Bird Seed: Finch Mix
Spring is the time to attract colorful American goldfinches and Indigo buntings to your backyard.
The common recommended seed for finches is the non-native Nyjer seed grown in Africa or India. This seed can be hit or miss for various reasons and I have shied away from using it exclusively for finches. Nyjer seed can lose its oil content quickly by drying out and then the birds won’t eat it. It has a short shelf life and if you notice the seed color is brown, it is no longer good. Being susceptible to warm weather and rain, it will spoil easily. Given the long transit and high price of this seed, I use it sparingly, mixing it primarily with shelled sunflower bits. The bird food industry makes many types of “finch mixes” which combine these two ingredients with other seed as well. My goldfinches seem to like a finch mix from ForTheBirds.com that has a combo of Nyjer, Sunflower Hearts, Millet, Canary Seeds and Canola Seeds. I like the fact that except for Nyjer, all these seeds in the mix are sourced from US and Canada.
Because this type of seed is small, there are specialized feeders called “thistle” or “finch” feeders. I happen to like the Droll Yankee Ring Pull Finch Feeder which has nice feeding ports and the “ring pull” design makes cleaning the feeder a breeze. If you get a fair amount of goldfinches, having a larger feeder like the Droll Yankees 36 inch New Gen Tube Feeder will attract many at once. This feeder is also easy to clean and the polycarbonate tube keeps the seed dry. There are inexpensive mesh feeders that work well but the seed can spoil as the mesh does not kept it completely dry. I like using mesh feeders in the middle of winter when we normally don’t get rain. Common redpolls, which visit in large flocks, like hanging off the mesh in numbers.
