Best seed to attract Finches
Admittedly one certain type of seed can't attract wild birds out of thin air, yet providing finches their favorites will ensure it keeps them coming back.
Honestly, the best seed you can use in an attempt to attract finches in particular, will be sunflower seeds or thistle seeds. Sunflower seeds will find House Finches most of all, while thistle seeds attract American Goldfinches to Pine Siskins. Provide seeds in and out of feeders to remain accessible.
With the possibility of attracting far less than thirteen finch family members to your yard, which will depend on where you reside in the United States, only thistle or sunflower seeds are found to be the best seeds you can provide.
In fact, providing both sunflower seeds and thistle seeds together will see the most success; in an attempt to not only attract finches, but to ensure to keep them coming back to your yard to feed.
Sunflower/thistle seeds can be placed in a regular seed feeder, but only when mixed in with millet to keep the seeds flowing.
Specialist thistle and sunflower seed feeders can be considered, as their respective seed feeder does function differently.
How to attract American Goldfinches to feed on thistle seeds, will be on a thistle seed feeder that can be both a clear tube type feeder, or a highly effective thistle seed sock where it can hang on a branch or bird feeder pole.
How you attract finches with their favorite seeds then is with assistance of a thistle or sunflower seed feeder. Finches won't avoid your yard if you don't provide the correct seeds or feeders, yet its certainly a contributing factor.
Why aren't finches coming to your thistle or sunflower feeder could be any reason, yet its vital you keep finches coming back as you improve on what you feed them, and they way you feed finches a mix of seeds.
Add thistle/sunflower seeds out of feeders if you must while also placing seeds in trees, on a bird feeder tray or on random surfaces in your yard.
Seed table
| What Finch: | Favorite: | Wild seeds: |
|---|---|---|
| American Goldfinch | Thistle seeds | Seeds of weeds, grasses |
| Brown-capped Rosy-Finch | Sunflower seeds | Seeds of weeds, grasses |
| Cassin's Finch | Safflower seeds | Seeds of trees |
| Common Redpoll | Thistle, Niger | Seeds of trees |
| Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch | Sunflower seeds | Seeds of weeds, grasses |
| Hoary Redpoll | Thistle, Niger | Seeds of trees |
| House Finch | Sunflower seeds | Weed seeds |
| Lawrence's Goldfinch | Thistle, Niger | Seeds of native weeds |
| Lesser Goldfinch | Sunflower seeds, thistle seeds | Seeds of weeds |
| Pine Siskin | Sunflower seeds, thistle seeds | Seeds of trees |
| Purple Finch | Sunflower seeds, thistle seeds | Seeds of trees, seeds of weeds, grasses |
| Red Crossbill | Sunflower seeds, thistle seeds | Seeds of trees, seeds of weeds, grasses |
| White-winged Crossbill | Thistle, Niger | Seeds of trees, seeds of weeds, grasses |
With thirteen members of the Finch family present in the United States, its possible any one of these finches can be attracted to your yard with their favorite seeds.
Favorite seeds indicate what is their favorite seeds to eat, yet isn't the only seed a finch will eat when fed to them in your yard.
Finches that eat sunflower seeds or thistle seeds as listed above, could eat one or the other, yet will favor one or both that are provided in or out of bird feeders.
In the wild, all finches forage on seeds in grass or weeds, or up in trees, thus they only eat sunflower seeds or thistle seeds when in season. With that in mind, feel free to provide regular seed mixes that hopefully feature thistle or sunflower seeds.
Seeds of thistle best of all
Clearly going by finches favorite bird seeds as featured in my table above, you'll notice most finches simply favor thistle seeds the most.
It makes sense really, thistle flowers are readily available across the United States, and for a few short months, finches get to enjoy these protein rich small black seeds - which are pecked out of the heads of thistle wild flowers.
Natural thistle seeds bloom in mid June to late fall, when they begin to dwindle in September, so its a good idea to put out thistle seeds for finches in time when thistle isn't found in the wild, although you can feed finches on thistle all year round.
Of the thirteen finch species likely to visit your yard in this time, you could attract finches when providing thistle seeds in and out of feeders.
Bear in mind, Lesser Goldfinch and American Goldfinches among others, will be happy to feed on thistle when provided in a thistle seed feeder.
With that, the best way to feed seeds to finches is out of seed feeders, and in a tray as to open up the diner table to less able, or more shy finches.
With thistle seeds being the top best seed you can provide to attract mostly finches as it happens, be sure to provide said seeds within feeders - and out of feeders like on surfaces around the yard - or in a tray or dish to keep the yard tidy.
Sunflower seed mixes
Level with thistle seeds will find sunflower seeds being among the best seeds you can provide in an attempt to attract all kinds of finches.
When finches are in your area, or at least present in your State, its vital you provide sunflower seeds as they remain a firm favorite with Chickadees to Northern Cardinals.
Of the finches though, you can expect to attract Brown-capped Rosy-Finches - plus the Common Redpoll as both share similar dietary needs - Cassin's Finches, Lesser Goldfinches, Pine Siskins, Purple Finches and the Red Crossbill.
Most importantly, you can attract the more widely available House Finches, who's range covers most of the United States all year, so this is likely to relate to you - and that includes residents on the Hawaiian Islands.
House Finches in particular will appreciate sunflower seeds put in sunflower seed feeders, as its easier on them to access these seeds when they're trapped behind a suspended feeder.
No matter what kind of sunflower seeds either, be it black oil sunflower seeds or hull-free sunflower seeds, as all can go in a suitable seed feeder.
What are the best sunflower seed feeder will be those that provide a spill tray, as it provides a way to prevent wastage, while also offering an additional place for finches to perch while they eat.
Can offer safflower seeds
Remarkably, only the Cassin's Finch will find safflower seeds the most desirable in your yard, although that isn't to say Cassin's won't feed on thistle or sunflower seeds.
With Cassin's common in Western United States, you can feed safflower seeds to Cassin's in and out of feeders.
Favor a thistle or sunflower seeds as a way to attract Cassin's and others to your yard, while still providing thistle or sunflower seeds to ensure all wild birds who wish to feed, can feed on a familiar wild seed type.
Its unlikely people will just provide safflower seeds to the few birds who may eat them, thus its vital to only provide safflower seeds as a way to supplement other types of wild bird seeds that may be in decline, as they run low in feeders.
Safflower seeds will be better provided on sunflower or thistle seed feeders that provide a spill tray attachment, yet can be put on surfaces scattered around the yard - or put some safflower seeds in trees where Cassin's usually forage.
Similar in appearance to House Finches, I would still prioritize thistle seeds as its guaranteed to feed a wide range of finches present in your area.
What kind of Finch feeders to use
Certainly there are two types of wild bird seeds that are guaranteed to keep all kinds of finches happy, them being thistle and sunflower seeds only, with an option to provide regular, inferior seed mixes if that is all you can afford.
It may be the best seed to attract finches but have you given any thought of how you are going to provide seeds to finches in your yard.
Remember, most finches are readily found visiting all kinds of bird feeders, thus its vital to put out a bird feeder that is suitable to the seeds its designed to store.
You can't put thistle seeds in a regular seed feeder as these small seeds will simply pour out like sand. Similarly, you can't put sunflower seeds in a thistle feeder as they will stick, nor can you put just sunflower/thistle seeds in a regular seed feeder.
You can, but they must be part of a regular seed mix as they dispense better this way.
What is the best all round seed feeder to keep a mix of finches favorite seeds accessible, is actually on a bird feeder tray that is suspended or mounted.
When providing only thistle seeds, choose a thistle bird feeder featuring yellow parts, as it can be a way to get Goldfinches attention to your bird feeder.
To Summarize
What is the best seed you can use to attract specifically finches, will be thistle seeds and sunflower seeds, which are both evenly matched by members of the Finch family who favor one seed or another, or possibly both.
Seeds of thistle are best of all and appear to be more popular as they attract the always present, yet very distinguished American Goldfinches.
Similarly, thistle seeds will also attract House Finches who always appear to be around feeders, despite no thistle seeds made available at the time.
With both sunflower/thistle seeds being readily available in summertime, and in to the fall, finches will happily feed on a mix of bird seeds that so happen to include their favorite sunflower and, or thistle seeds.
Additional seeds that are a favorite of Cassin's Finches in particularly, is safflower seeds, which can be eaten by all finches at the feeder.
How you proceed to feed these few seed mixes to finches will be in a seed feeder of course.
You could use a regular, cheap seed feeder to dispense thistle/sunflower seeds together, though its found these seeds do have issues when dispensed in a regular seed feeder.
You could then proceed to use a specialty thistle and, or sunflower seed feeder which will dispense sunflower/thistle seeds in a way they remain not only accessible to the finches that you attract, but the seeds in use don't spill out so easy.
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