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  • Re: thistle

    From Leon Fisk@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Sat Apr 6 14:09:08 2024
    On Sat, 6 Apr 2024 12:51:47 -0500
    super70s <[email protected]d> 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

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From super70s@21:1/5 to All on Sat Apr 6 12:51:47 2024
    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.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From jmcquown@21:1/5 to All on Sat Apr 6 16:06:49 2024
    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

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Leon Fisk@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Sat Apr 6 17:04:50 2024
    On Sat, 6 Apr 2024 15:25:53 -0500
    super70s <[email protected]d> 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

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From super70s@21:1/5 to Leon Fisk on Sat Apr 6 15:25:53 2024
    On 2024-04-06 18:09:08 +0000, Leon Fisk said:

    On Sat, 6 Apr 2024 12:51:47 -0500
    super70s <[email protected]d> 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.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)