How can i attract more Chaffinches? (1 Viewer)

[Talon 1]

I have now after a month of really hard work put in the right plants and put a birdtable up , nest box, (going to make another one) and two hanging feeders.
Now i have a sparrows nest in the bushes at the back so the nut seeder is getting a hammering by them.
I bought a Niger seed feeder with loads of nigerseed for the chaffinches. But not a sign of one!
Is it because its about 15ft away from the sparrows nest or nests i think. or have they just not found it. I think its the latter as i just have not seen one. So how do i attract them in for it. or really i am waisting my time until autumn when Food is scarce.
Thanks

 

[songbird6666]

I have around 30+ chaffinches here all year round, mine seem to favour the sunflower hearts or before I used these, just normal black sunflower seeds. I can't say as I've ever noticed them eating niger, greenfinches do occasionally have a pick at them, but not often. If you already supply these seeds, it's just a question of patience I guess. As you say there should be plenty of natural food around for the next few months, so it may take a while till the word gets round and youget a few. You can have some of mine if you like.

 

[Geoff Brown]

My chaffinches love the ordinary seed mix and do not go much for Niger. Amazingly the goldfinches also preferred the ordinary seed mix to the niger and I always thought they were supposed to really like the niger instead. I won't be buying any more niger!! :C

 

[midge]

Our experiences are the same as Geoff's, we use high energy seed mix which is suitable for year round use and there is very little waste, we have many finches visiting daily including chaffinch, goldfinch etc.
Midge

 

[fledgling]

in my experiance you don't usually get chaffinches on feeders they are primaraly ground feeders, my chaffinches don't even use the ground feeder table i have down, they tend to prefer picking up the seed dropped on the ground from the above feeders and their favourate feeder area is definately the sunflower heart one if you watch the greenfinches who are the main users of mine they are very meesy dropping quite alot so there is always a great supply for the chaffinches ..


:gh:

 

[robski]

I agree the chaffinches I get feed from the ground. They seem to go for what has dropped to the ground from the seed and nut feeders.

Robert

 

[Talon 1]

I have placed the niger seed in a plastic dish on the ground to see what happens?

 

[fledgling]

the nyjer seed feeder if left up will hopefully attract goldfinches, in my experiance these are the only birds that seem to like it the greenfinches hop on try it then hop straight off ,it took 6months before anything did visit mine then just as i was about to give up 2 beautiful goldfinches turned up they are definately worth the wait, i now have a flock of eight that turn up every day usually morning and evening (thats changed at mo less birds and more frequent visits thought this could be due to females being on the nest) im sure the chaffinches will appear once they realise it is a good feeding site (still not sure they're touch the nyjer) but the surplus feed the birds using feeders drop will certainely attract them and once they visit you'll be home sailing.....

:gh:

 

[Richard D]

Hi free,

I don't know which bit of Kent you live in, but apart from in really nasty weather I rarely see a Chaffinch in the garden. Greenfinches are common from early spring, with Goldfinches arriving a bit later. Both will eat niger but prefer hulled sunflower seeds. When we do get Chaffinches they tend to be ground feeders.

 

[Rodmac]

Hello Free, I too have been putting out niger seed and have never seen any finches attracted to it, plenty sparrows in the winter time. Keep us posted on the results of your plastic bowl.

 

[Talon 1]

Hello Free, I too have been putting out niger seed and have never seen any finches attracted to it, plenty sparrows in the winter time. Keep us posted on the results of your plastic bowl.

Not a Touch! No Bird will touch it. i saw two chaffinches today and not one touched it.
I have just left one hanging on the shed and will just check it now and again. They do like the sunflower hearts but they also like the mixed bag and at half the price of the hearts even though the mess (i have put a bowl underneath) i will wait until Autumn to put the hearts out. There is a big black cat that hassles them so they are very nervous on the ground. I have put the Table on the ground but they look around all the time and dont seem to be sure. Only the robin will perch on it. Even put out strawberries and apple and they took everything around the table but not on it. I have now bought a Cat ultrasonic alarm that should sort the cat out.

One last thing . I have made an Owl/Kestrel nesting box. It looks good with a flash roof . Now i only have one tree and that is rooted on the pavement but half spreads into my garden. I want to put it about 20 ft up on the trunk but am a bit affraid that it might fall on somebodies head. If that happens because its rooted outside my garden i am sure i would be liable. But i have no where else high enough . The fence is only 6 ft. There is a conifer tree but if i try to stick it in there i wont see anything. There are tall shrubs at the back which sparrows and blackbirds nest in .
Any ideas? What is the Minimum hight for an owl/Kestrel/Box (i know it could be something else).. Bit of a dumbo really, made one then thought where am i going to put it :brains:

 

[Rodmac]

Shame about the nyger seed but as I have just read, somewhere on this site, there is enough natural food around at this time that the birds may not be interested in supplements. Perhaps Autumn through Winter will bring better results. Also, from somewhere on this site, the minimum height for a Kestrel box is 6 metres pretty high!!

 

[SeanONeillSongs]

I have now after a month of really hard work put in the right plants and put a birdtable up , nest box, (going to make another one) and two hanging feeders.
Now i have a sparrows nest in the bushes at the back so the nut seeder is getting a hammering by them.
I bought a Niger seed feeder with loads of nigerseed for the chaffinches. But not a sign of one!
Is it because its about 15ft away from the sparrows nest or nests i think. or have they just not found it. I think its the latter as i just have not seen one. So how do i attract them in for it. or really i am waisting my time until autumn when Food is scarce.
Thanks

I've only begun to feed the birds in the last couple of months. I began with a fat ball feeder, hanging on the washing line carousel. The first customers were chaffinches. The day I installed a bird feeding station - spiked into the lawn and about eight feet from my breakfast table, I stepped out of the house to see a chaffinch on the washing line, chirping very indignantly, no doubt wondering where his lunch was. He spotted the new location and flew by me and had a snack. In the last week though, I haven't seen any sign of it or other chaffinches - perhaps he liked having the line to perch on and have a look around.

Last Monday, I got a niger seed feeder and pretty quickly it was spotted by a pair of goldfinches and, since Wednesday morning, they've been coming several times a day and staying for ten minutes or more whenever they come.

The most common visitors are greenfinches - along with an occasional sparrow. I'm in the country and, most of the time, the sky is full of housemartins. The neighbours think I'm 'for the birds' - they're right.

 

[SeanONeillSongs]

My chaffinches love the ordinary seed mix and do not go much for Niger. Amazingly the goldfinches also preferred the ordinary seed mix to the niger and I always thought they were supposed to really like the niger instead. I won't be buying any more niger!! :C

That's all the goldfinches here even bother with. Niger seed feeder and seed put up on Monday and, since Wednesday they've been coming frequently

 

[Dennis W]

in my experiance you don't usually get chaffinches on feeders they are primaraly ground feeders, my chaffinches don't even use the ground feeder table i have down, they tend to prefer picking up the seed dropped on the ground from the above feeders and their favourate feeder area is definately the sunflower heart one if you watch the greenfinches who are the main users of mine they are very meesy dropping quite alot so there is always a great supply for the chaffinches ..


🇬🇭

That is exactly our experience with chaffinches. I never see a chaffinch on our spring loaded feeder, filled with sunflower hearts.

 

[Dennis W]

in my experiance you don't usually get chaffinches on feeders they are primaraly ground feeders, my chaffinches don't even use the ground feeder table i have down, they tend to prefer picking up the seed dropped on the ground from the above feeders and their favourate feeder area is definately the sunflower heart one if you watch the greenfinches who are the main users of mine they are very meesy dropping quite alot so there is always a great supply for the chaffinches ..


🇬🇭

 

[Dennis W]

Our experience is exactly the same. Why don’t chaffinches like to feed on spring loaded feeders?

 

[Richard D]

Our experience is exactly the same. Why don’t chaffinches like to feed on spring loaded feeders?

They're largely ground feeders in the wild.

 

[Richard Prior]

Plus, the way they are structured makes it difficult for them to fly to, land on and hang on to a lot of hanging feeders, in our garden the same applies to Brambling and Yellowhammer. The three species are perfectly happy feeding on the cheaper bird seed (contains quite a lot of millet for example) that I distribute on the ground. Obviously this can bring problems in more urban settings where Rats can appreciate the free meals too.

 

[Dennis W]

Plus, the way they are structured makes it difficult for them to fly to, land on and hang on to a lot of hanging feeders, in our garden the same applies to Brambling and Yellowhammer. The three species are perfectly happy feeding on the cheaper bird seed (contains quite a lot of millet for example) that I distribute on the ground. Obviously this can bring problems in more urban settings where Rats can appreciate the free meals too.

Interesting thanks. We often have a greater spotted woodpecker, nuthatches and blackbirds (with difficulty) using the feeder.