Finches - Gold Vs. House

Last year, Dan put up a thistle bird feeder. We got two, maybe three goldfinches all year. You know goldfinches... they're the little gold and black birds that like to eat UPSIDE DOWN. (weirdos) Anyway, we weren't sure what we were doing wrong with the feeder. Was it in the wrong spot? Were people in the windows of the house scaring them away? Is the thistle seed fresh enough? No good answers, and no finches, so we took it down this past winter and washed it out.

Fast forward to last week. Dan decided that we should try again with the feeder. Ok. I filled it with seed, hung it up, admired my handiwork and Dan promptly went into the garage, got the perches, took the feeder back down, inserted the perches and hung it back up again. (Hey, I had a blonde moment, ok?) Well, ever since then, we've had finches almost every day! Where were these little buggers last year, huh?

We've also had house finches try to use the feeder. I get the feeling that house finches are NOT able to eat upside down. They keep trying to lean waaaaaaaaaaay over and grab the seeds through the little dispenser holes, but since the holes are below the perches, they're having a devil of a time. I just saw two house finches try to eat out of the feeder. Being unsuccessful, they got frustrated and started taking it out on each other! Alot of screeching and birdie cussin' was going on. It was actually kind of funny.

Now to find out how house finches DO eat and get them a little feeder of their own.