Would this work as a thistle feeder?
1954128
No, the mesh is much too poruous to handle the thistle. It works well for sunflower, birds have to "work" bit to get a them.
1954129
no, the openings are too big. does great with sunflower seed. allows the bird to pull one seed at a time.
1954130
It's a very wide mesh so that any small seed tends to fall through the mesh unless it's held in place by bigger seeds, like sunflower. So, if I'm understanding what a thistle feeder is, then it wouldn't work. The mesh is too wide for only small seeds. However, I do a mix of seeds and I get a variety of birds including finches, cardinals, red-winged blackbird, and sparrows. Most of those eat from the seeds that spill to the ground but the finches tend to cling to the ball and pull out the seeds.
1954131
no. screen is too large for thistle seed. gold finch love it, though. whatever seed is in it - I only use sunflower, safflower, etc., no junk seed; they eat out of it, but the thistle seed will fall out.
1954132
Definitely not, because the holes are too large to hold the thistle seed. The holes are designed to accommodate sunflower seeds.
1954133
No, even the small sunflower seeds fall out. Thistle seeds are even smaller than those.
1954134
I wouldn't buy this one for thistle...it will just fall out all over the place when the birds land on it....it is perfect for black oil sunflower though.
1985146
I didn't keep this feeder as it was for seeds (thistle) that 'my' birds don't eat.
1983793
Yes. This is an outstanding feeder!!! One of the very best I own! And, I have many feeders. Highly recommended.
620986
I've owned this finch feeder for about a month now. As a finch feeder, it's designed specifically for Nyger (thistle) seed, so the port openings are very small (I'd say, less than half the size of a sunflower seed). If you actually use a funnel to prevent spillage during filling, there certainly is no spillage of seed once it's hanging. And the squirrels don't even attempt to get into it--and we have a lot of squirrels.
841168
yes it is- and squirrels don't care for thistle which is what this feeder is designed for.
307187
Should work fine. Just don't over fill the feeder. I do love mine with hours of entertainment.
971248
Yes. I've had Flickers use this feeder. Although in winter i have been switching to my cage suet feeder.
1502107
As has been mentioned, thistle seeds could be put in this feeder, but they are for feeding gold finches and not all other birds. The thistle seeds are small, and work much better in a regular thistle feeder that is designed for the finches to hang upside down to feed. This feeder is great for sunflower seeds and the mixed bird seed. Many different birds come to feed at it, and it is very well made - sturdy.
240498
Yes I just got an onyx thistle feeder with microban. Also has the quick release bottom for easy cleanibg. I'm a big fan of Droll Yankee and have quite a few of them.
939022
Yes, definitely. As a matter of fact I worried that some of the smaller songirds like cardinals and bluebirds would be too large to access the food; smaller birds do best in it. Really a good feeder though.
1502103
Would not do well with thistle seed. All 3 bins come out to same tray so would mix with other seed.
311530
I've only used nijer (thistle) seeds so I cannot give you an objective answer regarding the use of other types of seeds with the feeder. The birds appear not to have any problems extracting the thistle from the slots in the tube. Sorry I could not be more helpful in answering your question with regards to other seed types.
1122571
Absolutely not! I ended up making it a squirrel feeder. They actually climbed inside of it and knocked the seed. All over.
2056083
Yes it would be suitable. I have even small softbills using it. The only thing is: You got to sand down the acrylic perch inside of the feeder to make it more secure for pearching, because it is too slippery for the birds.
1502105
I've never put thistle seeds in but yes it could. All 3 sections are divided with a wide open area abt 1/4 inch for birds to get to seeds.
815627
I've never tried using it with thistle seeds myself, but in principle it should work.
2271711
Yes!! I have bought two of these feeders and love them. I'll buy a third one in the fall.