Can you really say that you understand birds? I have read plenty of scholarly material that somewhere, in the end, says something like "we don't fully understand this or that behavior." And I believe the scholars every time. I have watched the most humdrum and common birds and I'll be darned if I understand what goes on in their heads. I have two nyjer seed socks. One is old, nasty, discolored. The other is new, clean, full of fresh seed, but a little larger. Which one do the goldfinches prefer? why, of course the small, old, crummy one. It is not lack of exposure: the new bag is known to them. Once in a while a bird will light on it, poke a bit, and then move on. It can't be the color. I tried jet black socks a couple of years ago and the finches avoided them like the plague. Nor is it location: the two socks are close enough to make trees, etc. not a factor. The behavior is a mystery. All I can hope to do is collect more data and maybe, before too many years, I might understand just a tiny bit more. Birds will be birds.Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Those Darn Goldfinches
Can you really say that you understand birds? I have read plenty of scholarly material that somewhere, in the end, says something like "we don't fully understand this or that behavior." And I believe the scholars every time. I have watched the most humdrum and common birds and I'll be darned if I understand what goes on in their heads. I have two nyjer seed socks. One is old, nasty, discolored. The other is new, clean, full of fresh seed, but a little larger. Which one do the goldfinches prefer? why, of course the small, old, crummy one. It is not lack of exposure: the new bag is known to them. Once in a while a bird will light on it, poke a bit, and then move on. It can't be the color. I tried jet black socks a couple of years ago and the finches avoided them like the plague. Nor is it location: the two socks are close enough to make trees, etc. not a factor. The behavior is a mystery. All I can hope to do is collect more data and maybe, before too many years, I might understand just a tiny bit more. Birds will be birds.
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This is a very common complaint. Goldfinches can be very particular. They have to have the freshest seed, familiar feeders, and sometimes refuse to finish the last bite at tube feeders.
I started out with the socks too. After the squirrels stole them every spring to pad their nests I moved over to the metal mesh feeders. Now these are my favorite feeders. http://bit.ly/60oqik
However when you switch feeders you have to accept that finches don't like change and it may take several days to several months for Goldfinches to accept a new feeder.
One trick to make the transition a little smoother is to remove all of their old, well loved feeders for awhile.
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