In my last thread about goldfinches here I was complaining about the distinct lack of them. Now I get so many that I simply can't fill the sunflower heart feeders fast enough. Yesterday, I counted seven on the feeders and more in the trees waiting to take their turn.
My problem however is that after watching these little blighters closely for a few days, I've noticed that they are very wasteful - often throwing 3 to 4 perfectly good seeds to one side before actually grinding on one. I know that they usually split the seed when they chew (is chew the right word?) and theres waste as a result of that, but they are literally throwing a lot of seeds to one side before they get one they want to bite on.
The Wood Pigeons usually come and hoover them up, but I think even they are sick of soggy sunflower hearts by now. I'm also worried that too much waste around on the ground will attract vermin and I don't think my Neighbours would appreciate seeing the larger furry mammals running around the garden.
Does anyone have any tips?
I have thought about grinding the Sunflower hearts up a bit in a chopper\blender as I think its the larger ones that are getting thrown to the side. Anyone had to do this?
I love having the Goldies in the garden but the mess and waste is bugging me a bit.
By the way, got the first baby Goldies in the garden yesterday and today. I did get some photos too :) I'll post some once I've cropped them as they are very small in the frame.
Thanks for any responses people.
John
I found that using a clingers-only feeder was the answer. All the tits, sparrows and goldfinches used it; chaffinches learned to use it and the discards were welcomed by other ground feeders. Although there was little waste, I still moved it every two weeks to prevent a build up of the skins (not husks) and droppings. I also put grit and grit sand on the beds on the beds to cover these areas and dug it in to improve fertility and drainage when the ground got warmer.
Thanks for the feedback guys, much appreciated.
I've just bought a Finch Flocker which they Goldfinches think is a great place to wait around until there is a spare hoop on my sunflower hearts feeder!
I can't believe that I'm complaining about Goldies. I wish they were more like the Blue tits, great tits and chaffinches as they've very tidy.
I find the most wasted food is Nijer seed. Beneath my feeders are carpets of black wasted seeds. At least with the sunflower waste other ground feeders will 'hoover' them up but Niger just goes to waste :( Does anyone know what the answer is?
I have 15 Goldfinches and they make a huge mess!
It's partly the mild winters. In proper winters the seed doesn't rot and moulder so fast. In dry weather other things eat the fallen seed. But the last few years it just piles up in revolting soggy lumps. I've put a couple of big buckets underneath to make clearing it away easier, while the last load is currently rotting near the compost heap.
I suppose digging it in to the soil over time is the best bet for the fallen seed. But how to stop so much being wasted? I've read the comments above about attaching trays to the underside, and how these are used by other birds to the exclusion of the finches. But I presume these trays were fixed directly to the base of the feeders. What if they were suspended about 6 to 8 inches beneath the feeders? They should still catch a lot of seed, but any pigeon or dove landing on them probably wouldn't be able to access the feeder, itself, hopefully leaving the feeder available for the small birds.
Any thoughts?
Welcome to the Forum, Karen, from the Surrey/Hampshire border (in the balmy south; it is 2C here at the moment!). Catlady is correct, always lovely to have more people to share their love of birds and other wildlife, although some of us, no names mentioned, do get a bit silly at times, so please join in. Well, the current situation means we need to either laugh or cry, and some have done a bit of both. I will need to dream up a new excuse once the virus situation is settled! Some people post photos, some make comments, and there seem to be many lurkers--all are welcome. Oh, and do you have an issue with messy Goldfinches in your garden? In our current garden, the Squirrels, which are barred from our feeders, along with Blackbirds, Robins, Dunnocks, Magpies and Crows do the tidying up under the feeders for us, which is a huge help. Goldfinches are soooo beautiful, living Christmas decorations as I see them, that we forgive them for being so fussy about which one of each six sunflower hearts they will finally eat after dropping the others!