I've noticed that the small birds don't seem to want the niger seed at this time of year. They all go for the black sunflower seed. I have hundreds of birds in my back yard!

I have lots and lots of chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, woodpeckers, juncos, doves, bluejays, cardinals, etc., eating black oil seed, with cracked corn and other stuff scattered on the ground for the ground feeders.

I didn't know that about niger seed. I haven't bought it in a long time because it's expensive. After this period of bad weather is over, I'll consider bringing the feeder indoors.

I no longer feed in warmer months because of the bears.

Speaking of price, I usually buy 50-lb. bags of black oil seed for $20 at Agway. Last night I wasn't near an Agway, so I checked out PetSmart for the seed. They were selling 20 lbs. for $20. I did better at Home Depot (40 lbs. for $22), but still not as good as Agway.

we use a song bird mix or even the squirrel feed. what really surprised me were the ducks that showed last week! guess it was the last feed before leaving..(we have a small creek/drainage ditch, that can fill with water) but we're over the usual 9 doves and the cards have double to 4...not always a big turn out, but with a vacant lot next to us, they have other places to go...oh forgot the deer and rabbits that come..

Crows moved into our neighborhood years ago, and the doves disappeared. They used to be all over the area. I hate crows.

The finches go to the fields in the fall when the pasture plants go to seed. They usually come back to the feeders when the seeds are gone. I have always like finches partly because finches keep the sparrows away. This is the first year I have had finches and sparrows feeding at my feeders together.

I feed black oil sunflower seeds and as long as that is in the feeders they don't eat the niger seeds. I don't buy any mixed seed because birds just end up scratching the reg seeds out on the ground to get to the sunflower seeds. I now use medium sunflower hearts.

Doves are my favorite birds. I always know when they are nearby, the make a squeaking noise when they take flight.

You can have all of my redwinged blackbirds. They've started arriving and soon there will be hundreds of them stripping all of our feeders. They usually stay a good 3 months or longer. We have our usual nuthatches, tufted titmouse, woodpeckers, cardinals, blue jays, crows, doves, sparrows, wrens, who all seem to get along just fine. Our finches are dull in color now and they didn't seem that interested this year in the niger seed. Everyone seems to prefer the black oil sunflower seeds.

Well, so much for my special treat of niger seeds! LOL I can remember when the finches went crazy over it.

I see red-winged blackbirds only in very early spring, when they migrate. They'll usually fill a tree and make a huge racket. I love it because it signals the end of winter.

Wrens show up in spring too. One always nests in a hanging stoneware bird house. Eastern phoebes, orioles, and robins show up regularly too.

Guess what! I saw a goldfinch at the feeder this morning! No, not the niger feeder--the black oil feeder. Just like you all said. :-)

Goldfinches are in abundance here just north of Pittsburgh. I think that they along with Juncos are our most numerous feeders. We are using a finch mix in the tube feeder. Seems all the birds eat from the tray on it. Right now, there is 2 mourning doves hogging the tiny tray. Apparently the birds that are called "ground feeders" have not read the book. Juncos spend a lot of time in the tray of the tube feeder also.

We do have a family of 4 crows that are here daily for the cracked corn, sunflower and safflower seed. All the birds tolerate each other well, except for two male Red Bellied Woodpeckers that will not tolerate each other at the suet cakes. They are ok with any other birds at the suet, just not each other.

My gold finches mobbed the feeder 2 weeks ago and then all the snow melteda nd the small birds disappeared. I did note that a neighbor of mine who rarely fed birds put out feed during the Thanksgiving holiday and had several birds.

Three days ago, all my birds disappeared which gave me concern for fear that something drastic happened to them. This afternoon, the weather was changing to colder and the small birds began to come back.

About the sparrow: Approximately 10 years ago, a virus swept through the English sparrow population and nearly wiped them out in a region from the Mississippi River eastward and they have not recovered. They were the most populous bunch and a nuisance, but no more, Since that time, I have seen only one English Sparrow.

Sometimes, when my birds suddenly leave during a popular feeding time, I have spied a hawk sitting high in a tree surveying the scene - this pretty much explains that absence.

I do get concerned when my birds disappear for a day or more thinking they might have gotten into some bad feed or rat poison. I am convinced that something has happened in the environment because my bird visitors have fallen to half of what it was a week ago.

Fifteen years ago, I did could spy on occasion gross beaks; Also red polls would frequent our feeder during the depth of cold waves. Gross beaks are grazers. They do not hang around one location. In winter, they flock together and will stop for a few minutes to do easy pickings and then move on. They rarely come back to the same place on the same day. Both gross beaks and red polls have disappeared. I have seen none for the past 5 years.

The summer before this last one I had gold finches long before they had turned gold. I have never had that at my feeders before. They have always arrived in full color.

I love birdwatching. So does daddy. It's about all he can do any more, but he does. His chaise is right by the window and they have feeders in all the trees, and hanging off the deck. I love love love goldfinches the best of all. To see them sitting on zinnias, Rudbeckia, or my sunflowers, brings me the most happiness. Even more than hummers buzzing past me. Those are a close second. And robins splashing in whatever water they can find. Happy images!

I gotta tell you though, every time I see the title of this post, I start singing, "Where have all the finches? long time passing! When will they ever learn? When will they e-VER learn?"

Rob, the same song rang through my head when I posted. :-)

Re grosbeaks and redpolls, I always thought this was interesting: Back in the 1970s, when I hand-tamed the wild birds at our previous house, a flock of migrating redpolls came through in the spring. They saw me standing outside holding sunflower seeds in my hands, with Evening Grosbeaks on my head, my shoulders, and my arms, eating the seeds, and they must have figured I was safe, because they joined the grosbeaks without hesitation, landing on me and feeding from my hands as well.

I miss those gorgeous, noisy grosbeaks!