Goldfinches & bird tables

 Hi all,

Does anyone know if goldfinches would use a bird table? Been feeding them in the garden for years & I absolutely love seeing them but as everyone who feeds these birds now they are incredibly messy eaters & they're throwing the majority of the sunflower hearts on the floor & while I love all birds I have a major problem with pigeons! I wouldn't mind a, few in the garden but there's about 30 that hang around everyday & that's become a problem.

Not to mention I'm also having issues with flocks of starlings descending to eat all the suet pellets as soon as I put them out before the blue tits & sparrows can even get a look in. So I was looking at getting a high quality bird table with a stainless steel mesh all around which would keep larger birds out (although not young starlings I think) & at least give other birds a chance to get their share of the suet pellets, I know sparrows & blue tits will use bird tables but does anyone know if goldfinches would as well?

I honestly can't keep up with the amount I'm spending on sunflower hearts anymore due to how much I'm going through & while I don't doubt they would still find a way to throw some of the sunflower hearts off the bird table onto the floor the messy little sods I doubt it would be anywhere near as much as they are throwing on the floor from the feeders.

  • The RSPB Guardian feeder is good for keeping starlings off the sunflower hearts in our garden, and we also have another one for the suet pellets/mealworms but not an RSPB one, I'll see if I can track the make down. As for messy eating, you can attach tray type things that hang under the feeder to catch errant seeds. I've not seen goldfinch feed from a table, but they do from the floor on occasion
  • Guardian Feeders  We have the one with like a pot in the middle, and that works well keeping anything as big as a starling or bigger out. Other vendors are available though, so shop about for the best price.

    Also, if you change your feeders, the birds may take a little while to adapt to them,,, was about 3 weeks before the sparrows ventured into our feeders after putting the guardian ones up