i don't have a single common Sparrow
i have several red finches
a couple of song sparrows
(with the white and black striped heads)
also known as fox sparrows
quite a few cardinals mostly female
a wolf pack of blue jays(man do they eat)
20 or so Juncos
two morning Doves
and a wild grey cat that wants to eat them
around fifteen wood Peckers-
Hairy, Downies and Red Bellies and Nut hatches
typically around 50 birds live on my deck
i have 1/2 round bark Quonset hut's shelters
taken from logs i burn as they peel and or fall off
the 4x4 cube of suet sits over an old bird house
with a slanted roof that catches the "droppings"
from the suet so the Juncos land there with GLEE
the house itself prolly an old bluebird design......
is stuffed with seed which when seed gets real low
entices only the most intelligent of the crew
to stick their head in the hole and feast away.
but my best idea is the thinly cut slab wood
screwed to the uprights attached to the railing
that gives the pecker heads a landing pad
where they line up for their turn at the suet.
the bark is what they love because its perfect traction!
one thin strip of bark (about 2 inches wide)
i have screwed to
the outside of the slider to the deck so i can
watch the smaller downies from just 16 inches away.
the Barn cat who's almost as fat as Garfield now
has a grand time watching the Action for hours on end.