• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

When to put out a thistle feeder (1 Viewer)

affe22

Well-known member
When do people in the US generally put out a thistle feeder? I just got one and have never had one before. I'm hoping a Pine Siskin may wander along and find it this winter.
 
I still have Lesser Goldfinches who're covering the sock feeder every day. I didn't have this feeder last winter (put it up this past spring for the finches), so I'll leave this up and see how the Pine Siskins like it. The two I've had come in already this summer jumped right on it. Is your thistle feeder a tube or sock?
 
It's one of those plastic tubes with the little rests. I decided it couldn't hurt to put it out now so I filled it and put it out after dark. We'll see what happens tomorrow.
 
Katy Penland said:
I still have Lesser Goldfinches who're covering the sock feeder every day. I didn't have this feeder last winter (put it up this past spring for the finches), so I'll leave this up and see how the Pine Siskins like it. The two I've had come in already this summer jumped right on it. Is your thistle feeder a tube or sock?

Sorry to butt in here, but do finches prefer socks? I've put out thistle in tube feeders and they seem to ignore it and go to the sunflower seed feeder instead.
 
No such thing as butting in on a discussion forum! :t:

Do you know what kind of finches are ignoring your thistle seed? Our House Finches don't bother with it on the ground, and their beaks are too big to stick into the tiny tube feeder openings or the sock feeder's mesh. But the Lesser and American Goldfinches, and Pine Siskins, can gobble it up with their smaller, narrower beaks. House Finches and some of the other larger-beaked finch-type birds seem to prefer sunflower seed, safflower seed, and sunflower hearts

Good question, though -- don't know if there is a preference on the part of the two Goldfinches or the Siskins. I do know that a lot more birds can feed from a sock at one time (20-26) than they can from a tube feeder (4-8 perches I think are the average). But I also know that I have to clean the sock at least weekly where a tube feeder might not have to be cleaned but a couple times a season, or as weather or other circumstances might dictate.

Be interesting to see if anyone else has some insight into whether a sock or tube feeder is preferred by the birds.
 
Katy Penland said:
..... Do you know what kind of finches are ignoring your thistle seed?.....

The only ones I can ID are the American Goldfinch and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Pine Siskins are so similar to the many other smaller birds that I haven't sorted them all out yet. (In an effort to ID them, I cross-indexed the Audubon Handbook of Eastern Birds with a list of birds commonly found in Missouri because many of the birds I think are "finches" probably aren't ! |=)|)

I don't get takers on plain safflower seed, but they'll eat it as part of a pricey mix that also has peanuts, raisins, currants, almonds, etc... that looks a lot like trail mix or breakfast granola for humans, and they love suet blocks, but shun ordinary wild bird seed mixes.

Perhaps they ignore most ordinary commercial bird foods, including thistle, because this is a rural area with plenty of wild food, so they'll only visit the feeders if I offer some premium treats they can't find elsewhere. That's fine, at least they find all the food they want!
 
Once you get the hang of it, Siskins won't look like much else out there. They shouldn't be hanging out in SW Missouri yet I don't think.
 
affe22 said:
Once you get the hang of it, Siskins won't look like much else out there. They shouldn't be hanging out in SW Missouri yet I don't think.

That's what I don't like about this old Audubon book - no range maps at all, nevermind maps marked summer/ winter/ migration, etc... I ordered a Peterson guide and hope it will be more thorough in that respect. Thanks for the info.
 
Didn't see any birds there today. I imagine it takes a bit of time before they notice another feeder around. Hopefully I'll start seeing some activity in the next few days.
 
I've got a fine screen mesh feeder which is like a sock but tougher. I've used a sock as well. They can attract a lot more birds at a time because they can cling on anywhere but the trade-off is you will go through a lot more thistle. As far as what type of feeder they like better I'm not sure I've asked them many times but the goldfinches only answer me with that high pitched sound that sounds like eeeeeeat!
 
Don't know if it's an effect of all the wildflowers and weeds putting on seed heads just now or whether migration has started, but I've noticed a drop in birds at the feeders the past few days. Our overnight temps are also starting to drop (40 F. night before last, and 38 F. last night), and the hummer numbers are definitely way down the past week. Should be seeing Pine Siskins come in any day now and they love the thistle seed.
 
Had to put another feeder out.

Hav`nt tried a sock but I put out another tube feeder to cut down on the squabbeling.One day last year I walked out and it looked like the grass was vibrating then I looked closer and it was about 100 goldfinches (in winter plummage) going to town on the bird seed. I hope a get to see that again this year. :D
 
lvn600 said:
I've got a fine screen mesh feeder which is like a sock but tougher. I've used a sock as well. They can attract a lot more birds at a time because they can cling on anywhere but the trade-off is you will go through a lot more thistle. As far as what type of feeder they like better I'm not sure I've asked them many times but the goldfinches only answer me with that high pitched sound that sounds like eeeeeeat!

I tried a screen mesh feeder because I was going through socks pretty fast. With cleaning them and everything they fall apart. The screen mesh feeder wasn't cheap, but I thought it would save money in the long run since I wouldn't be buying so many socks. But they didn't like it! The socks got both house finches and lesser goldfinches, but only the occasional gold finch would use the screen mesh feeder and the seed stayed in it for a long time. I don't have it filled right now and am back to the socks. I did find a different kind of sock that is more durable and longer so more birds can fit. It is also black which looks nicer than the white that would get stained from the seed oil.
 
lvn600 said:
I like watching the Goldfinches pick the seed heads off of the Purple Coneflowers.

I would love to see that! I have a crop of Purple Coneflowers in the front yard this year. Haven't seen anyone snacking yet, put I'll keep a lookout. Goldfinches are my favorite!
 
smudgepot said:
I would love to see that! I have a crop of Purple Coneflowers in the front yard this year. Haven't seen anyone snacking yet, put I'll keep a lookout. Goldfinches are my favorite!

I had a sock feeder and tons of finches loveded it. Due to the cleaning problem, I too switched to the tube and likewise found fewer of them visiting. |=(|
 
smudgepot said:
I tried a screen mesh feeder because I was going through socks pretty fast. With cleaning them and everything they fall apart. The screen mesh feeder wasn't cheap, but I thought it would save money in the long run since I wouldn't be buying so many socks. But they didn't like it!
When I first put my wire mesh feeder out I thought my thistle had gone bad or something.The goldfinches would only eat my sunflower hearts from a tube feeder but would not touch the thistle in the mesh feeder. After about 2-3 weeks they caught on to it. Now I have to fill the thistle feeder often as I get up to a dozen goldfinches on it at a time.
 
Last edited:
The birds found the thistle. It is interesting though because I have already seen multiple house finches, a solitary male goldfinch and a single chickadee all feeding at the same time. Guess the slits on this one are a little bigger.
 
Yesterday I discovered 10 lbs of shelled sunflower got soaked from a rain storm after the cover of the container came off.I used black oil sunflower seeds and the Goldfinches are still eating it from the tube feeder.They continue to ignore the nyjer.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 10 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top