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TWO SOLUTIONS FOR MAKING YOUR FEEDERS HOUSE-FINCH AND HOUSE-SPARROW PROOF

The Finch Foiler by Bernie Daniel

This practical strategy stands them on their heads!

House sparrows and house finches had taken over the thistle feeder we put out for the goldfinches, and we were not happy about it. We didn't want to feed the house sparrows because they are super-competitors to other birds, especially our purple martins. Yet we wanted to keep the goldfinches that were so attracted to the thistle seed we were offering specifically for them.

Here is the dilemma we faced: Should we quit feeding so as not to help the house sparrows and the rather greedy house finches? Or should we try to find a way to make our existing thistle feeder house sparrow- and house finch-proof?

We chose the latter path.

Having seen advertisements for "upside-down" thistle feeders, we decided to perform a retrofitting on our feeder, which was a standard finch feeder featuring a central plastic tube with a metal top and bottom, and metal perches. We took the bottom and top off the feeder and reversed them. Now the bottom was on the top and the top on the bottom. But more importantly, the perches were now above the small thistle holes. This configuration enables the goldfinches to hang upside down to feed. Both the house finches and the house sparrows have tried to use the feeder, but they can't cling to the perches well enough to reach any thistle. They leave the thistle feeder alone now, so the goldfinches have exclusive rights.

We hope that our feeding solution will help you feed your goldfinches with fewer problems.

I enjoyed the story "The Great Finch War" by Charles Powell (BWD November/December 1994). I have engaged in similar "engineering" of my bird feeders to affect the clientele. An excess of house finches can make life miserable for goldfinches (and chickadees, titmice, and cardinals). My solution was to modify the length of the aluminum perches on my thistle feeder.

I have a four-pound thistle feeder with eight feeding ports. Each port had a 1"x1/4" aluminum dowel perch. House finches, goldfinches, and chickadees could easily feed from these perches but house finches totally dominated the feeding.

However, when I shortened the perches to 3/4" the house finches visibly had trouble holding on to the perches to feed. The goldfinches and chickadees did fine. I then reduced the perch lengths to 5/8". This length seems to completely eliminate the house finches. The goldfinches and chickadees master the short perches in a day or two and both now can feed in peace.

The house finches now have moved to the black oil sunflower and safflower feeders but the cardinals seem to be holding their own.