Niger seed mess--any solutions?

[Doug Greenberg]

I've followed the thread relating to seed waste, and I agree that sunflower chips is a good solution, although my goodness, they ARE expensive!

I enjoy feeding niger seed to the goldfinches, but they are incredibly sloppy and wasteful. I use a tube with mesh-type feeder and also a net "sock" feeder, and in both cases, the birds spill and drop as much as they consume. My deck is always a mess and especially in wet weather, the seed is wasted because I have to clean it up and toss it (it gets mixed with bird excrement, so I don't think it's safe to "reload" the feeders).

Does anyone have any solutions to this particular problem? I can sweep the stuff down onto our lawn below, but it just makes a different kind of mess down there. . .

[IanF]

How about fixing a plastic saucer to the bottom of the feeder. We have a tube type feeder with a patent tray attached - picture below. I think it's called a Droll Yankee Feeder.

Perhaps you can get them for the niger feeders too or concoct one yourself.

[Elizabeth Bigg]

Ian - I have a very large seed tray/squirrel baffle underneath my two niger feeders. It has collected a large amount of spillage - but what can I do with this other than throw it away? It seems to be a mixture of husks, seeds (some germinating) and droppings. It grieves me to discard it, but that seems to be the only option.

Fortunately the goldfinches sometimes feed on the tray, and also on the ground beneath with several chaffinches, dunnocks and house sparrows, because the tray does not catch everything.

[IanF]

Hi Elizabeth,

To be honest I'd throw it away too. From what I've seen the wastage off ours is all husks. We've never had any niger sprout in our garden. The niger feeder has such narrow slits for the Goldfinches that none ever comes out the feeder unless a Goldie pulls it out. I suspect they eat the good bit and discard the husks. My feeder is a plain solid plastic tube with four tiny feeding slits. Doug obviously has net/mesh feeders so there is quite a bit of wastage by the sounds of it. Having a tray attached should catch the uneaten seed from which the birds will feed. Any husks would I imagine get blown away by the wind.

[smeltmill]

Dear Elizabeth, Doug, and Ian,

I use a Droll Yankie Niger feeder with a large saucer attached to the base as in Ian’s photograph.
Each morning the debris on the saucer is emptied on to the ground and a seed mix plus sultanas are added to the top of the heap and a cage placed over it.
The ground feeders pick over this mixture all day. The next morning the cage is moved to a new location and the process repeated. This allows the pheasants to do the final clean-up.
This is not a perfect solution but a great deal better than allowing the debris to accumulate under the feeding station.

Hope you all have a wonderful birdying 2004.

Regards.
G B-S.

[Leif]

Dear Elizabeth, Doug, and Ian,

I use a Droll Yankie Niger feeder with a large saucer attached to the base as in Ian’s photograph.
Each morning the debris on the saucer is emptied on to the ground and a seed mix plus sultanas are added to the top of the heap and a cage placed over it.
The ground feeders pick over this mixture all day. The next morning the cage is moved to a new location and the process repeated. This allows the pheasants to do the final clean-up.
This is not a perfect solution but a great deal better than allowing the debris to accumulate under the feeding station.

Hope you all have a wonderful birdying 2004.

Regards.
G B-S.

My mother also has a Droll Yankee seed feeder filled with sunflower seed. She used to use a plasic tray to catch spillage, but that allowed Collared Doves and Wood Pigeons to feed and scare away the other birds. So I removed the tray, and although a lot of seed falls to the ground, Dunnocks, Doves and pigeons clean most of it up.

Does anyone have a suggestion for collecting spilt seed without attracting pests such as Wood Pigeons? (I wouldn't mind them except that they eat so much and scare away other birds.)

[smeltmill]

Dear Lief,

Try a cage on the ground under the feeder.
CJ wildbird foods supply them with a choice of two different hole sizes.
Or better still make one from weld mesh then it will be exactly what you need.
Once installed the small birds soon get the hang of it and dodge about inside while the big chaps look on in frustration.

Regards.
G B-S.