Nyjer seed

[fishingstar]

What type of feeders do you guys use for nyjer seed?

I'm using tube style now and the birds seem to spill a lot of seed on the ground some are hulls.

I have tried the sock kind but I thought the string was a pain.

What kind of feeder do you like using? 

 

 

[eyeguy 54]

if I see red polls around I will hang a sock, otherwise I dont put it out. black oils.  

[leech~~]

1 hour ago, eyeguy 54 said:

if I see red polls around I will hang a sock, otherwise I dont put it out. black oils.  

I'm about ready to pull mine and put something else up there for the winter. Nothing is coming to the thistle at all.

[delcecchi]

Now that you mention it, haven't seen any goldfinches around for awhile.   Do they relocate in cold weather?  

[tinker]

I use Wildberry seeds in the feeder, hang a thistle seed sock and a suet feeder. The Chickadees  will feed on the thistle and the Assups love the suet. I haven't seen Redpolls around here for several years. The Goldfinches leave about the time the leaves start falling. 

[eyeguy 54]

Goldfinches here all winter eating the oils. Color is all gone so they all look like females in the winter. Had about 10 redpolls here a couple weeks ago for a bit. Hit and miss with them mainly miss. Where do you get wildberry seeds? Spendy? 

[tinker]

47 minutes ago, eyeguy 54 said:

Goldfinches here all winter eating the oils. Color is all gone so they all look like females in the winter. Had about 10 redpolls here a couple weeks ago for a bit. Hit and miss with them mainly miss. Where do you get wildberry seeds? Spendy? 

Sorry misquoted name, it is Wild Delight nut and berry. It is a mixture of nuts and fruit pieces . I buy t at L and M .

[eyeguy 54]

got it.  thats some spendy stuff!  

[tinker]

1 minute ago, eyeguy 54 said:

got it.  thats some spendy stuff!  

I think it is about $7 a bag. Not many birds for the last 10 yrs or more so now with the Squirrel proof feeder I probably use 2 bags in a season . Biggest problem is the Assups will get in the feeder and sweep back and forth with their long beaks spewing seeds all over the place which brings in the Pigeons . Last couple of years we have had Merlins nesting in the area who like to dine on Pigeons which is OK with me. 

[eyeguy 54]

I see thats for a 5 pound bag. Makes sense if only a couple bags.  I get 50 pounds oils for 16.  Ususally go thru 2 or 3 bags during winter. The nuthatches here hit the feeders with no problem. Usually take a seed and fly somewhere to eat it then fly back. Maybe they are after the small bits of fruit and make the mess trying to find them?  Many years ago I used a mix with millet and peanuts. The bluejays thru the millet everywhere getting at those bites of peanut. lol 

quiet on the feeders today.

[tinker]

41 minutes ago, eyeguy 54 said:

I see thats for a 5 pound bag. Makes sense if only a couple bags.  I get 50 pounds oils for 16.  Ususally go thru 2 or 3 bags during winter. The nuthatches here hit the feeders with no problem. Usually take a seed and fly somewhere to eat it then fly back. Maybe they are after the small bits of fruit and make the mess trying to find them?  Many years ago I used a mix with millet and peanuts. The bluejays thru the millet everywhere getting at those bites of peanut. lol 

quiet on the feeders today.

Makes you wonder if all that energy needed for 1 seed is worth the effort . Although I have seen Chickadees take more than one seed at a time and fly away.

[eyeguy 54]

Red bellies do that also. Grab a seed, fly to a tree and smash it. FLy back for another. kinda funny

welcome to HSO. just saw you are new. 

[delcecchi]

7 hours ago, eyeguy 54 said:

Goldfinches here all winter eating the oils. Color is all gone so they all look like females in the winter. Had about 10 redpolls here a couple weeks ago for a bit. Hit and miss with them mainly miss. Where do you get wildberry seeds? Spendy? 

Funny thing...   I mentioned not seeing goldfinches.   This morning I look out the window and there on the rail are... several goldfinches, mixed in with house finches.    So I guess they are back from the cotton bowl.   

[fishingstar]

18 hours ago, eyeguy 54 said:

if I see red polls around I will hang a sock, otherwise I dont put it out. black oils.  

black oils do you mean black oil sunflower seeds?

I have  black oil sunflower seeds out all the time and dont see gold finches on that feeder.

I filled the feeders yesterday at this time and the tube feeder is almost empty. there had to be 10 to 12

gold finch out there. At least they are willing to eat off the deck. 

[eyeguy 54]

yes, black oil sunflowers.  goldies and house finches eat them like crazy here. Fun to watch them sometimes with the binocs to see how fast they strip the seed out of the shell. even the red polls eat the oils when I see them which is rare.  A few years ago they were here all winter and lots of them. 26 years here and that only happened 2 winters. Fun taking pics. 

[fishingstar]

we had a lot of red polls about four or five years ago (that real cold winter)

My grandpa said that he cold tell how cold the winter was going to be if the red polls came this far south. 

[tinker]

18 hours ago, eyeguy 54 said:

Red bellies do that also. Grab a seed, fly to a tree and smash it. FLy back for another. kinda funny

welcome to HSO. just saw you are new. 

Thanks eyeguy . Enjoy this site and the post's .

[JBMasterAngler]

Finch sock works for me. It only gets minimal attention. But I just assume that all the other stuff I have out is more appealing. Juncos are messy with it, but they seem to prefer to feed on the ground anyway.

[eyeguy 54]

yepper, juncos on ground about 95% of the time. throw some seed on a stump sometime.  

 

[delcecchi]

They really like my deck rail, even better than the table feeder.  Bunnies and bambies like it fine.

[the nature boy]

I've cut them off. The Redpolls waste too much. They can now eat off the ground or settle for the sunflower seeds. 

[eyeguy 54]

nice that you have them!

[JBMasterAngler]

I’m getting more redpolls showing up lately also. I switched from nyjer seed to ultra wild finch seed. Even have a pair of goldfinches showing up occasionally. The redpolls are messy, but I have plenty of juncos and mourning doves to clean up after them 

[hunterdown]

I have 2 of those tube type feeders up. Usually there is a waiting line to get on the feeder. One just holds the thistle seed, and the other has the bigger holes for the other Finch feed. I picked up 2 twenty pound bags of Finch food at Menards they had on clearance for $8.50 a bag...plus got 11% off

[fishingstar]

That is what my feeders look like also. I have switched to the sock now and the waist is way down. you can tell spring is coming because the gold finch yellow neck is coming in.