American Gold Finches

Are you seeing many of these feathered friends? On December 26, they started arriving here and there must be at least 100 birds at the four feeders we have put out. We will have to rapidly refill. Am enjoying all your beautiful pics.

Hi Flowerette...We have tons of Goldfinches here too...at least a hundred or more. They are just so cute and sound so cute too!!

I have about 20 today but I know these are just the early arrivals.

Let's keep counting. Hopefully next year I can join one of the real bird counts. I would really love to learn all about it though I have been watching birds for years. Lots of luck!

I have some here. They where feeding on my Liquid Amber tree. I noticed in the last week I hadn't seen any.
I put the nyger seed feeder out and they are back. Not as many as most of you have reported but, at least
I have them. Wow, 100??? I call that going broke on nyger seed. LOL!!!! :)

They come and go here. There aren't as many now as when I estimated the 100. When several disappear, then the rest of them follow. I think they are hunting insects when they leave for a few hours but not positive that they do feed on bugs. They will visit the feeders several times each day. I look out and they are all missing in action. Then late in the afternon they return. They seem to enjoy the mesh bags more than the regular thistle feeders. The sunflower seed feeders attract them as well. They may disappear to confuse the hawks.

I have never heard of a Liquid Amber Tree. Sounds beautiful. Will have to read about it.

I havent seen any Goldfinches yet this winter and I usually get a few...not as many as I get in April, though. Last April my backyard sounded like a jungle there were so many Goldfinches! They do indeed eat a lot!

Last year our highest count was 82 on and around our feeders at one time. The #'s are starting to steadily increase again. In November it would be 10-15...December in the 20's daily...as of today, over 40. We'll have to bring out the additional sock feeders again because it has reached a point they have to wait their turn on the feeders now...so much fun!
Here's a few pics of ours...

And in this pic, you will notice a yellow spiral niger feeder on the post to the right of the 2 long tube niger feeders...which also had 5 or 6 Goldfinches on it too :)

flowerette, It's really a Sweet Gum Tree. Liquid Amber is another name for it probably because the fall leaves
are gorgeous.

Susan, OMG.... now that's a lot of goldfinches. Where did you find those long thistle feeders?

Here's one from today I posted on another thread.

Claudcat,

Here is the company I bought ours from...
http://www.skmfg.com/

I am not seeing as many goldfinches here as I normally do. Of course, the last few days have been very cold.

If you are interested in getting involved with birdwatching, check out Project Feeder Watch at Cornell Univ. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/ There is a small charge to participate, but its really fun and I've learned a lot. This is my 4th year doing it.

We already belong to so many organizations related to birding and wildlife...it's getting quite costly. Our backyard is a certified National Wildlife Federation Backyard Habitat, we belong to the local and national Audubon Societies, Donate a large sum to the Yellowstone National Park (we have a membership), we belong to Nebraska's Ornithologists' Union, and I submit sightings to Cornell's Ebird on a regular basis. We also just submitted out Christmas bird count too....which I'm sure that's more than most do...

Hi SusanLouise. I was mainly replying to flowerette. I know a lot of people on this forum are very involved.

The colder weather is driving more of them south. They are later getting here in number yet but the count is going up.

It was cold here with a few snow flurries about the size of white corn meal. A few more goldfinches appeared and fed everywhere there was food. Of course they fed on the finch socks. I have three up.

They fed on the thistle feeder.

They fed from the regular feeders.

They fed on the platform feeders.

They fed on the picnic table with the chipping sparrows.

and they ate off of the ground.

They chipped holes in the ice for water.

They rested on the branches.

and on the sheppard hooks.

There were a lot of them here today but I know by the end of the week there will be many times more. Even the hawks did not scare them off today. Today was the first day this winter the temp. did not get above 32. All week is supposed to be cold.

Claudcat, thanks. I do recognize the name, Sweet Gum Tree.

SusanLouise, I was worried today about these little guys tolerating our low temp tonight of 22 degrees which you all probably consider a heat wave. When I saw the snow, I knew they could handle it. Loved the picture with each sitting on it's little perch. And, I have never seen feeders that length before. I will check your source for sure. Do you find thistle seed in larger sacks than 25#? That's the largest we have purchased. DH says he's not buying anymore seed. Little does he know :) I bought three 25# sacks last year. I also put out the sunflower seeds. No sireee, these little guys will be well fed here until they return to their nesting areas.

Beclu727, thanks for the info. I am trying to visit as many sites as possible.

Wish these little guys could tolerate our high temps in the summer, but sometimes it reaches 101 degrees.
Carol