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food sparrows won't eat but finches will? (1 Viewer)

dontrinko

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I don't mind feeding the sparrows but they are eating food i want for the Finches.
I have a finch sock and a finch feeder and they spend little time at the feeder and no time at the sock.
I have another feeder that has safflower seed in and the sparrows found it.
I am now putting sunflower seed in it. Will sparrows eat sunflower seed?
What finches will eat sunflower seed? I have seen house finches eat the sunflower seed but they seem to prefer the safflower seed. Thanks; Don
 
I don't mind feeding the sparrows but they are eating food i want for the Finches.
I have a finch sock and a finch feeder and they spend little time at the feeder and no time at the sock.
I have another feeder that has safflower seed in and the sparrows found it.
I am now putting sunflower seed in it. Will sparrows eat sunflower seed?
What finches will eat sunflower seed? I have seen house finches eat the sunflower seed but they seem to prefer the safflower seed. Thanks; Don

Hi Don,

First of all, am I correct in assuming that your sparrows are House Sparrows?

If so, I cannot say whether House Sparrows prefer safflower over sunflower seed. I have a growing population of House Sparrows in my neighborhood. For several years, the only seeds I have put out are nyjer (for the goldfinches and Pine Siskins, if I'm lucky!) and black-oil sunflower seed. House Finches love the sunflower seed, as do almost all the birds that I feed. House Sparrows will eat it, as there is nothing else besides nyjer, suet, and peanuts, but they don't seem to like it as much as the finches do. I have never tried safflower seed.

Hope this helps a bit!
 
Thanks; They are house sparrows and they eat the safflower seed voraciously!
I am now putting sunflower in that feeder and so far they do not appear to like it but the house finches are eating it. Don
 
I have sunflower seeds in my feeder and the sparrows dump the seeds all over as they are eating. Why do they do this? The other birds at the feeder don't do that.
 
I feed cracked corn on a platform feeder on the ground for the sparrows, and sunflower hearts or chips in tube feeders for the finches.

Cracked corn is much cheaper, and sparrows prefer it along with the platform feeder, so they won't waste your more expensive feed.
 
No matter what kind of food you put out, in my experience, house sparrows will find it and swarm it, like locusts. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but they will push out all other birds and even resist larger birds like cardinals. They are currently swarming any shelled peanuts put out for blue jays and woodpeckers, and swarm a suet feeder which otherwise is enjoyed by a Carolina wren and northern flicker. So, as an "advertising department", in my backyard I have a feeder for "everyone", meaning mostly noisy and squabbling house sparrows, with occasional visits from redwinged blackbirds, cardinals, grackles, titmice and chickadees. The seeds dropped to the ground are grabbed by mourning doves, rock doves, white-throated sparrows, juncos, and squirrels. It's filled with an inexpensive mix of black-oil sunflower seeds, millet, cracked corn, and safflower seeds.

However, in another location I have a feeder NOT intended for house sparrows. It is stocked with expensive shelled sunflower seeds. It features a "house sparrow deterrence ring" on a standard six foot tall garden hook pole. Using a hula hoop and coathangers, a large ring is attached to the pole. The ring encircles the top of the feeder. Then, duct-taped at frequent intervals to the pole are lengths of fishing line. For some reason, house sparrows avoid feeders enclosed in this way. It means one feeder in the yard is host to nuthatches, woodpeckers, house finches, purple finches, chickadees, goldfinches and other welcome species. During baby season, a few female house finches will overcome their fear of the fishing line and grab some of the seeds for their kids, but they much prefer the regular feeder.
 
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