[Birdtalk] thistle seed socks

[Linda s Butler]

I keep sewing up the holes in my older thistle socks. I wish I could find
the mesh fabric and just sew them, they'd be simple to make.
Lots of larger finches will take the thistle seed from the socks. I have
a large sock and sometimes it's covered with finches, but most of the
time it isn't. They also tend to ignore a nice wooden feeder that has
little slits for the thistle seed. I like the socks. They're not so hard
on the noggin when I forget to duck!
I've had lots of juncos come and eat the black oil sunflower seed I put
in house-shaped feeders. I noticed that a lot of birds will rummage
through the mixed seed and toss out the millet and little round red seeds
(nobody seems to like those) and eat just the black sunflower seeds. So I
caved in and buy large sacks of the black oil. But I'd have to say the
most popular "food" around here is the niger thistle.
Linda

On Mon, 26 Mar 2007 09:04:00 -0600 "Steve Coleman" <scoleman at utah.gov>
writes:
I got three new socks at the Wild Bird Center in Layton last fall, they
have been up all winter and I have had more Goldfinches this year than
ever before and they are still coming. Interestingly the Juncos fed on
them all winter too, while I have always had a lot of Juncos they have
always fed on the ground this was the fist time I had them go to feeders.
The mesh on these socks is actually bigger than the ones that I replaced
that I bought two years ago.

Steve

>>> <Roostertael at aol.com> 3/26/2007 8:50 AM >>>

Hi,

If anyone else is wondering why you don't have many goldfinches, and you
are using the newer long socks with the American Goldfinch or the flower
printed on them, the birds have trouble getting the seeds out. I dug out
a couple of old long socks that have a little larger mesh and material
that will stretch and got the finches back. In fact I still have a dozen
lesser and about thirty American Goldfinches. Lots for this late in the
year. The American Goldfinches like sunflower chips, and that is what
kept them here until I put the old socks out. Maybe advice for next year.


Jack Binch







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