Yellow Birds

Can someone help identify these sharp looking birds that feed on my sunflowers and zennias. This is the first time I have ever seen them here and they are several of them, and they come in several shades of yellow and black. Thanks John

Hi John,

Looks like the American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis).

Thank you so much, Equilibrium. Can you tell me what kind of house or feeders that would help keep them around? I just love to watch them. John

They seem to like thistle seed the best but I am told that statistically less than 20% of their feeding occurs at feeders. These birds will gravitate to native species of plants that provide them with seed and a good wave of successively seeding plants is the best to keep them coming back to your yard throughout the seasons. They're not exactly a cavity nester favoring to nest in trees and tall shrubs so providing a bird house for them might be a waste of your money although I'm sure there is somebody out there who has a finch house for sale on line who swears by it. My husband prefers to hang our finch feeders from trees. Squirrels don't seem to be interested in thistle seed around here so we don't even add a baffle.

One other little thing, try your best to avoid or reduce your usage of chemicals. Most weeds can easily be pulled after a good rain and there are pre emergent products out there that are very affordable that aren't marketed that really work. Corn Glutten Meal comes to mind and we use that a lot around here.

It has been my experience that once the goldfinches know you have a feeder - small seeds and thistle seed - they just keep coming back. I keep a small bird bath - refreshed twice a day - for them. They are constants in the yard, overhead and in the bird bath.

Good luck!

Absolutely, a male goldfinch. The females are less gold. Also, during the winters, the males lose their vibrant color as well - don't know whether you have them in the winter, of course.. but we do. Lots of them. They do love thistle (niger) seed as well as black-oil sunflower seeds, but will eat pretty much any type of seed and a decent amount of insects as well. I have never seen one use a man-made birdhouse, either. Oh - goldfinches mate and nest much earlier than many other birds. They're just now getting around to it! Great link: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/BOW/AMGO/

duh --- I meant they mate and nest much LATER than other birds. Not "earlier"

Yes I think some of these must be this years offsrings, they are a tad smaller. John

Hi John -- The young ones aren't smaller than the adults. Like most songbirds, they leave the nest fully grown. In fact, they sometimes look a little larger because they still have their fuzzy down feathers. Best way to tell is in behavior. Like eating from your sunflowers and zinnias. The adults know how to do it, but the youngsters have to practice a bit. In fact, watching the antics of young birds is one of the really fun things of watching birds.

When I first put up the thistle feeder it only took them 2 days to find it. The other day there were 4 or 5 of them eating seed from the scabiosa in the garden. Activity at the feeder has been down and I think it is because they are nesting now. Wish I knew where.

They are very entertaining. The feeder is a few feet from my pool and they come and eat when we're in the pool if we're not too rambunctious. Also, they sing when they are flying, so you can hear them coming.

gram

The gold finches love to eat of the purple coneflower seeds in my yard in the fall. They also like the rosin weed and cupplant seeds when they mature in the fall.

I wasn't able to collect any rosin weed seeds last year, because the goldfinches ate them all before I knew they were ready.

They have eaten all the sunflower seeds from the plants, and now are devouring the seed heads on my zinnias.

oh that's great. Really a "gardening for wildlife" story!

We have the gold finches year round in central IL. I hang thistle seed bags from the tree outside our tv room and they eat there all year. They are pretty and fun to see and hear. I am going to paint a picture of them when I get time. My favorite subject for painting is birds. CU BEV

Look at this.

Beautiful Pic carrjohn! Hes really loving that coneflower!!.I know my garden has been simply yellow with goldfinches again this year.They have gotten so used to seeing us now, they hardly ever fly off when we go out.One of my favorites and you captured him Beautifully!! Cedar

This was my first thistle feeder last year. We had the two birds feeding daily last year. I only needed to fill the feeder about every three weeks. They're back this year and making babies and friends. This year I'm refilling about every three days. I usually hear them before I see them. They sound just like a dog's squeaky toy.

Could be an Evening Grosbeak...they are much larger than the Goldfinches. Here's a link for a good photo:

http://www.ffdp.ca/hww2.asp?cid=7&id=40

I think this one is definitley a goldfinch.

For whatever reason, I've had mediocre success with my thistle feeders in regard to their frequency of visit. But, I see many of them out in the fields enjoying the thistle. Here are two photos that I recently took.

Photo #2 ....

Those are lovely pictures, linthicum. Always nicer to catch them in the wild, I think. If they're not using your feeders, it's because they are finding plenty of food in the wild.

Beautiful photos.

I never noticed before today that there is thistle all over my property. I just may move some of this to a special garden in my yard. I love to watch these birds. John