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Informative articles and inspirational essays about the art and science of bird watching

Garden and Hearth> Arts, Crafts & Hobbies>Bird Watching> American Goldfinch

The American Goldfinch

American Goldfinches The American Goldfinch, Spinus tristis, is one of the common birds that has had a name change in recent years. The little fellow was once called the common goldfinch, although there is not much common about its coloring or feeding habits. The only fact that rates it as common is that it is seen in large numbers throughout the United States. Goldfinches almost always are found in flocks which can have as many as one hundred birds.

In winter you may see little birds that you fail to recognize as Goldfinches. Then the male is plain with a light brown head and pale yellow or olive colored face His wings are still black tipped and white trimmed but not in as sharp a contrast as the summer male’s garb.

This pretty little bird is well groomed and handsome summer and winter. In late winter, goldfinches begin to sport a bit of bright yellow which progresses. By late summer when it is breeding time for one of the last birds to set up housekeeping and egg production, the pale colors of the male Goldfinch begin to be replaced by a bright yellow with jet black cap and wing feathers and white trims. One birdwatcher from Massachusetts, Marie Thomas, called these “dancing balls of sunshine.” That seems a fitting description for this delicate little bird.

If people knew how many of these little birds are around and how easily they can be drawn into the sights of a binocular-faced backyard birdwatcher, they would be delighted. Seeds are the entire diet of these birds so they will go where they find a supply.

Finches will fly in within hours if you hang up a thistle sack or fill a thistle feeder with Niger, sometimes called thistle and sold as thistle seed, yet not related to the weed thistle which can be harmful to finches, yet actually an entirely different seed. Nyjer is a shiny black seed and goldfinches love it

“Goldfinch only” feeders have the perches above the small feeding ports. The birds naturally feed by hanging balancing upside down on plant stems so that the birds can hang upside down and get the seed rather than it being pilfered by other finches and small songbirds. Goldfinches are little acrobats of the bird world.

Tube-style feeders that dispense thistle seed have many small holes that the birds can pull the seeds from rather than wider ports on most seed dispensing feeders. Look for a thistle feeder that has vertical perches and more ports on the lower end of the feeder. The goldfinches can perch on the wooden vertical perches and lean sideways to feed. You may find your feeder quite overloaded with flocks of hungry finches stacked up eating this way.

You might also wanted to shorten the horizontal perches or take them off altogether to dissuade other larger birds from eating the thistle, which is about three times as expensive as a regular wild bird mix.

Mesh bags of thistle are sold commercially, but these tend to be wasteful as about one third of the seed gets dropped on the ground by the birds trying to feed.

You can make a thistle feeder out of a two-liter pop bottle. Use a nail to punch eight holes in the bottle. Punch two holes (three inches from the bottom) across from each other. Then two more ½ inch higher. Then make another set of four holes, six inches above the lower holes. Insert ¼ X 6 inch wooden dowels (one to each set of two holes) as perches in the opposing holes. Now above each perch carefully cut a very small slit (1/8) inch high and very thin so the seed does not slid out. Screw the lid on tightly and hang with florist’s wire or a feeder chain.

This bird’s diet is made up almost entirely of seeds. They do not feed their nestlings insects like many birds. They raise their offspring entirely on partially digested seed called “canary milk.”

American Goldfinches will also eat sunflower seed and will frequent many types of yard feeders. They are great fun to watch and a bird that brings a smile to many backyard birders’ faces.

To encourage goldfinches all summer plant: zinnias, cosmos, bee balm, liatris, coreopsis and globe thistle. Ornamental grasses such as fountain grass, Indian grass, switchgrass, wild buckwheat, purple-top, and quaking grass also produce seeds for yard birds.

Other species of goldfinch family (Fringillidae) include: