attacting birds

how do you attact chaffinches and gold finches they seem to be extinct around here made a birdtable 3 years ago but have never seen them for some reason tryed a few things but nothing has ever worked plenty of other birds sparrows, bluetits, pigeons, doves, magpies, blackbirds, great tits,any ideas thanks.

 

Hi GG you problem may be the fact that Greenfinches and Goldfinches have become quite rare in your area,unless of course you have seen them flying and roosting near by.Where we used to live we always had Song Thrushes in our garden,even breeding,but since moving here we have only ever had one in the garden in nearly six years.Unfortunately ,it is now a sad fact that we have to accept that certain species of birds have become less common than years ago.You just need to keep feeding the birds that you do have visiting,and hope that one day they will return to your area....

We have no problem with chaffinches visisting our garden and Goldfinches have now strted to use our feeders,but that took five years before that happened.Some people swear by Niger seed for the Goldfinces but I found they were totaly uninterested in them...Good Luck

 

When we did the big garden birdwatch I think we counted 15 green finches at once! We put out black sunflower seeds and peanuts which most things seem to like. We get the occasional gold finch and they seem to be happy with the sunflower seeds too.

 

I think variety is the key when feeding the birds. Do you have hanging feeders as well as your table? I offer peanuts, a hi-energy, no-mess mix, niger seed and black sunflower seeds (as well as apples, bread and cheese etc). When the goldfinches come to visit here - it is the niger and sunflower seeds that they go for (had a family of 6 a few years ago).

Another unforgettable sight was a couple of autumns ago, watching a goldfinch on our teasel getting the seed from the seedheads - and a dunnock pecking away underneath! Worth a go! I have a friend whose husband puts niger seed in old teasel heads - and pokes the teasel heads through his fence. The goldfinches aparently love it.

 

If my birds are anything to go by - sunflower hearts in hanging feeders attract both chaffinches and gold finches - as well as a number of different tits, green finches. I tried niger seed, but the hearts seem to work better - with the added advantage of no heaps of seed husks to clear. The gold finches took a little while, but as I feed all year round, they no doubt followed the other birds.

Sunflower hearts and peanuts seem to do the trick for me - the robin feasts from my garden, as do the blackbirds and at long last this year the thrushes are back. Even the odd woodpecker, enjoys the peanuts.

 

Has anyone any tips for keeping the bigger birds from stealing all the food? I havr jackdaws and a magpie who visit and eat everything from the table. I've only got a pair of sparrows, a pair of blackbirds and the occasional robin and I think the big birds are scaring them all away! There are blue tits, long tailed tits and chaffinches in the area but they won't come to my back garden!! :(

 

CJ Wild Bird Foods ( www.birdfood.co.uk ) do things called feeder guardians which have bars round the feeder to keep out squirrels and larger birds - look in their "feeder" or "accessories" sections. I suspect RSPB do similar things, too, or you may find them at a garden centre. Not cheap at around �£15 but it would solve the problem, perhaps.

 

continuing what hyla has started, depending on what shape/style your bird table is, you could attach some sort of wire cage over the table, the holes need to be large enough to allow the small birds through but small enough to stop the bigger ones.

i've been having the same problems but with pigeons. my bird table is circular so i'm going to find a way of putting an up turned wire hanging basket over it. i'm sure it'll be cheapper that a purpose made cage! :D

 

Yes Glen! I think that's a good idea! I've rigged up a prototype using string to see if I can discourage them! My housemate has loaded the water pistol! :eek: :eek: :eek: Still at least he's showing an interest eh?

 

Glen certainly has a point - if you can make it work! Trouble is you can end up with something that looks pretty Heath Robinson - and you need to be fairly sure of how big the mesh needs to be to allow some species in but not others.

I guess it depends on how important the appearance is!

The other consideration, I think, is the efficiency - suspended seed feeders have small perches which bigger birds can't use, and nut feeders can only be used by birds which can grip the mesh. Most larger birds can't do so. This means the feeding is focussed on the smaller birds. Which leaves the bird table for larger species which in bad weather need help as much as the wee ones do...

 

You're right Hyla - they only pinch the food on the flat surface but nothing is going for the nut feeder anyway.

The wind is so strong lately that the food is all over the garden anyway!! Oh, and I'm launching the onslaught on the overgrown bits so I'll probably frighten them all off!!