Archive for the 'Tube Birdfeeders' Category
With so many choices in wild bird feeders these days, it’s kinda difficult to decide what type to buy. There are standard hopper feeders, which tend to hold larger capacities, and platform feeders, for offering a variety of foods to birds. Fly-thru feeders are generally platforms with roofs to protect birds and food from the elements. You have suet feeders and meal worm feeders, then of course there are the popular tube feeders.
Tube bird feeders are wonderful for attracting many species, but one problem with them is limited perches or feeding ports. They usually allow only a certain number of birds to feed at once. Two, four, maybe six ports on most models. The spiral tube feeders accommodate more birds, as the designs allows for the whole tube to be accessed for food. Birds love to “run” the spiral and it makes for a great show too! These spiral feeders are available for thistle seed, (or nyjer) for feeding finches, peanuts for feeding jays, woodpeckers nuthatches, and for standard seed mixes too. The powder coat construction ensures many seasons of use, by feathered friends and human hosts alike.
And if you’re new to the great hobby of backyard birding, we can’t stress enough the importance of water. This is by far the best attractor for wild birds to your place. Fresh water in a bird bath will entice many more wild birds than just feeders alone. Especially in winter, a heated bath can be a life saver for many feathered friends!
If you’re lucky enough to have lots of finches in your backyard, you may be forever filling the nyjer feeder. And now that many young chicks are visiting these feeders too, the the nyjer (or thistle) seed may be going even faster than in the beginning of summer..
To the rescue: a Large Capacity Nyjer Feeder with quality construction to last for many seasons of use and enjoyment. This Deluxe Triple Tube Feeder actually holds seven pounds of thistle seed..and that’s a lot of thistle!
Goldfinches and others will frequent a birdbath if offered. This kind of fresh water source is known to entice and attract more feathered friends than any feeders or houses alone.
Remember when their bright plumage fades, Goldfinches will still be around, so be sure to keep nyjer feeders up and filled with fresh seed throughout the year.
…Happy Birding!
Goldfinches, Indigo Buntings, Purple Finches and others are a welcome addition to any yard or garden — these colorful birds will flock to a finch bird feeder if you are lucky, and chow down on thistle for long periods of time. Pecking one tiny seed at a time makes it easy to observe them.
This food has added benefits; squirrels ignore it, and it is not germinating which means that spilled food won’t turn into weeds. But what if you’re not lucky enough to have enough finches to eat all of the food on a regular basis? The thistle, or nyjer seed can clump when it gets damp, and the attraction for our feathered friends will quickly fade.
Here’s a trick to keep thistle bird feeders fresher longer: Place a few inexpensive ping pong balls inside your feeder. The thistle seed is very fine, so it flows around the ping pong balls and is available to the birds. The balls will take up space in the feeder, reducing the amount of food it holds, while allowing an even distribution for more feeding space. The result: less food in the feeder means less clumping and fresher food. You can add or remove balls until you get the right balance of food and space for your feeder and your habitat.
With their nesting season winding down, Goldfinches abound! Their electric yellow plumage is hard to miss. Adults feed babies thistle, or nyjer seed exclusively, so large capacity or extra thistle feeders are very helpful this time of year. Even those convenient thistle socks or bags, are an excellent way to accommodate all the newcomers.
Because of their sweet nature, Goldfinches will usually just give up and fly off rather than fight at crowded thistle feeders. A fresh water source such as a bird bath is also very enticing to all songbirds, and with moving water like the dripper shown here, birds will be flocking to your yard!
Remember to keep thistle feeders out year round to enjoy these vibrant summer colors. Goldfinches’ plumage will start to fade in the fall when they molt, but the same cheery birds will hang around your yard if offered thistle seed on a consistent basis.
Happy Birding!
Unlike hummingbird or fruit feeders for migratory and some songbirds, finch bird feeders are a welcome addition to any garden or yard virtually year-round. You’ll be graced with the most gorgeous lemon yellow plumage in warmer months, only because Goldfinches are one of the few birds experiencing two molts per year. They’ve even earned the nickname “wild canary”.
These colorful birds flock to finch bird feeders and chow down on thistle! In fact, they eat it almost exclusively and nestlings are fed the same. This food has added benefits; squirrels ignore it, and it is non-germinating which means that spilled food won’t turn into weeds.
Some of the longer tube feeders can cause problems with clumping, damp food at the bottom. If your feeder is not busy enough to have finches eat all of the thistle, (also called nyjer seed) on a regular basis, it can clump when it gets damp, molds and turns rancid. Then the attraction for our feathered friends will quickly fade. A feeder that distributes seed more evenly is one solution to this problem. The Finches Favorite 3-Tube feeder is a perfect example of this practice. Plus you can see all 24 birds eating at once, which is a truly spectacular site!
You can also try working with your existing feeder to alleviate this problem, Something I have tried is buying a few inexpensive ping pong balls and putting them inside my finch feeder. The thistle is fine, so it flows around the ping pong balls and is available to the birds. But the balls take up space in the feeder, reducing the amount of food it holds. The result: less food in the feeder means less clumping and fresher food. You can add or remove balls until you get the right balance of food and space for your feeder and your habitat.
Happy Birding!
Long thistle tube feeders are great for feeding lots of hungry finches, but many times the seed at the bottom tends to clump, quickly becoming damp and spoiled. Birds won’t eat rotten seed, there’s even a name for this phenomenon.
Even seed distribution is the best strategy for any tube style feeder, including thistle bird feeders. The 3- tube feeder shown above allows full view of all 24 birds feeding at once…a pretty spectacular site.
Another way to alleviate the “clumps” in thistle bird feeders is to use a few ping pong balls. They work great to disperse the seed more evenly and keep it from gathering quickly at the bottom. A effective and inexpensive solution to clumping seed!
All the feeders in the yard are extremely crowded during this weird cold snap. Platform, peanut, thistle and tube birdfeeders are kept filled constantly for chickadees, finches, jays, cardinals and others. Robins scavenging for earthworms and offered dried mealworms, fruit, bread and peanut butter to stay warm. Three heated bird baths also entice the crowds to stick around.
The biggy though, has got to be the suet feeders. EVERYONE is eating suet for the extra calories to stay warm. A friend snapped this photo of a two grackles fighting over suet. Even bluebirds with their live mealworms are going after suet. So, until spring finally hits and it begins to warm up, I’ll keep the suet coming for feathered friends.
A friend sent this great photo last week of a small Blue Jay at their tube birdfeeder. First I thought “what a great photo” then started thinking about some oddities in my own yard. You just don’t usually see a Blue Jay at a tube birdfeeder? This crazy, cold weather has most birds eating just about anything to stay warm! Almost every bird is eating suet right now, and my bluebirds are eating peanuts too.
Yesterday at the park while walking the dog, the local ducks were accosting people for food! Not having anything to feed, I felt terrible and ran to the hardware store for a bag of cracked corn. Asking the sales lady “I wonder what else the ducks would eat, she gave me 72 hot dog rolls from store room! Asking if they’d eat the bread, I said sure…they’re pretty hungry right now, I think they’ll eat anything! Sure enough all gathered around for a feeding frenzy.
The cold weather can be on its way now…I’m ready for spring, nesting seson, and the natural order of things!
Thistle seed, also known as nyjer, is a great way to attract more species of wild birds to your yard. Best know for feeding finches, other species enjoy this versatile seed as well. Shown above, Indigo Buntings are perched at this feeder. Guess they don’t mind that it’s really meant for finches? Juncos and Towhees can also be seen at finch bird feeders, as well as Pine Siskins. By adding finely chopped sunflower hearts or meats, you’ll attract these species easily if they are native to your geographic area.
The other great thing with finch bird feeders, is that thistle seed will not germinate. No messy weeds to sprout below feeders in the garden or yard. Thistle is coveted for its high fat and protein content, and is eaten almost exclusively by Goldfinches. They will perch at the feeder, eating seed after seed then carry off their prize to the nestlings. The babies eat the exact same diet as their adult parents, so these feeders make for an excellent birder’s observation.
As always, a fresh water source will draw more birds into your yard than feeders alone, so be sure to have some type of bird bath available year-round. And remember, Goldfinches aren’t yellow all year, so don’t think they’re not around. Winter weather brings a dull brownish-green plumage, as it is the warmer months of spring and summer that show the vibrant yellow plumage.
A great way to attract new types of birds to your back yard is by using thistle feeders, but some care must be taken to choose the right size and type. Thistle feeders, also called finch feeders because of the colorful birds they attract, are the perfect feeder for many backyard birders. They do not attract squirrels (no squirrel baffle is needed), and the seeds do not germinate meaning you can hang them over a garden without fear of creating weeds.
The fine thistle seed isn’t preferred by all birds, though the feeders will attract Indigo Buntings, Pine Siskins, and others. As a result, there are times when they get cleaned out quickly, while in other places the seed can last a while. We have two sizes in our garden, with the large rainbow finch bird feeder in the back section where a larger number of birds will use it. In close (so it can be seen from the window) is the Metal Nyjer Haven Feeder. This has a cage around it, and I was amazed at first at how many birds can fit inside the cage.
For increasing the variety of birds that come visit your yard, a thistle feeder is a colorful and easy to maintain addition to any backyard habitat.
