Painted Buntings, garden.

These two are one of three mating pairs of Painted Buntings that use this feeder. I hung a thistle feeder out years ago in hope of attracting regular yellow finches. I never saw one and the seed went bad at record rates. I gave up. Last month I was buying some safflower seed for my regular feeders (bird feeding tip-most songbirds like safflower seeds as much as sunflower seeds, but squirrels won't eat them) when I saw this little, inexpensive, thistle feeder and bought it and some seed. Within a week these two appeared and invited two other couples over too. They are eating machines, spending an hour or more just munching away. They sure are a nice dash of color on drab days.