annoying as they would just dominate your bird feeder.

They can easily eat up all the bird food you have prepared for smaller birds in your garden. 

To stop these black birds from stealing bird food, make sure you turn your bird feeders into crow-proof ones.

You can simply do this by hanging crow deterrent that would not scare other birds away. 

Effective crow scares are shiny and reflective objects and installing wire mesh around the bird feeders can also be your solution.

You can also relocate your feeders into somewhere that only small birds could enter. 

How Do I Keep Crows Out Of My Suet Feeder?

Keeping crows out of your suet feeder might seem difficult, but it is definitely doable.

These black birds would certainly not share the suet balls you did not intentionally want to feed them.

So, how do you exactly keep these crows away?

Here’s 3 things you can do

Remove your trash

Before you think your trash bins have nothing to do with suet feeders, have you noticed that crows are usually seen in the area where your trash is located?

Crows will eat anything, so they most likely know they would see something in your trash bags and bins. 

Once they spot this, there is also a higher chance they would spot where your suet feeder is!

By giving these crows no reason to stay in your area would be the best method to keep them away. 

Improve your bird feeders

You can also improve your bird feeders and turn them into crow-proof one.

How do you do this?

Installing wire mesh or feeder cage would not let the crows eat and steal away the fat balls stored in there.

It would turn your feeders into something inaccessible for large birds, while still paving the way for small ones.

Relocate your feeders

Putting your bird feeders where only the small birds would be able to access is also a way.

Instead of placing your bird feeders in your lawn openly for any animals, you can simply try to place them in other safe, but accessible areas.

Do Crows Eat Suet Balls?

Crows can eat almost anything that is available, as long as it’s edible for them.

Naturally, suet balls will highly attract these large, black birds.

Therefore, it is not surprising if smaller birds, like sparrows, would eventually stop visiting your bird feeder. 

Fat balls are highly nutritious and popular bird food.

It can be bought in your local pet or bird shops, or simply make your own.

If crows discover that you have an available food for them, they would likely swarm in your place and eat all the food away. 

To prevent this, you can also make your own fat balls and put ingredients that crows would not like, such as safflower seeds.

If these birds would not like the food you provide, they would not eat it. 

How Do I Get Rid Of Crows Without Scaring Other Birds?

Scaring the crows away while keeping other birds is actually pretty easy.

You can use crow deterrents such as fake decoys to drive them away.

Covering your trash bins and keeping your yard clean would also be effective. 

These birds would also try to stay in your area if there are any available resources.

Make sure you also remove any water sources or cover your bird feeder when not in use. 

Wrapping Up

Fat balls are popular and nutritious bird food perfect for your garden birds.

However, crows would also be a problem as they will scare other birds away.

To prevent them from eating your suet balls, make sure you turn your feeders into crow-proof bird feeders.

Ultimately, know that crows and other large birds also need food. I

n case you don’t want them stealing the fat balls you prepared for other birds, you can also try to make other food intended for them.

We at birdcageshere.com write about bird health and diet however it should not be taken as medical advice. For advice on your bird you need to seek out an avian vet. The information you find on birdcageshere.com is for educational purposes only. At birdcageshere.com we are not liable for any information that you may find on here. Birdcageshere is NOT a substitute for professional medical advice about your bird.