feeding goldfinch

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I received another great photo from our friend Wayne Mallinger from Madisonville:

"Captured this moment the other day while photographing my sunflowers. Female goldfinch feeding on a half spent mammoth sunflower. It's worth the minimal time in the spring sowing and protecting young sunflower plants to keep birds happy in late summer."

Thanks, Wayne.

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she loves me?

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I recently heard from Lynne Davis about her mother Evelyn Elliott who lives in Suwannee, GA.

"My mother told had a couple of pots of zinnias on her back porch that were going to seed. One morning, a goldfinch landed on the flowers and began picking out the seeds. When it came to a ray flower with a petal, it pulled that flower out, too. While she watched, the bird proceeded to deconstruct her flowers.

She said it was like the bird was doing "She loves me, she loves me not..."

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last to lay

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Now that the thistles are starting to produce their seeds, the American goldfinches can get down to nesting—or down "for" nesting—depending on how you want to phrase it. Its the last species in our area to nest in the calendar year, in part because they wait on such plant fibers to become available.


Although the flashy male may help a bit, it's a token effort; the real nest-building duties fall on the less-colorful but harder working female. Located in a deciduous tree up to about 30-feet above the ground, the outer shell is built of vines, bark, grass and weeds; the rim reinforced with spider and caterpillar silk and the cup is lined with the fluffy plant down from milkweed, thistle or cattails.



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wilting away

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I return once again to Forks of the River Wildlife Management Area in South Knoxville. I've been there many times the past two months watching the fields of sunflowers TWRA plants to attract birds.

The large yellow flowers are wilting; their seeds ripening. Goldfinches are having, if you pardon the pun, a field day.

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two finches

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The pine siskins continue to come to the thistle feeders at Ijams Nature Center. (See my January 18 posting.)

Generally, the siskins feed with the American goldfinches, but the former far outnumber the latter. Both are yellowish finches, but the siskins are covered with soft brown streaks.

Here's a good photo showing the two species side-by-side.

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sad? I think not.

The last bird to nest during the calendar year in our area is the American goldfinch. The female collects the plant fibers from thistle seeds — abundant in late June — to line her nest. It’s a finishing maternal touch to make her bassinet more comfy for her young.

Henry David Thoreau described the goldfinch’s song as a “watery twitter,” but within that there is a mournful “mew.” The latter is the source of the bird’s species name “tristis,” which means “sad.” Although to be truthful, it’s hard to see anything sad about these energetic, yellow and black songbirds; lively is a better descriptor.

Goldfinches are granivores; they eat seeds, seeds, seeds and are especially adept at balancing precariously on floral seedheads. They feed on a wide variety of annual plants such as thistle, teasel, dandelion, ragweed, mullein, cosmos, goatsbeard, sunflower and alder.

I recently received a report that the coreopsis planted by the city along Third Creek near West High School are now in seed and goldfinches are there in big numbers.

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