How do i steal my neghbors gold finches....errr (1 Viewer)

I would not recommend offering salt of any kind unless, as etudiant pointed out, (1) you want the vegetation to die wherever the salt falls AND (2) you offer a source of fresh water for the birds.

Grit (broken/ground up shell) can be purchased almost anywhere birdseed is sold.

Also, doesn't the rocksalt used on roadways have other chemicals in it? Can't be good for birds (or any other wildlife, for that matter). :-C

Also worth considering is the type of thistle feeder specifically designed for goldfinches & siskins which the larger finches can’t use. Most places where feeders are sold will have these specialized feeders.

A couple of notes here. First off, the thistle seed, more appropriately called nyjer seed, will NOT sprout. Nyjer seed is indeed a non-native, and therefor, the laws prohibit any non-native seed from being imported without sterilization. Odds are, if you're getting weeds growing, it is something else, feeding off the excess nutrients from the decaying seed hulls.

Now, on to the goldfinches. I've read in the past about the feeding habits of most backyard birds, as it concerns bird feeders. The research done shows that birds typically have 3 preferences or so, give or take, when it comes to where they feed. They have a mental ranking system of those sources, and make those rankings based on favorite foods, water, and of course safety. If a bird finds a favorite type of food, near water, and with lots of good cover to feel safe, they will return over and over, unless or course any of the things they like disappear. If that food source is empty, they move on to location #2, then #3, and so on. Should the #1 source not be restocked in a week or 2, they will stop coming. Now, on the other hand, should that food source ALWAYS remain stocked, and water available, they may not even stray at all. In the case of your neighbors, that is most likely their "spot", and unless something drives the birds away, they will not stray from ole reliable.

Now, the good thing in all of this is new birds. For example, last winter, I had 1 measley pair of cardinals that would feed in my yard. Throughout this year, new babies were born, established new territories and such, and behold! I now have about 12 cardinals showing up every morning and evening. Same with my chickadees, my flock has increased from a whoppin 3 last winter, to about 15. Blue Jays as well, and unfortunately, house sparrows too. So, in all this jibber-jabber, what in the world did I say? Well, for short, you're doing everything right, but you're trying to take birds away from a feeding station that they love, and probably don't want to stray from. But, give it time, forget your neighbor's birds, and wait for you very own birds to make your yard their "spot".

Joe1980 said:

A couple of notes here. First off, the thistle seed, more appropriately called nyjer seed, will NOT sprout. Nyjer seed is indeed a non-native, and therefor, the laws prohibit any non-native seed from being imported without sterilization. Odds are, if you're getting weeds growing, it is something else, feeding off the excess nutrients from the decaying seed hulls.

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Please re-read post #12. We are talking about niger seed that is both sterile and "live."

"Nyger" is the politicized spelling of a word whose original spelling (niger) is perfectly appropriate considering that one of the world's resources is (or at least was) Nigeria, not Nygeria. :t:

Thanks, everyone! I'm going to forget about the rock salt idea and just offer a regular grit.

Hi Katy,

Your note got me worried, so I Googled "Is Guizotia abyssinica a noxious weed" and its not, hooray!!! :clap:

I found these links:

"Although G. abysinnica itself is not a noxious weed, imported lots of G. abysinnica are commonly contaminated with various noxious weed seeds, including Cuscuta spp. We have determined that heat treatment effectively mitigates the risk associated with noxious weed seeds in lots of G. abysinnica."
http://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2010/11/10/2010-28346/update-of-noxious-weed-regulations

And its not listed on the 2010 Federal Noxious Weed List:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/weeds/downloads/weedlist-2010doc.pdf

So I'm good to go with "live" niger/nyger (whatever you want to call it |=)|) The Goldfinches love it and its grown in America!

Katy, I hope you didn't take the wrong tone from my post, as I wasn't being snippy or anything. So I appoligize if that happened. Anywho, I must have missed that whole live seed thing, so I stand corrected. Never knew such a thing existed, and never seen it for sale either. So is this live seed even MORE expensive then regular nyger?

Hi Joe,

Yeah, the live niger is about twice as much |8.|

But they eat it all gone and I don't end up throwing a bunch away like I used to with the imported niger, so I figure its about a wash.

Plus I've got Goldfinches sticking around for the first time |=)|

I'm going to try the sunflower hearts also. Sounds like I should be offering both. I want to keep these little buggers around!

Do I need a different type of feeder for the sunflower hearts?

Thanks!

Hi Shoresroad,
The standard tubular feeder will do very well for sunflower hearts. Only issue is that the holes are of course a lot bigger than those on a niger feeder, so there will be spillage. A catch tray on the feeder will help cut the waste.
There are some tube feeders specially designed for Goldfinches and Chickadees, with the perching rods above the feeder openings. That helps discourage less agile visitors such as Starlings or House Sparrows, as they can't feed while hanging upside down like Goldfinches can. Hanging a conventional feeder upside down will also work for this.

If this live seed costs TWICE as much as regular, then count me out! I cut off my goldfinches in fall from the regular nyjer, because it just costs too much. I have just 2 tube feeders, and I have to fill them every day, and in winters past, 2 times a day. At that rate it was costing me two 15lb bags a week, and at $13 per bag (on sale that is) that is just TOO much. I just stick to the basic 3, black oil sunflower, millet, and cracked corn. I also have a peanut feeder & suet feeder, plus a corn stalk type cobbed corn holder for the squirrels and bluejays. My bird visitors seem quite happy with that set-up.

Joe1980 said:

Katy, I hope you didn't take the wrong tone from my post, as I wasn't being snippy or anything. So I appoligize if that happened.

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No need for apology, Joe, I didn't take it that way at all. That's why I love the little emoticons because hopefully it takes the onus off all of our posts, mine included. :t:

I would like to reiterate something, though, that I may not have called enough attention to, and that's the use of ANYthing that is imported (live or noxious or not) and that is this: If it's non-native, why would we want to feed it to native bird species in the first place?

We (humans) have learned -- and in some cases, haven't YET learned -- the devastating lessons from introducing non-native taxa into a new environment. Just because this "live niger" is now being "grown" in the US does not make it a native plant. I mean, what were finches eating before the arrival of this popular but non-native thistle?

They were in Africa eating the niger and moved here when we imported it ||


Speaking of non-native, I'm gonna make a post on a dilemma I have with house sparrows, and value your opinions.

Hi etudiant,

Thanks for the info on the sunflower and Goldfinch/Chickadee feeders. I saw fudl's post about the specialized feeders (thanks, fudl |=)|), but when I started looking around the internet I couldn't figure out exactly what I was looking for (there's a gazillion different types that say they are for Goldfinches).

But the perching rods above the feeder openings make total sense.

I've got about 5 or 6 Chickadees also, but was just all excited about the Goldfinches!

They should both enjoy feeders made just for them |=)|

With regards the OP I'm surprised no-one suggested a net on the end of a very long pole.

Jaff said:

With regards the OP I'm surprised no-one suggested a net on the end of a very long pole.

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LOL, That's a hoot, Jaff!!!

I'm afraid they would put a net over my head if they caught me doing that :-O

Mike Price said:

I also find the colour red seems to attract goldfinches, try some red tape around the top of the feeder

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Hi Mike,

It just hit me...the tree where the "live" niger seed is hanging is a "Redbud." Its bare as a bone right now, but this spring the Goldfinches should love it!

Well, my Goldfinch count is now at 13! A group of 5 showed up 3 days ago and so far are sticking around |:d|

Am heading out to buy a sunflower heart feeder to add to my niger feeders as they are starting to fight over available space. Right now I have a tube feeder with 6 perches and tear drop shaped holes for the niger, plus a wire mesh tube feeder and a sock (the sock seems to be their least favorite). Based on their rules, they seem to be happy at 10 or less, but start to fight for space beyond 10 (there are always 3 waiting their turn in the Rosebud, or knocking somebody off one of the feeders! Time to expand the facilities |:d|

My Goldies turned up for sunflower hearts, they now seem to prefer the Nyger, Hearts second and if all those are filled the rest eat black sunflower.

I've been feeding sunflower hearts for several years, and added Nyger seeds this year. The goldfinches seem to be quite able to hold their own against house sparrows on the sunflower hearts (they sit and ignore house sparrows fluttering at them).

Since I added a suet pellet feeder to the same stand, though, the starlings have mobbed it and I've only seen the odd goldfinch since.

Yep, we added sunflower hearts to our Goldfinch setup about 2 weeks ago, and they are still all over the live nyger. The sunflower hearts were a good add, as the Goldfinches snack on them, but they live on the nyger feeders. I have to fill our live nyger tubes daily...the sunflower hearts tube I've had to fill twice in 2 weeks.

Ok, here is the unbelievable part (at least for us)...today 75 Goldfinches!!!

We had our capacity at two 6 station nyger tubes, plus a wire mesh tube that could hold another 2 or 3. Plus our sunflower heart tube with 4 stations. But there were always more Goldfinches waiting in the tree and a couple of large groups came by on a couple of days which became mayhem around the feeders. So for Christmas we bought ourselves a 3 tube 60 station feeder unit (20 stations per tube). Put it up on Monday and today (Wednesday) we had 75+ Goldfinches (all 60 new stations filled plus the 15 in the Redbud with still more waiting their turn). Our neighbors came over with their kids to watch!

Wish I could take credit for all this, but the only thing we did different was to start offering live nyger vs. imported Nyjer back in October. Am I crazy, or is anyone else seeing these results from live nyger. I've been trying to get Goldfinches for 10 years now, and it turned out to be the dead Nyjer all along! And yes, I told my neighbors about the live nyger...their Nyjer feeder has been sitting there rotting for the past month and I felt guilty |^|

It's expensive, but the price for Goldfinches, at least in my area. It's called EarlyBird Nyger, and I can get it at two of my local garden shops now. You can also get it online at www.Nyger.com

WMcLean said:

WATER!!!

Bubbling, fresh water. Fewer people water the birds than feed them. The goldfinches will mob your bath as soon as they find it.

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That is interesting. I get an abundance of Goldfinches and I have never seen them in the water bath!! Xxxxx
Mine seem to prefer sunflower hearts at the mo to the nyger seed.