# Goldfinch drinking from hummingbird feeder **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 1, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013 "2021-02-01T20:53:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/1 "2021-02-01T20:53:37Z")
We have a couple of hummingbird feeders out back. We also have bird feeders that are frequented by a variety of birds including some tiny goldfinches. Lately however at least one of the finches is drinking (eating?) from the hummingbird feeders. Is this uncommon? Seems strange to me. I didn’t even realize they could hover in place. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2021, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/2 "2021-02-01T22:24:09Z")
I’d love to see video of that! ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/3 "2021-02-02T00:27:18Z")
I actually have a short video of it but I don’t know how to upload it. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/4 "2021-02-02T00:28:47Z")
We regularly see chickadees and bushtits feeding from our hummingbird feeder. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/5 "2021-02-02T00:41:07Z")
Upload it to Youtube then link it here 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/6 "2021-02-02T01:52:09Z")
They’re more skittish when I’m there so this is a short video. But I’ve seen them hover there for several seconds. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jMXJnUC5aSo/maxresdefault.jpg "Goldfinch at the hummingbird feeder") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMXJnUC5aSo) ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/7 "2021-02-02T02:22:08Z")
When I lived in San Diego we regularly had orioles drinking from our feeders. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/8 "2021-02-02T02:31:54Z")
I had six hummer feeders up when I lived in the woods. The hummers would fight each other over the feeders. Even with six feeders, there was constant fighting over them. Do the hummingbirds harass the goldfinches? If those guys were a foot long, I wouldn’t go outside. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/9 "2021-02-02T03:09:45Z")
We have our share of bully hummingbirds but I haven’t seen them bother the goldfinches yet. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/10 "2021-02-02T04:07:38Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > We regularly see chickadees and bushtits feeding from our hummingbird feeder. Be careful about cross-breeding. Chicktits are great, but you gotta watch out for those bushadees. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/11 "2021-02-02T09:19:04Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I had six hummer feeders up when I lived in the woods. The hummers would fight each other over the feeders. Even with six feeders, there was constant fighting over them. That’s because hummers are extremely territorial. There’s a reason the Aztec god of war was represented by a humming bird. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/12 "2021-02-02T09:22:36Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > > > I had six hummer feeders up when I lived in the woods The hummers would fight each other over the feeders. Even with six feeders, there was constant fighting over them. > > That’s because hummers are extremely territorial. There’s a reason the Aztec god of war was represented by a humming bird. There is a hummingbird nest somewhere around the back dock area when I enter and exit work. One of the hummingbirds yells at us all the time. I’m like, you are ridiculously unscary. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/13 "2021-02-02T09:54:55Z")
actually, our birds have developed a taste for bees… because bees will swarm our feeders and some of the bigger birds will pick the bees off the feeders so the hummers can eat … ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/14 "2021-02-02T12:11:19Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > When I lived in San Diego we regularly had orioles drinking from our feeders [Oriole nectar feeders](https://www.perkypet.com/store/bird-feeders/oriole-feeders) are a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/15 "2021-02-02T13:31:11Z")
Nice! I am satisfied. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/16 "2021-02-02T13:32:30Z")
I have never seen a goldfinch do anything like that, although I have sometimes seen seed-eating birds hover briefly in front of a seed head to pluck seeds. However, a lot of birds will drink sugar water if they get the chance. Orioles are particularly partial to nectar, and have brush-tipped tongues to lap it up. They usually visit much larger flowers than hummingbirds, since they need a larger reward of nectar to make it worthwhile. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/17 "2021-02-02T14:21:49Z")
I have several hummingbird feeders out during the summer and I’ve noticed the woodpeckers feeding at them once in a while. Mine have perches around them, so it’s not as though the woodpeckers were having to hover. Though due to their size they have to contort themselves to reach the feeding ports. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/18 "2021-02-02T16:21:29Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > [Oriole nectar feeders](https://www.perkypet.com/store/bird-feeders/oriole-feeders) are a thing. I did not know that. Interesting. My feeders don’t have perches necessitating hovering. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/19 "2021-02-02T17:21:31Z")
When the orioles stop by our place in the spring, I put oranges out. I slice an orange in half and drive a long deckscrew through the orange and into a scrap piece of wood (fruit facing up). I go through one or two oranges a day. The oranges draw ants, which get eaten as well. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013/20 "2021-02-02T20:23:13Z")
Does that not attract rats? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfinch-drinking-from-hummingbird-feeder/932013.md?page=2)