Bird Seed Sock

Last December Judith Barish, our neighbor and, coincidentally, my New York niece's college roommate,  gave us a bird sock. She was so delighted with the activity that her sock generated that she decided to buy a bigger one and she gave us her smaller one.

We hung the sock on a post above our deck, bought nyjer seeds at The Wild Bird Annex on San Pablo Ave. and filled it. Then we watched and waited for birds to come. These seeds are known to attract goldfinches.

Judith had warned us that the seeds must be fresh or the birds would reject them. The sock filled with fresh seeds hung invitingly in the air, but weeks went by with no visitors.

Finally a small hooded bird appeared which I identified as a black hooded junco, but he was too big to hang comfortably on the sock. He chose to eat seeds that were knocked down on the deck railing, and I encouraged him by scattering seeds there. At least this was a nice addition to the usual chickadees who nest in our bird house.

A Junco enjoying nyjer seeds on the deck railing

After weeks of waiting we noticed smaller birds with tiny legs and feet clinging to the sock and pushing their beaks into the holes. Welcome, finches!  But so many brown seeds were dropping onto the the railing and deck  that it was hard to figure out how they were getting any nourishment.  I finally realized that they shell each seed and spit out the casings. This makes a big mess, but it's worth it to have a constant aviary show right outside our kitchen window.

A junco and goldfinches share what's left in the sock

Soon birds were swooping in from all directions and pushing others off to get their turn. Those that couldn't push their way in would wait nearby until the action calmed.  We counted as many as four birds hanging on the sock at one time.

4 Birds---our record

a gold finch on front of sock

One evening we spotted the telltale bright yellow breast of the bird we had been waiting for---the goldfinch! The color was unmistakable!

2 goldfinches in the evening light;  bird in back is busy shelling his seed

Once one goldfinch arrived, many followed. And now the juncos are jumping on too. We have entertainment from morning til night. We don't have as many varieties as Mr. B and Jeanette Baird, but I might try other feeders and different seeds and hope for a tufted titmouse or a house finch like they report in Jeanette's Blog.