Unusual Bullfinch behavour?

[wildone]

Back in May I saw several Bullfinches eating Dandelion seeds. They returned on several occasions over 3 or 4 days. I mentioned it to a number of people but none had heard of Bullfinches doing this. Here are a couple of photos I took of a bird eating the seed.

wildone

[stirling]

Very interesting wildone,never seen it myself but it is a plentifull food source.
Nice photos.
Best from mike.

[wildone]

Originally Posted by stirling

Very interesting wildone,never seen it myself but it is a plentifull food source.
Nice photos.
Best from mike.

Thanks Mike.
Yes, I have seen other finches eating the seeds but never Bullfinches. Indeed I don't remember ever having seen Bullfinches on the ground before.
wildone

[jdurbo]

I was thinking the other day there has been no pictures of bull finches, and then you put one on. They are lovely birds.
A chap i work with said he gets loads in his garden but never sen one myself!!

jen xxx

[GuyF]

I had one lone male Bullfinch in the garden last year that was doing just the same thing. I'm not sure whether it happens that often though? Unfortunately he didn't manage to find my feeders, even though he was eating dandelion heads just feet away from them!
Guy

[galanthus]

ours occasionally eat the cranesbill from the ground

[aeshna5]

Nice photos- watched a pair feeding on nettle seeds earlier this year. Both Linnets + Goldfinches are partial to Dandelion seeds.

[naturelover]

Originally Posted by wildone

Back in May I saw several Bullfinches eating Dandelion seeds. They returned on several occasions over 3 or 4 days. I mentioned it to a number of people but none had heard of Bullfinches doing this. Here are a couple of photos I took of a bird eating the seed.

wildone

hi if it helps my cockatiels love dandelions the whole plant including the seeds.

[paulchandler6]

I quote from a book, Finches by Ian Newton - "The Bullfinch is limited to feeding from those Compositae which have, small, soft seed heads, such as sowthistles and groundsels, and does not normally tackle the larger thistles. With its rounded bill, the species also has difficulty picking up seeds from the ground unless they are large."
Dont recall seeing this before.
Hope this helps. Cheers

[GlenT]

I watched a male bullfinch today in our garden, as he hopped along the ground, eating the dandelion seeds from the whispy seed heads. The female joined him shortly afterwards, but I didn't see her taking the seeds. The male took the seeds and ate them (I was watching through binoculars so I had a good view) from three or four dandelions.