nyger seed

[mourean]

Hello,
I am new to this site and relatively new to bird watching /feeding. I was about to buy niger seed and feeders but read on your site that if goldfinches etc do not already visit the garden it was unwise to start offering niger seed. Can you tell me why that is please?

[storye_book]

hi mourean

i hope the following may help - i think the reason for cjw's caution is that they don't want people to spend good money on niger seed and the special goldfinch feeder if the feeder and seed are just going to sit there with no birds on it, and the customer quickly regrets the purchase - which would be bad for business. niger seed in its dedicated goldfinch feeder will attract few other birds, and there are some areas of the uk which have few goldfinches near people's gardens - hence the helpful warning.

however, if have seen no goldfinches but you believe that the area around you is reasonable goldfinch habitat (lots of fluffy thistle/dandelion seeds blowing about; teazle etc), and you are the bl**dy-minded, determined type like me, then you can probably get them eventually. about two years ago i bought a niger feeder and niger seed, hung it out, and just waited. every now and then i would have to empty it, clean it and refill it with new seed. no goldfinches came until this autumn - and suddenly we had five goldfinches competing for the four perches. so i bought another niger feeder from cjw, and the goldfinch numbers are still increasing. i've now got ten niger perches, and there's still a goldfinch queue in the tree.

it is worth mentioning that goldfinches do seem to follow flocks of other finches and tits, so they're probably more likely to find your niger feeder if you site it with other feeders (e.g. sunflower seed feeder; bird table) which attract the main tit/finch flock. also i've heard that goldfinches will spot your niger feeder if you stick a few old teazle stalks in the ground near the feeder, and put a little niger seed in the teazle heads - presumably they will easily recognise the teazle shape, and that will get them near enough to the feeder for them to see what's in it.

once you get one or two, the numbers seem to gradually increase over the weeks. i guess they communicate somehow, though they're silent when eating - they just sit and stuff until disturbed. i'm wondering if they make happy noises when they get back into the trees, which attracts the others. maybe someone out there can tell us?

so really it depends on how much you want to see goldfinches. however i've got a feeling that if you took the risk this year, you might get goldfinches more quickly than i did (depending on where you are) because their numbers in gardens have greatly increased in 2006.

good luck

[mourean]

Thanks for the info. I live near Northallerton which is not a million miles from you so hopefull some Goldfinches will fly my way!

[Birdman]

Hello storye_book & mourean
Just a mention and apoliges if you are aware but if you read CJ's handbook, page 17, your find a good feeding guide to all our feather'ed friends and of the months they are most activily eating.
I do on occasions have a couple of goldfinches decend and feed, so I do have a smallish, 4 slit niger seed feeder available for their benefit, little used I must admit, but since they do visit, I have niger seed available..
MERRY CHRISTMAS
John

[Jenny]

Just to follow up on Birdman - I too had no goldfinches until one came in following the green finches. Knew goldfinches were around so decided to take the plunge and buy one of CJ's feeders and seed. Little did I know what I was letting myself in for - large numbers moving in and emptying the feeder in a couple of hours; major battles for position with other finches and between themselves and now robins, chaffinches, blackbirds and collared doves have caught on. I've been swithering whether to get a second feeder but I'll need at second mortgage at this rate :rolleyes: ! So don't despair!