Anyone using thistle seed, a favorite of finches?

Several years ago I'd buy one of those socks, then I'd forget and leave
it out in the rain and the insides would turn to mush. I finally said
the hell with it.

A male goldfinch is one of the prettiest birds you can attract though,
they come to the sunflower seed feeder sometimes.

On Sat, 6 Apr 2024 12:51:47 -0500
super70s <super70s@super70s.invalid> wrote:

>Anyone using thistle seed, a favorite of finches?
>
>Several years ago I'd buy one of those socks, then I'd forget and leave
>it out in the rain and the insides would turn to mush. I finally said
>the hell with it.
>
>A male goldfinch is one of the prettiest birds you can attract though,
>they come to the sunflower seed feeder sometimes.
>

Thistle seed is messy, that's for sure🙁

After trying some different seeds years ago... I settled on just using
black oiler sunflower seeds in the shell. It attracts Goldfinch,
House Finch, Cardinal, Blue Jay, Titmouse, Chickadee, Nuthatch, Mourning
Dove, Woodpeckers...

If you have trouble with shucked hulls you can get it without too for
an added expense.

Mixed seed was cheaper but most birds bill swipe it off onto the
ground looking for the sunflower seeds🙄

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI

On 4/6/2024 1:51 PM, super70s wrote:
> Anyone using thistle seed, a favorite of finches?
>
> Several years ago I'd buy one of those socks, then I'd forget and leave
> it out in the rain and the insides would turn to mush. I finally said
> the hell with it.
>
Thistle socks do tend to get a tad mushy. I used to have a thistle
feeder. For some reason I didn't bring it with me when I moved from
Tennessee to South Carolina.

> A male goldfinch is one of the prettiest birds you can attract though,
> they come to the sunflower seed feeder sometimes.
>
They are beautiful birds! And yes, they do also like sunflower seeds. :)

Jill <---in Southern South Carolina

On 2024-04-06 18:09:08 +0000, Leon Fisk said:

> On Sat, 6 Apr 2024 12:51:47 -0500
> super70s <super70s@super70s.invalid> wrote:
>
>> Anyone using thistle seed, a favorite of finches?
>>
>> Several years ago I'd buy one of those socks, then I'd forget and
>> leave>it out in the rain and the insides would turn to mush. I finally
>> said>the hell with it.
>>
>> A male goldfinch is one of the prettiest birds you can attract
>> though,>they come to the sunflower seed feeder sometimes.
>>
>
> Thistle seed is messy, that's for sure🙁
>
> After trying some different seeds years ago... I settled on just using
> black oiler sunflower seeds in the shell. It attracts Goldfinch,
> House Finch, Cardinal, Blue Jay, Titmouse, Chickadee, Nuthatch, Mourning
> Dove, Woodpeckers...

Cardinals supposedly have a slight preference for safflower seeds but
you'd probably be discouraging a lot of other species.

> If you have trouble with shucked hulls you can get it without too for
> an added expense.

Yes they can make the ground messy which can attract grub worms and
then moles but I relocated my feeder from the backyard to the side of
the house on a small strip of land in between two paved driveways and
it isn't that much of a problem anymore. Also I kind of like to make
them work for their food, lol.

> Mixed seed was cheaper but most birds bill swipe it off onto the
> ground looking for the sunflower seeds🙄

Yes that's been my experience also.

On Sat, 6 Apr 2024 15:25:53 -0500
super70s <super70s@super70s.invalid> wrote:

<snip>
>Cardinals supposedly have a slight preference for safflower seeds but
>you'd probably be discouraging a lot of other species.

I tried shucked safflower seeds too. Most of the desired birds ate it,
once they figured out something new. I had the feeling though that
they'd rather be eating oilers😉 Was having a lot of annoyance with
Starlings and Grackles at the time if I recall correctly. It was a long
time ago. Didn't think it was really worth paying the extra price for
safflower.

Had more fun planting some of the safflower seeds in the garden.
They're pretty but prickly too. Had them a bit too close to the green
beans and they'd poke me in the back😬

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI