[PumaMan]

I live in the desert on the far SE side of Tucson -- actually in Vail -- and I have been feeding the birds for many years now. But we've only been feeding the Lesser Goldfinches, with Nyjer seed feeders, for a couple of years now. A month or so ago they would pack each feeder (we have three) with as many as 25-50 or so at any one time. But recently I haven't seen any at all. The online charts show that they migrate in summer to the north of AZ but it also shows them living year-round in southern AZ. So, what happened to them? The drought? We have plenty of water on our property -- a 24-hour a day flow . . . .

Oops! Just when I finished this post, I see a couple out there now on the feeders -- but nothing like the numbers that we're used to seeing . . . . ?????

[PumaMan]

Except for a few, the Lesser Goldfinches are still AWOL. Only one good thing has come out of this: I'm saving money on nyjer seed, which is expensive. It must be shipped by air from Ethiopia.

[Lisa W]

They came to visit me here near Bisbee.
I haven't had but one or two all summer and now I have a decent size pack attacking the niger feeder.

[PumaMan]

Originally Posted by Lisa W

They came to visit me here near Bisbee.
I haven't had but one or two all summer and now I have a decent size pack attacking the niger feeder.

While I have been doing "general" bird feeding for years and hummingbird feeding for years, I've only been feeding the Lesser Goldfinches with nyjer feeders for about two years, so I don't know much about their habits yet. I've even read other places that the nyjer seed can "go bad" or dry out and the finches won't touch it then. Have you heard anything about this? But the House Finches still seem to like it.

[Lisa W]

I've even read other places that the nyjer seed can "go bad" or dry out and the finches won't touch it then. Have you heard anything about this? But the House Finches still seem to like it.

I haven't heard of a problem with it drying out. You do need to watch and make sure that if it gets wet it doesn't mold. Not a huge problem for us, except during monsoons and the rare winter rains.

[PumaMan]

I found this about goldfinches on the WBU site:

They are late nesters, nesting from June through August. During this time their diet consists of a lot of insects, so activity at seed feeders may drop, but by late August and September their population and numbers at the feeder are at the peak of the year. The parents and the young will visit the feeder in great numbers.

And also this:

Nyjer seed is known to spoil easily, so it is best to buy it in smaller amounts and most importantly to keep it dry.
The shelf life of Nyjer after you buy it from WBU is about 3-4 months, after that you will see decreasing activity at the feeder because Goldfinches are picky eaters and know when the seed is bad.
Nyjer also spoils very easily when it gets wet, so it is very helpful to put a weather guard over your finch feeder to keep it dry when it rains. Spoiled seed is the biggest reason for finches not visiting a feeder full of seed.
If the finches don't eat everything in the feeder in 3 weeks, it is time to change the seed. They should normally empty a feeder within a week, if it is still full after 3 weeks that means the seed went bad most likely due to rain in the past 3 weeks.

[PumaMan]

The Lesser Goldfinches are back. On my three feeders there are a constant 4-5 on each with many more sometimes. I'm not positive why they left but I think it was old nyjer seed. The birds eat so much that I buy it in bulk, which is three or four 20-lb bags at a time, and I store it in a shed. It's dry in the shed but very hot in the summer months. I bought new nyjer seed and the birds slowly returned.

[Hummingbird Market]

We are in the Foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains. Near Finger Rock. For about as long as I can recall Goldfinches have been dining at our two 15" Droll Yankee Bottoms Up nyjer tube feeders. They can drain both in about three days.

It is fun to watch the other finches spin upside down on their perches.

After rains you sometimes need to get inside the tube and clean well as the njyer seed will get moist and cake together and clog a port. Easy to do but you need to be alert.

[PumaMan]

Originally Posted by Hummingbird Market

After rains you sometimes need to get inside the tube and clean well as the njyer seed will get moist and cake together and clog a port. Easy to do but you need to be alert.

My three finch feeders don't have "ports". They are screen feeders and are not easily plugged up by rains.

[PumaMan]

I guess I was needlessly worried last year because I have so many Lesser Goldfinches now that they are going thru 20 lbs of nyjer (thistle) seed each week. They sure are pretty little birds and quite acrobatic too -- I love watching them.

An aside: the White-winged Doves arrived last week and the Brown-headed Cowbirds arrived a couple weeks ago.