HELP!

HELP!

The Goldfinch Eating Team is teaching the Hummingbird how it is done.

These birds eat from your donations.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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5 Comments

  1. gloriainexcelsis says:

    Sorry, Father. I’d love to help; but I have the same problem. I buy 20 pound bags of black oil sunflower seeds and No Mess Blend, the large sack of thistle seed, hulled peanuts, and box after box of hummingbird nectar. I also have a 125 pound white German Shepherd. These guys all eat more than I do. My senior citizen fixed income is stretched to the max. BUT – I just can’t stop feeding and enjoying them all. For the small habitat I’ve created in my Senior Village tiny yard, I have more birds than I ever thought possible. Of course, the gray squirrels and ground squirrels, occasional turkey and deer help to empty the feeders more quickly. Sigh! If I ever have a spare coin or two, I’ll be happy to help your visitors as well.

  2. Jon says:

    I just filled the feeders a few minutes ago beneath the kitchen window. We have two thistle feeders for the goldfinches – one rightside up, and the other upside down – as well as a varmint-proof sunflower job for the cardinals.

    Last weekend I went to Home Depot and bought a small sack of thistle feed. It was EIGHTEEN dollars. I can treat the family to an evening of pizza and pop for less!

  3. irishgirl says:

    Yep-them birds’ll eat you out of house and home!

    How did you get that hummingbird to ‘fly still’? Usually they’re just a blur….

  4. PatrickV says:

    I am a sucker for hummingbirds and goldfinches. There is nothing like a goldfinch darting across a country road in front of you, or a gang of hummingbirds taking care of business about ten feet away from you. Iridescence Rules!

  5. Last year we discovered–totally by accident–that goldfinches and other songbirds LOVE the seedpod base of basil, hyssop, and salvia flowers; they don’t even wait until after the flowers are spent to start ripping the seeds out! I planted a fledgling knot garden with the knots made of various types of basils, filled in with Victoria blue salvia and zinnias; the basils took off (and supported/support the local bee populace) and became a cafeteria for the finches up until well after the first frost. And I am not a fantastic gardener; the basils and salvia were incredibly easy to grow (although I will admit that we had to have some good topsoil tilled into our Carolina red clay in the proto-garden beds before anything would grow).

    We also have thistle feeders, and songbird-special-mix feeders, and a running battle with mourning doves emptying the cardinal feeder.

    The hummingbirds get the salvia nectar and the Jacob Cline monarda (also easy to grow; it would be classified as a weed if you did not want it where it is growing) and absolutely turn up their noses (bills?) at the sugar nectar in the ‘feeder’.

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