Goldfinches? (2 Viewers)

[Jayanem]

We've been feeding goldfinches for many years in our backyard here in Long Island, NY. This year... no goldfinches!! Any expert out there know what's going on?? We miss their happy little twitters!

 

[amkid247]

what part of long island are you? i live in nassau county, west hempstead to be exact and i had about 5 two winters ago none since then except two that i saw (male and female) last month. other than that i havnt seen goldfinches ever on the island at all =[

EDIT: also have you been noticing a LOT of grackles this year? ive lost most of my birds because of my grackles. only house finches and cardinals come to my seed feeders now besides mourning doves b/c of the grackles.

 

[jonesy_bird]

you should stop charging so much money for your thistle! lol

 

[Kentucky]

We've been feeding goldfinches for many years in our backyard here in Long Island, NY. This year... no goldfinches!! Any expert out there know what's going on?? We miss their happy little twitters!

Had similar experience several years ago here in Kentucky. The Goldfinch disappearance happened the same spring that I severely cut back my mock orange shrubs which are close to the feeders. I had noticed many small birds used the dense shrubs for cover and suspect my pruning activity contributed to the scarcity of finches at the thistle feeders. The shrubs have grown back and the coincidentally(?) the Goldfinch have returned.

 

[Jayanem]

Can't explain the goldfinch "mystery"! We had an ABUNDANCE of them all these years; they'd hang from the thistle feeder (bright yellow top) 5,6,7 at a time... males and females! Now... nothing! Any chance this has something to do with "West Nile"??

 

[gary gas]

Sorry guys and gals there all in my back garden

 

[ayasuda]

I'm having a bumper crop of goldfinches at my feeder this year in northern calif. I'm not sure why.

 

[amkid247]

i think its just that there isnt really enough goldfinch habitat around. even in suffolk, if thats where you live, i think theres more forest than viable thistle fields where the goldfinches can live and breed.

 

[Jayanem]

Not so!

This is truly weird! Just saw a small FLOCK of goldfinches today in the NEXT back yard... twittering noisily! Did I say something wrong?!? Insult them somehow?!? Maybe someone has a nicer thistle tube with a yellower top??? Could it be that the freaking SPARROWS are "powering them out"???? Weird! Seriously, though... my regular feeder is a couple feet from the thistle tube; could the other birds be chasing or intimidating them??

 

[amkid247]

hmm... try moving the thistle feeder away from the other one, goldfinches are tiny and they probably are getting scared by the bigger birds.

 

[carolynf]

help!

how do I get goldfinches to come to my yard? I saw winter colored one year before last- that's my only goldfinch! (I think it was migrating)

they can't all be in Bristol with Gary Gas- I know other people here in the Portland area get them...

I put out thistle socks- thistle feeders- black oil- safflower- millet blend- suet blocks- and I have a new hummingbird feeder that gained a large fan club immediately...

I had the thistle sock about 3 feet from the millet blend- was that too close to the sparrows?

Ideas? suggestions? :-C

 

[ayasuda]

Hi Carolynf - I've had lots of lesser, and american goldfinch this year, but no white crowned sparrows or gold crowned sparrows (none!). Usually, they nest in the trees near work. I had to take the feeder down so the adults will show the fledglings where the natural food is found.

Have you seen an increase in white crowned sparrows or any other species.

 

[jbird61]

anti-bird neighbor

We used to have a ton of Goldfinches years ago and then none. Now this year they are back and we discovered what happened...

I have a neighbor that 5 years ago (we still have him) start spraying his bushes with a discontinued toxic spray that was taken off the market. My husband caught him 3 years ago, and warned him of the dangers, including that it was illegal. It poisons birds and weakens eggs, and is not good for humans... he also was complaining about tingling in his legs and arms. He would spray just in shorts with no shirt or shoes on. :eek!: SUPER! Well, because he was having side affects he stopped using it. It took two years, but our our little Goldfinches are back with a vengeance. The neighbor blames us for the poop on his cars... and I'm hoping he doesn't find something to hurt the birds with... he sprays the bushes all spring and summer with water and knocks down their little nests, but the birds our safe in our yard with the big trees and bushes, and lots of food. What is it with some folks? I'm sure he says the same about us, though. :-C

Maybe there is someone close by you using bird-be-gone, hopefully nothing worse. (???) I think it chases birds away from nesting and roosting in bushes... has anyone heard about this stuff? I think it would cut down on visiting finches. Just a thought, since this story happened to us. Other birds would visit our feeders, but not as many as we have now.

 

[amkid247]

im pretty sure knocking down the nests is illegal too. report him to the authorities. and tell him he should move to the city if he doesnt like nature ;-)

 

[KC Foggin]

Normally, I have a good many during the winter months down here and up until this year, by the end of March they moved on. This year though I kept them to nearly June 1 which was really a surprise for me.

Something else I noticed this year. They were far more partial to the sunflower hearts than the thistle.

 

[brettski]

We have had excellent results with maintaining the GF. I like to think that we have the local GF market cornered. We used to use 2 - 3 of the upside down tubes to discourage use by the house sparrows and other univited bird guests, but the high activity at the feeders was putting us thru about 3 lbs of thistle seed a day. As I watched the feeding habits, it became apparent that for every one seed that the GF extracts, 2 - 4 more fall down to the ground. The M-Doves and other assorted players would take care of it, but the $ cost for seed was becoming extreme. The answer lies in the thistle socks. The perfect answer. The only birds (in our region) that can extract the seed from the socks is the GF and House finch. That, and you can occassionally get the entire sock filled with birds; I've counted as many as 13 hanging all over it.
3 years ago, we were able to keep a substantial flock over the winter. We aren't too far from Chicago and the winter can be difficult. We normally practice use of a heated birdbath all winter and we kept the socks full of thistle seed. They stayed right on thru the cold season.

 

[jbird61]

My little Goldfinches feed right along side... 3 to 4 feet and sometimes perched right on the same feeder as House Finches, House Sparrows and Red-winged Blackbirds. The bigger birds don't seem to worry them. They are quite cheeky little bits.

 

[bestbirder]

what is the most effective food for attracting finches? Nyger? Teazle?

 

[birdpotter]

Can't help with the mystery.

Funny, the last few weeks I was in NY in the Albany area, before we moved this year, I finally got one goldfinch. It was a wonderful day. After four years, I finally had a goldfinch at my feeder!