How can I attract Goldfinches into my garden?

Would anyone be able to tell me how I can attract Goldfinches into my garden? I only have a single tree, although my neighbours garden is full of trees and bushes, and I am wondering if this is the problem as my friends seem to attract them all the time but have trees in their gardens .  My garden is quite small but I live in front of a green space field.  I have lived here for 18 years and only ever seen 2 Goldfinches which were last year. I read on a post on here to plant cornflower to attract them which I did but that didn't attract them either - although the flowers were lovely. I have fat balls, seed, niger seeds and nuts on my lone tree which attracts Starlings, Blackbirds, Sparrows, Tits of all kind including long tail, Robins (2 regular visitors) Wrens, Sparrowhawks, Kestrels, Chaffinchs, Thrush, Herring gulls (occasionally) Pigeons, Doves and Ducks but no Goldfinches.  I also get hedgehogs in my garden and have foxes in the field which I sit and watch. Reading back on this post I sound like I am being a little greedy wanting goldfinches when I already get such an array of wildlife but any advise would be gratefully received. Thank You 

  • Hello Joanna, welcome to the community from Caithness, up at the very top of Scotland. As has been suggested, Sunflower Hearts, they loved them along with Niger seed. You are already using other good food sources. you seem to be getting a nice variety of visitors, birds and the Hoggies. Rather than have the one tree and the birds houses in the corner, which as Robbo has suggested is not a good idea to have feeders too near where there is food available, as it would encourage birds to the boxes with the young in them, you could add more along the fence. You could either make a small border, it does not need to be very wide or plant material in the ground, at the fence sides. Things that would grow quite quickly and spread along the fence (which you could fix to the fence) which would give some more cover for the birds to go back and forth to, to hide from any predators or eat their food. You could space the boxes out more then, amongst the foilage. Suggestions could be willow trees, they grow very quickly (even from cuttings), Rowan, Cotoniaster, Viburnum, Pyracantha, Flowering Current, Holly, Skimmia Japonica, Larurel, Flowering Cherry, Sea Buckthorn, you could hang some feeders in the new trees/shrubs and these have berries on as well so will encourage the birds. Nice photos, the Fox looks very happy lying in the sun, along with the blackbird sunning himself, love the baby ducklings, the pigeon is shouting for some more food and the Sprawk is eyeing up its next meal! Good luck.

  • Good advice already given. From my personal experience I also wanted to attract goldfinch into my garden and it was only when I changed the feed in the feeders that I had some success.I had a separate feeder for niger feed and another feeder with sunflower hearts and a mix of different seeds. It was around a month before they started to come on a regular basis. I also attracted green finch with the sunflower hearts and now see them on a regular basis. I change the water in the bird bath every day at this time of year and in the summer twice a day and that is another attraction as the goldfinch regularly use it to drink and bathe. Let us know if you attract them and post your pictures of them on here, Always nice to see a goldfinch.
    Good luck.
  • Thanks for the advice. I think I need to get planting
  • Thank you for your advice. I think the quickest and easiest thing to do is introduce sunflower hearts. I only have a small garden but have 2 bird baths which i clean and refill regularly, especially when the pigeons & starlings decide to bathe. I also have 3 water trays on the ground for the hogs. Watch this space
  • Hi

    I put a Niger seed feeder up about 3 years ago- Goldfinches found it in 2 days

    S
  • Ive got Niger seeds up - unfortunately, they have not been found but I will leave them there, you never know
  • Ive been trying for years to attract goldfinches into my garden, even going to the extreme of growing flowers and teasels to attract them and today my efforts paid off. Im over the moon.

  • Great Joanne, between the Sunflower hearts, teasels and flowers it has worked. It is always exciting to get a new find on the feeders. A fine noise the young Starlings are making there, they are always a rowdy lot when they first fledge and come feeding.