Finch Food

I am beginning to realize that I'm paying much more attention to the winter birds--their comings and goings, their behaviours and their food choices--this year than ever before. I have a sense of the kinds of things to expect from my past, more casual observations, but no real idea of how often or when to expect things. And of course every winter is different--this winter in many ways more different than most.

Goldfinches like rudbeckia seeds. But how much do they like them and when? I've been expecting to see them on the seed heads all winter--then the other day, after the temperature dropped back to more seasonal and the finches came back to the yard, there they were, turning up black oil sunflower seeds and niger seeds for rudbeckia.


Why now? Why not before? Do the seeds need to freeze a bunch of times before they taste good? Is it merely a whim on the part of the birds? Does one rudbeckia-lover need to lead the charge? The flock, only a small part of which is pictured above, descended on the seed heads one day this past week. As far as I can tell (no tracks, no scattered seed) they haven't been back to them--preferring again the feeder fare.