I have two feeders one with BOSS, the other has nyger seed. I had a flocks of chikadees and finches. They suddenly left, occasionally I will see a few of each come to the feeders, they peck a little then leave. My trees are full of birds. Should I empty the feeders, and add new seeds? I don't know exactly how I should clean the feeders, the seeds aren't old. We did have a few slight showers last week, is it possible they may be tainted? I have no idea. I would also love to attract the tiny little birds I see in the trees. I don't know what type of feeder or seed. They certainly are not hummers, I can't see them that close, they appear to be dark in color. Also I have some cardinals that cannot feed in my cage feeder, but I also have a huge grackle problem. How should I feed my cards? I live in South Texas. Thank You!

Marg, I've been doing this for a little less than a year, so take what I say with a grain of salt! :) First, maybe you could put nyjer in the finch feeder only. Then if the finches want it, they will go there. That's if you want to continue with the nyjer. If you keep nyjer in the tray feeder they have no incentive to try the finch feeder. I do feed differently in the summer; I worry more about keeping up with the birdbaths because the birds seem to use them more. They have so much more food available to them (bugs, plants, etc.) But I do put out a fruit and jelly feeder, a no-melt suet, and nyjer and BOSS, and sometimes sunflower hearts, raisins,and berries. I do keep more food out in winter. When it snows they always come here for some seed or suet. The birds do like garden flowers and seeds even better than the foods we put out though. I came home one day to drive up and see a ton of goldfinches all over our large butterfly bush. And they love the sunflowers of course, and the bugs in the vegetable garden. I hope this has somehow been helpful. Hang in there! :) And good for you for putting the plants in - I am doing that too, and it's more work but it will be worth it. bandgsmom - thanks for your reply. All I can say is, that's the way our finches divide up at the feeders. It's been true for almost a year now. And when I put a goldfinch feeder away from the other birdfeeders last summer, they really loved that.

In your pic it looks Red, but if it's Orange then it's a House finch. The Purple Finch looks like it's been dipped in Rasbery juice.

I am not certain about other Finches but as a rule the American Gold Finch tends to stay in the same region year around however they undergo a rather remarkable color change from summer to winter. In their summer or "Breeding Plumage" the males are bright yellow with black wings and are commonly called wild canaries. In winter the males have a smooth chocolate brown color with black wings and are often mistaken for sparrows. I am attaching some photos that I took while living in N. E. Ohio (Youngstown, Oh) which has climatic conditions quite similar to N. Virginia.