Hi, its mine and my partners first year in feeding birds and we've been feeding them since september, but as it turned colder we started supplying sunflower hearts and plenty of fat based food, we have a medium sized garden with two big trees and alot of shrubery, and attracted the following birds; blue tits, coal tits,great tits,long tailed tits, house sparrows, dunnocks, wren, starlings, doves, robin, blackbirds,song thrush, pied wagtails,black cap, red wing, green finches, chafinches, bullfinches and goldfinches and a leucistic goldfinch, also a Sparrow-hawk!!!! (and crows, doves, pidgeons, magpies and a jack daw) As we havent been feeding the birds for long i would like to know if it's normal to get 70-80 goldfinches and 20-30 chafinches along with all the other birds at one time? this happens every day. (It is fantastic to watch!)
Not in my garden!!!!!
You are extremely lucky to have all these birds, and all at once. I can't believe you have 70 to 80 goldfinches and 20 to 30 chaffinches all at once. I thought I was doing well with 12 goldfinches, usually about 6, and no chaffinches at all. Have you any photos? Love to see them.
Welcome to the forum, by the way.
Cheers, Linda.
See my photos on Flickr
Hi Dani welcome to the forum.
Fantastic collection and numbers of birds.
As I know very little about your location, surrounding habitat, rural or urban etc.
It is somewhat difficult to answer your question as to what is normal.
I've had forty Goldfinches in my semi rural garden, again I wouldn't know if it is normal!
I put it down to a constant food supply that attracts the birds, a lot of birds gather in large flocks during the winter for a number of reasons.
The weather plays it's part as well. Large numbers of birds gather together, all in search of food.
Keep feeding them, it sounds as though you are doing everything right.
Most of all enjoy your birding.
Regards Buzzard
Nature Is Amazing - Let Us Keep It That Way
Thanks guys! i want to put photos up but it's not working cant you do a mass upload?
Hi Dani and welcome to the forum! Fabulous to hear of so many finches!!
Photos need to be uploaded one at a time although several can be uploaded individually to one thread! Look forward to seeing some!
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
My photos on Flickr
i live in a small town called bromyard, (surrounded by fields). all the finches love the sunflower hearts more than the niger seed!! i have eight feeders, two of them the metre long ones with the ten holes, they are constantly full of sunflower hearts and last 2-3 days.
i used to have alot of sparrows and starlings but since november time they have all dissapeared, i thought it might be the finches because they are quite protective over the garden, as stupid as it sounds, i've seen them chase out birds before. i have separated the feeders slightly and made up high energy mix (which they loved before they dissapeared) so im going to see how this works out....
Thanks again for helping me out!
Hi Dani,
My starlings go totally berserk for the berry flavoured suet pellets . I put them in different places round the garden and within a few minutes they have all gone. I have them with sultanas in flat trays fixed to fences and also mixed with seeds etc in hanging feeders. I find that my starlings and sparrows seem to arrive together, although you may have seen on other threads that my sparrows are behaving very oddly at the moment and refusing to eat anywhere but on the ground, whereas before they had their own corner with their own feeders and I was constantly filling them up. Others on the forum also seem to have problems with their sparrows at the moment.
I doubt the finches could chase the starlings away, not my starlings anyway, and not when the suet pellets are on offer.!
hey!
i put raisins etc out for the starlings and other birds, they do come for that and fat balls and suet , but numbers have dropped for some reason.
as for the finches they wouldnt chase a starling away, but they do get territorial around the smaller birds, this is the reason why i thought the sparrows may have gone, today ive had one or two sparrows but thats it, the finches have taken over the feeders and the ground,(not that its a bad thing, its amazing!!) some of the chafinches will go on feeders and alot of goldfinches on the ground its crazy! but really fun to watch!
You are sooooo lucky !!! I so dream of having even a single Finch in the garden. But I guess what my garden lacks in Finches it more than makes up for in Blue Tits lol
You are so lucky to have all these finches. I am trying my best to attract them. I do have a regular group of goldies but nothing else, although I know they are in the area. One chaffinch landed the other morning but not for long. I feel the opposite to you, I feel my starlings may be keeping them at bay, not deliberately but by their antics.
i found that aswell, but i moved all my fat based food away from the sunflower hearts and niger etc... and one day there was one goldfinch and the next three and it went from there, i have spoke to people who live by me and they dont get half as many! im sat watching them all now they've half emptied my feeders which i filled up yesterday afternoon! they eat so much but its really great to help them out, so rewarding!
i had a blackcap yesterday on my bird table which was a first, in my book it says there a summer visitor, is that right? also i saw a pair of doves yesterday making a nest, isn't it a bit early or do they like to be prepared? :)