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The Finch Bird Feeder"A finch bird feeder, that's what I'd like." This statement from customer who came into my brick-and-mortar store. The immediate thought is that they're after a thistle feeder with which to feed the American goldfinch.Turns out my guess was dead on. There are lots of thistle feeders on the market, my favorite being the bird quest spiral thistle feeder. If that's what you're interested in, then by all means click the link above to get great reviews about the various thistle feeders.
However, if you have a minute, read this article to get the "big picture" about feeding finches.
Most finches that eat thistle will eat other seed as well. Why is this important to know? Because the sparrows and house finches may quickly overwhelm your thistle feeder. Thistle is expensive and you really want to attract the beautiful goldfinch, don't you? Here's what I suggest you do if the sparrows and house finches become too much. First, hang an upside thistle feeder. This forces the bird eating to hang upside down. Only the goldfinch can eat in this manner (he's a clinger as apposed to a percher). BUT... don't stop there. Hang another finch bird feeder from which all the thistle eating birds can eat. House finches can be quite handsome themselves and it's ashame to run them completely off. They'll compete just fine against the sparrows. At my station, I have two upside downs (you'll have to replace these frequently as they are a perky pet product, and most their stuff is low to mid range quality), and two bird quest feeders. This combination works really well. However, I have so many house finches and sparrows that they often end up on my hopper feeders in which I mainly serve safflower. This wouldn't be a big deal except these birds are notoriously messy safflower eaters. They'll push more to the ground than they'll eat. The solution? I hung another finch bird feeder, only this one is a sunflower seed tube feeder (the ports on this tube are larger than what you'll find on a thistle feeder). This tube feeder is surrounded by a cage, a necessary step to keep out grackles and starlings, and it's filled with sunflower chips. Small birds love chips and do really well on a tube bird feeder. If you put out a tube-style finch bird feeder and fill it with chips, I guarantee you that they'll mostly leave your safflower alone. So, between my upside down thistle feeder, bird quest spiral finch feeder and tube-style finch bird feeder with a cage, my sparrows, house finches and goldfinches (and for that matter, my cardinals who love the safflower) all eat regularly from my station at the same time. Sound like a lot? Sure, it is. My advice to you (and those who come into my brick and mortar store) is: Don't invest in everything at once. Your birds may behave a bit differently than mine, and so you may not need this combination of feeders. Half the fun of bird watching is observing how they react to your station as you add, take away and adjust the individual components.
Many bird watchers report that birds actually "wait on them" to refill feeders. When this happens, you have migrated from observation to outright interaction!!
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