Like An Eagle-Soar

Golfinches are found just about everywhere.  They remind me of a sunny day.  They add bright color wherever they are, and you can’t help but love them.  As promised, here are some fun facts about Goldfinches:

• Goldfinches are sometimes referred to as wild canaries.  They are actually in the finch family-just as their name suggests.
• They have an interesting flight call with four syllables that can be likened to “potato chip”.
• They are common feeder visitors that prefer thistle (nyjer seed) and sunflowers.  They are rather acrobatic, and often dip upside down feeding on weed seeds like sunflowers and coneflowers.  Goldfinches will hang upside down to eat, but experiments with specially designed feeders have shown that they prefer to dine upright if possible.
• Goldfinches usually lay 5 pale-blue or greenish-blue eggs that will hatch in about 12 days.  Babies will fledge about 12 days after hatching.  An interesting side note is that  the nest cleaning is ceased about a week after the babies hatch.
• Goldfinches don winter clothes: the dull green coat of feathers grown each fall has an especially dense layer of soft, plumaceous feathers to provide extra insulation.CLICK ON THE YELLOW FEEDER BELOW For MORE INFORMATION:

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The Goldfinche’s ever changing color sometimes confuses folks as to who they are.  In the spring and summer, Goldfinches are recognized by their black wings, black tail and yellow body.  In fall they molt their body feathers and appear to be a duller green.  The males and feamiles look quite similar.  In spring and summer, however, the sexes look very different.

In later summer, the male defends a small territory of about 1/4 acre.  Within this, the female builds a compact nest made of downy fibers, such as thistle down and the dried bark of milkweed stems.  The young Goldfinches are some of the last baby birds to be born each year.  The little ones follow their parents around into September begging for food. 

Goldfinches love to feed on tube feeders.  Fill them with nyjer, thistle seed, or a Finch mix.  The most popular feeder with the finches in my back yared is the a triple tube feeder .  It has 24 feeding stations and you can see all 0f them at once.  The second favorite is a spiral feeder.

Always completely empty old seed from your feeders and mix with new and totally refill the feeder.  You will get many more birds this way.  Simply topping off your feeders packs the seed in the bottom. 

Enjoy these little feathered friends all season long with little to no efforts.  They will add so much color and delight to your back yard. 

Next I will tell you some fun facts about the Goldfinches.