Attracting Finches To Your Backyard

Finches are one of the most colorful and entertaining types of wild birds you can attract to your back yard. With 16 distinct species of Finches spread throughout North America, backyard bird lovers have lots of opportunities to enjoy these fascinating birds. Some of the most common and popular types of Finches include Cassin’s Finch, House Finch, Purple Finch, Rosy Finch and the ever popular American Goldfinch. Of course, many of these Finches have similar colors and markings, so having a field guide handy to identify the various species would be beneficial. One of the most exciting things about most Finch species is that they are very social birds who often arrive to feed in large groups. Follow these simple steps and your yard might just become a very busy place.

Finches will be attracted to a wide variety of food sources such as black oil sunflower seeds, millet and canary seeds but they are especially fond of Nyjer or Thistle seed. Finches have small short beaks which are perfect for enjoying these small nutritious seeds. In order to distribute Nyjer or Thistle seed properly, however, you need a feeder that is designed specifically for these smaller seeds. A tube finch feederwith smaller feeding ports will do nicely for most finch species. But since finches are “cling feeders” that will attach themselves to food sources in all different positions, the best finch feeder may be a screen or mesh finch feeder. This allows the birds to feed at all angles, even upside down. Whichever style feeder you choose, make sure you get as large a feeder as is practical with more places to feed. This will allow a whole flock of Finches to feed at once.

Make sure you place your feeders 5 to 6 feet from some type of cover like bushes or small trees. The birds will go back and forth from the feeder to the brush over and over as they feed and their acrobatic, wave-like flight patterns will be quite entertaining. Remember to keep your bird feeders clean and full. Wash out your Finch feeders and bird baths with a simple cleaning solution including water and 10% bleach. This will insure that your birds will continue to stay healthy. And if you always keep your bird feeder filled, the neighborhood Finches will always know where they can get a good meal.

Another popular and beautiful way to attract Finch species is to develop a bird garden with flowers like Zinnias, Sunflowers, Cosmos or Bachelor’s Buttons. They will also enjoy various fruits like Cherries, Blackberries, and Mulberries. In these bird gardens, the Finches are attracted to the seed. If you can, let the flowers grow and do not trim or prune them and you will be able to attract these colorful birds all fall and winter.

One more great way to attract Finches, as well as other North American birds, is to provide some type of water source like a bird bath or pond. Having some type of movement in your bird bath is even better. Moving water is like a magnet for birds of all species. Also, using a heated bath will attract the birds throughout the winter months.

Follow these simple steps and you can start enjoying these wonderful wild birds right away no matter where you live, city or country. And who wouldn’t love to have a whole flock of brightly colored Goldfinches visiting and feeding in your backyard on a daily basis.

Attracting Finches To Your Backyard by Strangelittlebird is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.