Nyjer seeds were called ‘thistle seeds’ in North America by companies marketing bird seed. In North America, it is common knowledge amongst birders that all finches – especially goldfinches – eat thistle seeds right off the seed heads in meadows, prairies, and grasslands.
Something to consider before you purchase a special bluebird feeder and keep a supply of mealworms on hand – do you actually have bluebirds in your neighborhood?
Pound for pound – or in the case of hummingbirds, fraction of an ounce for fraction of an ounce, hummingbirds are some of the most aggressive creatures in nature.
Why feed birds? Does it actually help them? As it turns out, it does. Looking at weight, overall health, and quality of feathers, it was found that birds who visit feeders regularly are better in all three categories than birds who do not.
In this absence of the symphony of bird song, the flight speckled sky, the waters swirling with paddling, dabbling, plummeting divers, and trees ornamented by a rainbows coloring of birds, I understood these species are not just visiting.
