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Keep Thistle Feeders Out Year-Round
American Goldfinches are one of the favorite backyard songbirds. They are admired for their gentle disposition, vibrant yellow color, sweet song, and graceful flight. It has earned the nickname of “wild canary” but the fact is, Goldfinches aren’t yellow consistently throughout the year.
As trees begin to turn with fall color, so does the molting process for Goldfinches. They begin to replace their tattered and worn feathers with a nice, new set! The color change in males is most noticeable, as the vibrant yellow hue is replaced with the dull, brownish color of new feathers, and their little black cap disappears. Females also molt, but their appearance doesn’t change too much.
The dull, winter feathers of Goldfinches will not stop them from flocking to thistle feeders. If you keep them filled all year, you’ll be rewarded with wonderful, vibrant colors in warmer months!
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See More Species with a Finch Bird Feeder
Feeding thistle or nyjer seed will attract more than Goldfinches!
The high fat and protein content found in thistle makes it wildly popular among both House and Purple Finches, Towhees, Pine Siskins, Juncos, and Indigo Buntings (shown above). This makes the Finch Bird Feeder highly versatile and a pleasure to watch. Another great benefit of this feeder is that seed won’t germinate, so there’s no worries of unsightly weeds below your feeder.
Mixing thistle seed with finely chopped sunflower kernels also helps reduce the mess below feeders. Pine Siskins and other prefer the mix as well. Finch feeders have special ports for thistle, they are generally much smaller than those of other wild bird feeders. There are tons of finch bird feeders on the market, one to suit your tastes and environment shouldn’t be too hard to find!
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Crowded Thistle Bird Feeder?
If finches are flocking to your thistle bird feeder in droves, it may be time to add more feeders! Not the same tube type feeders, but inexpensive thistle socks, made of mesh with a simple drawstring closure. They are highly effective at giving finches their “needed” space to feed.Since the socks, or sack is mesh, the whole surface offers feeding space. They do not have to be cleaned, and are meant to be disposable after they become worn and tattered. You can get hundreds of feeders from just one thistle sock.
Goldfinches, unlike other birds, are non-aggressive around feeders. Instaed of fighting for food, they are apt to just give up. So by adding another thistle bird feeder or two, you can accommodate more Goldfinches inexpensively, and effectively!
Birding Tips, Information & News
If finches are flocking to your 