Niger Seed
Although I've been aware of it, until all the snow this week I've never wondered why so much niger seed seems to be thrown onto the ground by the burds. Is it really just discarded, or does niger seed, despite its small size have a hard seed case that the birds have to remove, and that is what I see scattered on top of the snow? -- Roger T 700 ft up in Mid-Wales |
Niger Seed
"Roger Tonkin" wrote in message ... Although I've been aware of it, until all the snow this week I've never wondered why so much niger seed seems to be thrown onto the ground by the burds. Is it really just discarded, or does niger seed, despite its small size have a hard seed case that the birds have to remove, and that is what I see scattered on top of the snow? It is definitely the whole seed, as numerous seedlings under my niger feeder will testify. R. |
Niger Seed
On 26/03/2013 08:06, Ragnar wrote:
"Roger Tonkin" wrote in message ... Although I've been aware of it, until all the snow this week I've never wondered why so much niger seed seems to be thrown onto the ground by the burds. Is it really just discarded, or does niger seed, despite its small size have a hard seed case that the birds have to remove, and that is what I see scattered on top of the snow? It is definitely the whole seed, as numerous seedlings under my niger feeder will testify. R. Here anything that's dropped gets eaten by wood pigeons. They are incredibly thorough and totally indiscriminate. No wonder they're so fat |
Niger Seed
On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 22:28:21 -0000, Roger Tonkin
wrote: Although I've been aware of it, until all the snow this week I've never wondered why so much niger seed seems to be thrown onto the ground by the burds. Is it really just discarded, or does niger seed, despite its small size have a hard seed case that the birds have to remove, and that is what I see scattered on top of the snow? The goldfinches that take the niger seed from my feeder are messy eaters. For every seed they eat a couple of seeds drop to the ground where other birds eat them. Steve -- EasyNN-plus. Neural Networks plus. http://www.easynn.com SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. http://www.swingnn.com JustNN. Just Neural Networks. http://www.justnn.com |
Niger Seed
"Ragnar" wrote in message ... "Roger Tonkin" wrote in message ... Although I've been aware of it, until all the snow this week I've never wondered why so much niger seed seems to be thrown onto the ground by the burds. Is it really just discarded, or does niger seed, despite its small size have a hard seed case that the birds have to remove, and that is what I see scattered on top of the snow? It is definitely the whole seed, as numerous seedlings under my niger feeder will testify. Agreed the goldfinches in particular are very wasteful. Last Summer I made 3 wooden trays and fixed them about 6" below the bottoms of the sunflower and the 2 niger feeders. I now top up the nigers every other day, so a saving of 50%. No savings with the sunflower, but no wastage either, as chaffinches will eat off the trays. Lot safer as the chaffs are normally ground-feeders - there are lots of cats in the area!! http://preview.tinyurl.com/c223jtk http://preview.tinyurl.com/cls6auc Another plus has been a visit by a PAIR of bullfinches to the s/f tray. Previous Winters, we have only seen the male on the ground. |
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Niger Seed
"Stephen Wolstenholme" wrote in message ... On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 22:28:21 -0000, Roger Tonkin wrote: Although I've been aware of it, until all the snow this week I've never wondered why so much niger seed seems to be thrown onto the ground by the burds. Is it really just discarded, or does niger seed, despite its small size have a hard seed case that the birds have to remove, and that is what I see scattered on top of the snow? The goldfinches that take the niger seed from my feeder are messy eaters. For every seed they eat a couple of seeds drop to the ground where other birds eat them. Steve -- EasyNN-plus. Neural Networks plus. http://www.easynn.com SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. http://www.swingnn.com JustNN. Just Neural Networks. http://www.justnn.com Send some down to me - Goldfinches tthat is. Nothing touches my Niger seeds :-) Bill |
Niger Seed
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Niger Seed
"Roger Tonkin" wrote in message ... In article , says... No savings with the sunflower, but no wastage either, as chaffinches will eat off the trays. Lot safer as the chaffs are normally ground-feeders - there are lots of cats in the area!! http://preview.tinyurl.com/c223jtk http://preview.tinyurl.com/cls6auc Another plus has been a visit by a PAIR of bullfinches to the s/f tray. Previous Winters, we have only seen the male on the ground. Don't you have trouble when it rains, all the fallen seed will get wet in the trays surely? No it all stays fairly dry. If you look at the first photo, you'll see a sheet of perspex above the trellis, within a rough wooden frame. Looks a bit a door. |
Niger Seed
"Bertie Doe" wrote in message ... "Roger Tonkin" wrote in message ... Don't you have trouble when it rains, all the fallen seed will get wet in the trays surely? No it all stays fairly dry. If you look at the first photo, you'll see a sheet of perspex above the trellis, within a rough wooden frame. Looks a bit a door. p.s. If you made your own trays, you would need to drill holes to allow for drainage. There's def a demand for feeders with trays :- http://preview.tinyurl.com/butdrbu |
Niger Seed
"Stephen Wolstenholme" wrote in message ... On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 22:28:21 -0000, Roger Tonkin wrote: Although I've been aware of it, until all the snow this week I've never wondered why so much niger seed seems to be thrown onto the ground by the burds. Is it really just discarded, or does niger seed, despite its small size have a hard seed case that the birds have to remove, and that is what I see scattered on top of the snow? The goldfinches that take the niger seed from my feeder are messy eaters. For every seed they eat a couple of seeds drop to the ground where other birds eat them. Steve I stopped feeding niger seed because of the wastage. I use 50% canary seed, 50% sunflower hearts in my seed feeders and it seems to suit all the small birds including goldfinches with very little wastage. For chaffinches I use canary mix on a birdtable and have had 17 at once. I also put very small grade grit out (the sort you can get for budgies) and this is also popular. Blackbirds love sultanas. |
Niger Seed
On 2013-03-27 22:46:44 +0000, Christina Websell said:
"Stephen Wolstenholme" wrote in message ... On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 22:28:21 -0000, Roger Tonkin wrote: Although I've been aware of it, until all the snow this week I've never wondered why so much niger seed seems to be thrown onto the ground by the burds. Is it really just discarded, or does niger seed, despite its small size have a hard seed case that the birds have to remove, and that is what I see scattered on top of the snow? The goldfinches that take the niger seed from my feeder are messy eaters. For every seed they eat a couple of seeds drop to the ground where other birds eat them. Steve I stopped feeding niger seed because of the wastage. I use 50% canary seed, 50% sunflower hearts in my seed feeders and it seems to suit all the small birds including goldfinches with very little wastage. For chaffinches I use canary mix on a birdtable and have had 17 at once. I also put very small grade grit out (the sort you can get for budgies) and this is also popular. Blackbirds love sultanas. We have one container with nothing but sunflower seeds in it and the greenfinches found it within one day. Now they and the bluetits battle it out! The other seed containers are emptied almost every day. But the fat balls and peanuts are virtually ignored. Yes, the peanuts are a new batch! We've given up putting out niger seeds as nothing seems very interested and the last lot started going mouldy. And we think/hope firecrests may be thinking of nesting here. Certainly, one has been seen feeding in hedges on the nursery. -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.com South Devon www.helpforheroes.org.uk |
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My goldfinches are a conservative lot and are ignoring the kibbled sunflower in favour of nyjer Quote:
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Niger Seed
"Sacha" wrote in message ... And we think/hope firecrests may be thinking of nesting here. Certainly, one has been seen feeding in hedges on the nursery. -- Sacha Wow, lucky you. I've never seen a firecrest but I get goldcrests in my conifers regularly. They love conifers. Tina |
Niger Seed
"kay" wrote in message ... Christina Websell;979858 Wrote: I stopped feeding niger seed because of the wastage. I use 50% canary seed, 50% sunflower hearts in my seed feeders and it seems to suit all the small birds including goldfinches with very little wastage. It seems that goldfinches across the country are turning to kibbled sunflower hearts, and in may areas they prefer these to nyjer. Kibbled sunflower hearts can be fed from a normal seed feeder, and are taken by a range of birds, so it seems worth a change if your goldfinches like it. My goldfinches are a conservative lot and are ignoring the kibbled sunflower in favour of nyjer Blackbirds love sultanas. But sultanas even in small quantities can cause kidney disease in cats (and I think dogs), so are not suitable for ground feeding. OK on a table out of easy reach of cats and dogs. I did not know that - but I feed the sultanas on a bird table which the blackbirds use. I do not ground feed because it encourages rats even more than I do already by having poultry. -- kay |
Niger Seed
"Christina Websell" wrote in message ... "Sacha" wrote in message ... And we think/hope firecrests may be thinking of nesting here. Certainly, one has been seen feeding in hedges on the nursery. -- Sacha Wow, lucky you. I've never seen a firecrest but I get goldcrests in my conifers regularly. They love conifers. Tina When I had a couple of conifers Goldcrests were regular visitors and very approachable as well. I could certainly approach to about 10ft and be ignored by the birds. Bill |
Niger Seed
On 2013-03-28 10:28:57 +0000, Martin said:
On Thu, 28 Mar 2013 09:13:23 +0000, Sacha wrote: snip We have one container with nothing but sunflower seeds in it and the greenfinches found it within one day. Now they and the bluetits battle it out! The other seed containers are emptied almost every day. But the fat balls and peanuts are virtually ignored. The fat balls go when it is very cold. The large birds Jays, Parakeets etc. eat the peanuts. Yes, jays will pick up bits and pieces left around but we don't have parakeetes! -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.com South Devon www.helpforheroes.org.uk |
Niger Seed
"Bill Grey" wrote in message ... "Christina Websell" wrote in message ... "Sacha" wrote in message ... And we think/hope firecrests may be thinking of nesting here. Certainly, one has been seen feeding in hedges on the nursery. -- Sacha Wow, lucky you. I've never seen a firecrest but I get goldcrests in my conifers regularly. They love conifers. Tina When I had a couple of conifers Goldcrests were regular visitors and very approachable as well. I could certainly approach to about 10ft and be ignored by the birds. Same here. I still have my conifers and goldcrests but alas never a firecrest. Bill |
Niger Seed
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Niger Seed
"Roger Tonkin" wrote in message ... In article , says... I stopped feeding niger seed because of the wastage. I use 50% canary seed, 50% sunflower hearts in my seed feeders and it seems to suit all the small birds including goldfinches with very little wastage. For chaffinches I use canary mix on a birdtable and have had 17 at once. I also put very small grade grit out (the sort you can get for budgies) and this is also popular. Blackbirds love sultanas. The goldfinches and siskins here seem to flit between the niger and the seed mix (I use a mix of kibbled sunflower hearts and dried meal worms) although the goldfinches tend to prefer the seed mix, siskins will go back and forth, taking a mouthful from one, then from the other. -- Roger T I don't seem to get siskins, or maybe I do and just don't see them. Had a green woodpecker calling in my garden two days ago. boast |
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