PSA: That guy at the park told me feeder placement was a myth... but my finches vanished for 3 weeks after I moved it

An older birder at my local pond insisted birds don't care where the feeder sits, so I tried his spot near a bush and my goldfinches stopped showing up until I moved it back. So is it really just about the food, or does location matter way more than we think? What's your take?

3 comments

3 Comments

mila_campbell259d agoMost Upvoted

Moving a feeder a few feet seems like low stakes for the drama it caused. Maybe the finches just wanted a vacation.

jamesf419d ago

Scared off a whole flock of goldfinches last spring by moving their thistle sock like six feet to the left... they didn't come back for two weeks. I thought I broke them somehow. They finally showed up again after I put it right back where it was. Birds are weird like that I guess.

clark.alex8d ago

I read somewhere that birds rely on landmarks more than exact distances, so moving a feeder even a few feet might break their mental map of where food is supposed to be. Some researchers found goldfinches especially hate sudden changes to their feeding spots, they'll abandon a site for days if the setup shifts too much. The two week gap sounds like they were doing a slow recon before trusting it again. Feels like birds have their own little routines that look random to us but make total sense to them.