My husband loves these birds so we put out thistle feeders for them year round. I've noticed they gravitate to my Coneflowers. I have both Echinacea purpurea 'White Swan' and straight species Echinacea purpurea here. Some of the other flowers they like are my Blanketflowers (Gaillardia pulchella), and Brown-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia triloba).
The Nature Conservancy has property up the road from me and I've noticed that Goldfinches like Sawtooth Sunflower (Helianthus grosseserratus), and Prairie Sunflower (Helianthus petiolaris), Cupplants (Silphium perfoliatum). I suspect they'd like all Helianthus spp. in general.
What I found interesting is that my little niece grew some sunflowers from seed for a Girl Scout project. She cut them down then saved some of them, stalk and all. My SIL told me that after they shoveled the drive from the last snow that my niece stuck the dried out stalks in the snow banks and that Goldfinches, Chickadees, and Cardinals were visiting the flower heads. What a way to "dress up" a pile of snow.
I've never grown black oil sunflowers from seed but it might be fun and perhaps a great way to attract birds to one's yard in the dead of winter. They said they got a kick out of watching the birds land on the flower heads because they were bobbing in the snow bank.
Goldfinches
I like goldfinches. I pretty much just put out the thistle for them in the winter. The sunflowers I grow have squirrels that start to eat the seeds out of them even before they have ripened. For me they eat the most at my cosmos during the summer. Persian cornflower(centaura dealbata) they ate every seed of also.
We also have lots of goldfinches. We feed them thistle and they also eat seed from our wildflowers.
I just thought it was kind of neat that a little kid was so creative as to have set them aside for winter and was thinking we could do the same if we wanted. When I told her what a good job she had done thinking of how hungry the birds would be in winter, there was a very long silence and she told me she had been setting them aside for mice. She had wanted pet mice for a while to earn some sort of a patch for pets for her uniform but my SIL told her no because she didn't think she was old enough. I guess the "no" finally sunk in so she got frustrated and stuck them in the snowbank. She's absolutely thrilled at how many visitors came to her sunflower seed heads though so no more hard feelings. One thing though, she's my princess and my only niece so for her birthday, I'm getting her mice. That's a payback for the drum set they got my kids after I said no. Long after the mice have gone to mouse heaven... I'll be stuck listening to wannabe drummers.
We definitely love the Goldfinches and find them to be the harbingers of warm weather when they start changing color in spring. The instant they start turning bright yellow, you know that spring is on the way.
LOL. That's a pretty good payback. We love the goldfinches too. They are beautiful to look at and fun to watch play around.
This is interesting. I get Godfinches here in North Carolina, but they can almost be set by a clock. They just seem to arrive one day in the spring and leave in mid fall as quickly as they arrived. I keep a thistle feeder clean and full for them so it is ready when they are. I figured they migrated south like everything else (and everyone else) what I am gathering from your discussion (and location) is that they migrate north...is that right?
I don't think Goldfinches migrate. I believe some people think they migrate because in winter they take on a more drab appearance and it isn't until spring that their color perks up substantially. Ours are here year round like the house finches. Maybe yours exhaust their food supply so they move on temporarily?
I am deligent with the feeder; they just show up one day and leave just as quickly in they fall. I have monitored this behavior for the last 8 years. Even the brown finshes leave. They are fun to watch when they are both at the feeder at the same time. You will rarely see both on the feeder together. They Yellow will wait in the distance until the Carolina are done, and vice versa
Mine are here all year round but there numbers are higher in warmer months..
Never thought about it, but they are migratory, at least to some extent. Compare the Breeding Bird Survey:
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i5290id.html
To the Christmas Bird Count:
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i5290id.html
Like all migratory and semi-migratory birds in North America they head south in the winter and north in the summer. It's all about food.
I'd never seen the term "Short distance migrant" used before in this context. I went on line and poked around a little bit and did find they will move on to seedier fields so to speak if food supplies aren't adequate which classifies them as semi-migratory. You're right, it's all about food.
Previous house in IL, in town, I had them in the spring and again in the fall. They had food/seed from plants if they chose to eat it. Next house, in TN, in the country with lots of timber around me, I had them all the time. Come back to IL, parents out in the country surrounded by timber, they have them all the time and I've yet to see one in town. Yet........
I have finches all year round. Though I've always suspected the finches I have in the winter are not the same finches that I have in the summer. You get to know them, ya know.
The finches do love the silphium species, I grow both siphium perfoliatum and silphium integrifolium. And those flowers are the first seeds that birds get as soon as they are ready.
Then they move on to the coneflowers.
I noticed that the juncos are eating the NE aster seeds. Particularly the seeds from the flowers that were hanging down, low to the ground. I don't think I've ever noticed any birds eating those before, so I was happy that they were enjoying them.
I've found that my goldfinches tend to take a powder for about a month or so in the early autumn, then again in Spring. Besides my niger feeder and echinacea, they love love love agastache.
I want to grow sunflowers for the finches, but I've got a huge flock of squirrels and I know it will be a battle to keep the squirrels from getting to the seeds first.
Hmm, surrender to the squirrels? Wave a white flag and toss sunflower seeds at them? You can't win you know. Might as well give up while you still have your sanity.
You know, I'm one of the few people on my street who doesn't curse the squirrels. I kind of like them. Plus, I like watching my goofy dog make her feeble attempts at chasing them. She never even comes close. But, I've also seen what those nutty little squirrels have done to the sunflowers that my neighbors children grew. Poor little five year old was Devastated.
Here's the puppy in her squirrel hunting pose.
Oh my... That's a wonderful dog you have there! Such fine taste in animals.
Hahaha... you know what you were saying about VET BILLS? Now SHE is High Maintenance! But it's only money? Besides, I like buying all of my clothes at discount stores like Marshalls, TJ Maxx...
:>)
Squirrels.... you gotta Love/Hate 'em. They dig up my garden beds but provide hours of free entertainment for my cats.
Not sure how to control the dang rodents. Maybe it's a good thing they put through that street that used to dead-end. With all the traffic now.... and it goes so much faster.... cars take out several squirrels in the neighborhood every week. Hey Brandine! Git out yer cookin' pot! I got me some squirrels!
What is that from?!?
The Simpson's. I guess you don't have kids.
Hah. You caught me. But I used to watch it a 100 years ago when it first came on the air.
The Simpson's, you gotta love/hate 'em.
Not my photograph but I couldn't resist-
A cute picture. My mom calls him Super Squirrel.
Super squirrel reminds me of Mr. Titmouse staring back at me from behind the window screen. I'm a little scared. Someone ought to photoshop Mr. T in the same flavor.
LOL.
Wrightie, your dog is beautiful. What a pose....
Thanks, Joepye. She's an old lady now - but still a goofball.