"Tuppence a bag"

[tomba]

I understand this is "British Birds" but I'm not that far away in the south of France and I can't find a French forum...

Last year I started with fat balls. Blue and Great Tits galore and pairs of (never seen more than two together) Crested Tits and Nuthatches. Just the odd Green Finch and Siskin. The Long-tailed Tits were only interested in my olives!

This year it's fat balls again - same visitors - but after reading what the RSPB site had to say I added three gravity feeders with:

Canary seed
Yellow Millet
Nyger

These feeders are the domain of the finches, but it seems their preference is the Nyger.

I also put out white and striped sunflower seed. The Tits and the Nuthatches really go for them, not the finches.

There are flocks of Gold Finches around but I've not seen one feeding.

Questions:

1. Am I wasting my time (and money...) with canary seed and yellow millet? Should I just stick with the Nyger?

2. What can I do to attract Gold Finches?

3. When should I stop the feeding?

Thanks, Tom

[glsammy]

Hi Tom and welcome to WAB. No problem being in France, someone has to live there!
Nyger is supposed to be the seed of choice for Goldfinches, if your getting them visiting your Garden your at least half way there. I'd just persevere. Keep the feeders going and in time they will no doubt start to feed.
As for when to stop, the general advice is don't!
I keep mine going all year round. Even when the conditions seem ideal for the birds to feed from natural sources, they still come to the feeders especially if there's young birds to be brought up. The birds aren't daft, they feed themselves on my food and the young on natural food.
I can't answer your second question, I hope someone else will.

[DavyG]

We have several Goldfinches visiting our garden.

They feed on nyger seed and sunflower hearts, they appear to enjoy both.

Mind you, they have to fight with the Greenfinches to get to the feeders!

Dave

[Tobyh]

Hi there.

I Can't say I've tried the canary seed and millet but after having put out a nyger seed feeder a few weeks back we now have regular goldfinches and siskins right in front of the window. Anything else around will eat the other choices - fat balls / blocks (bread and butter pudding flavour at moment!) or the mixed seed and sunflower hearts.

I guess if you have birds around that won't touch the other choices then maybe keep trying, otherwise if all your species are coming to other feeders - stick with what works?

TobyH

[Paul mabbott]

You might like to ask on the sister forum:
Wildlife and Environment Forum

A vague answer is that small-beaked finches (goldfinches and siskins especially) prefer the small seeds of nyger whereas larger ones (blue/great tits) prefer big seeds such as sunflower or peanut. Some 'tits' (I'm thinking of long-tailed tits but maybe cresteds have done the same (not that I've seen one!))) have taken to eating peanuts, shifting from soft fruity things (such as olives) - this may just be a UK thing but I suspect they'll learn differently elsewhere ....

Keep us informed of any changes ....

Originally Posted by tomba

I understand this is "British Birds" but I'm not that far away in the south of France and I can't find a French forum...

Last year I started with fat balls. Blue and Great Tits galore and pairs of (never seen more than two together) Crested Tits and Nuthatches. Just the odd Green Finch and Siskin. The Long-tailed Tits were only interested in my olives!

This year it's fat balls again - same visitors - but after reading what the RSPB site had to say I added three gravity feeders with:

Canary seed
Yellow Millet
Nyger

These feeders are the domain of the finches, but it seems their preference is the Nyger.

I also put out white and striped sunflower seed. The Tits and the Nuthatches really go for them, not the finches.

There are flocks of Gold Finches around but I've not seen one feeding.

Questions:

1. Am I wasting my time (and money...) with canary seed and yellow millet? Should I just stick with the Nyger?

2. What can I do to attract Gold Finches?

3. When should I stop the feeding?

Thanks, Tom

[naturelover]

Hi tomba a warm welcome to you from me,millet seed is very unusual to feed to wild birds,its normaly fed to caged budgies,cockatiels,and canaries,also canarie seed,i buy finch seed,nyger seed,sunflower hearts,these seem to be the favourets to most small wild birds,then i make my own fat balls,pluss buy a cheap mixed seed for who ever wants it,hope you enjoy the site.

[John]

All the finches that come to my feeder stations love the Sunflower Hearts. I don't know if you can get them where you live but if you can you could do know worse than to give them a try.

These hearts have pulled in the usual birds plus Bullfinch, Siskin, Brambling, loads of Goldfinch and even Reed Bunting and I am going through 3 x 22.5 kilo sacks every 3-4 months.

John

[Blackbrook Eye]

. What can I do to attract Gold Finches?

Grow large thistles, never fails. Welcome to WAB, Keith