"Jim Elbrecht" wrote in message
...
"Ace" wrote:
...
If you just want to feed Goldfinches, then get the feeder designed
specifically for them. It is a tube feeder that feeds niger
thistle--- but the kicker is that the slots are *below* the perches.
It seems the Goldfinches are the only ones who can eat upside down.
I've had a couple birds perch on mine on occasion, but it is usually
filled up with Goldfinches.
...

We also have the upside-down finch feeders, the cheap plastic tube types.
The lesser goldfinches have
been back (Phoenix AZ) since mid August. They always leave for cooler
regions in the summer but return when the nighttime and early morning temps
begin to drop into the 70s. The house finches still came to the upside-down
feeders and they can learn to do the upside down thing but can't hang in
there as long as the goldfinches. We solved the problem by putting a
cylinder of 1-inch chicken netting about a foot in diameter around the
feeder (similar to the no-squirrel cages) and closing off the top and
bottom. Then we had to add a 2nd netting cylinder around the first and
offset it about 1/8 inch because the house finches could get through the
openings in the first one. Last year we had as many as 10 goldfinches on
the perches of two feeders at the same time while the house finches were
hanging onto he netting and trying, unsuccessfully, to get in. We also
still use the conventional rightside up feeders for other birds on the
opposite side of the house well away from the finch feeders. Olin