We always have goldfinches in our garden anything from 5-10 at one time. This morning about 10-12 were pecking on the grass next to feeders which they always use. The garden had frost on it. The seeds and nuts don't seem to be frozen. Why would they feed on the garden. Have not seen so many at once feeding this way.
-
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.
Goldfinch (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter jd66
- Start date
I'm not sure if this would explain it because I don't know where they are in their breeding cycle now, but I wonder if (at least female) birds need to eat more insects before producing eggs. Once they have nestlings, they will certainly be more interested in insects than seeds.
Scrogdog
Well-known member
Not sure about your situation, but I usually have somewhere between 60 to 100 Goldfinches that visit my feeders during the Winter months, and often have a bunch of them on the ground beneath my feeders eating the seeds that have fallen to the ground when there more birds than places for them at the feeders. Over this past weekend, my Goldfinches along with my Juncos departed to start their migration back North. Went from around 60 to none in a single day.
Marmot
Well-known member
WE get Goldies, Greenies and Chaffinch in reasonable numbers normally about a dozen of each, but every now and then there seems to be one mad rush and the numbers increase and then next to no one visiting. I must admit today a lot of the Chaffinch were feeding from the floor as if they were cledaring up any bits even though there was ample space on the feeders.
