Took me 4 months to figure out why the finches avoided my feeder

I put up a new tube feeder back in March and the goldfinches just wouldn't touch it. Tried different seed mixes, moved it around the yard three times, even cleaned it every week. Finally last Tuesday I noticed the perches were too smooth and slick. Drove to the hardware store and wrapped a little sandpaper tape around each perch. Four goldfinches showed up within 2 hours. Has anyone else dealt with finches being picky about feeder design?

3 comments

3 Comments

grace895d ago

Maybe it's just me but finches seem to have a weird thing about slick surfaces. The sandpaper tape trick is genius though, never would've thought of that. Small details like that really make or break a feeder.

kim_johnson516d ago

Happened to me with a nyjer feeder last summer. Turns out the little plastic flowers on the feeding ports were too stiff for the finches to open. Swapped them for the silicone ones from a different brand and they started eating right away. Sometimes it's not even about the seed or the location, it's the tiny mechanical details of how the feeder works. Those little birds are way pickier than people give them credit for.

ray_miller846d ago

Honestly that's a great point about the mechanical details. I had a similar thing with a tube feeder where the perches were just a tiny bit too short for the goldfinches to reach the ports properly. Ngl it drove me crazy for weeks until I noticed them stretching and barely getting at the seeds. Swapped to a feeder with longer perches and they started feeding like normal. Tbh even the angle of the port opening matters sometimes.