01/06/2020, 09:17 PM
I enjoy passing the time watching the birds in the garden, particularly the goldfinches. These are picky eaters, primarily eating Niger seed. Their second choice is sunflower hearts, so I put these in the window feeder.
Before I started feeding wild birds many years ago, I never saw a goldfinch in our garden. Initially I thought they were some exotic birds that somehow ended up on our feeders until I did a look-up on them. They occasionally will feed on peanut feeders, especially during the frosty weather. However, if there's a Niger seed feeder, it's like throwing out scrap food to the crows - They turn up in numbers fighting over the available feeding ports:
At this time of year (June), their juveniles join in, so the above also includes a little footage of them chirping. One morning, I saw a goldfinch hopping back and forth on the fence between pecking some seed from the feeder and feeding it to its juvenile. I really wish I had the camera handy as it was very cute to watch.
Before I started feeding wild birds many years ago, I never saw a goldfinch in our garden. Initially I thought they were some exotic birds that somehow ended up on our feeders until I did a look-up on them. They occasionally will feed on peanut feeders, especially during the frosty weather. However, if there's a Niger seed feeder, it's like throwing out scrap food to the crows - They turn up in numbers fighting over the available feeding ports:
At this time of year (June), their juveniles join in, so the above also includes a little footage of them chirping. One morning, I saw a goldfinch hopping back and forth on the fence between pecking some seed from the feeder and feeding it to its juvenile. I really wish I had the camera handy as it was very cute to watch.