Grandma Pearl's Backporch: Gold Finches on a Sunny Yellow Day

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Gold Finches on a Sunny Yellow Day

Male American Goldfinch at sunflower seed tube feeder
by Grandma Pearl

I call them drops of sunshine! American Goldfinches are a familiar and welcome sight. The bright yellow and contrasting black plumage of the males is distinctive. They use both the sunflower tube feeder and the nyjer or thistle tube feeder, often lining up in the nearby trees waiting for their turn.

Nyjer Thistle Seed Tube Feeders

These guys travel in flocks and are very social and sociable. I love to here their 'zee-zee-zeet' call as they fly in for food. I planted coneflowers and joe pye weed so they would have lots of natural seed sources in the fall.

Male American Goldfinch, Female Goldfinch and Goldfinch in flight
by Grandma Pearl

Yellow Double Tulips add to the Sunshine This Morning
by Grandma Pearl
What's your favorite color in nature?

Diminutive in size at about 5", they make their presence known as they chat among themselves at the feeders. The female in breeding plumage is a duller olive green-grey color, but I think just as beautiful in her own way as the male. She will lay 4 or 5 light blue eggs in her nest of grass and dandelion down.

Dandelion fluff, incidentally, is used by a number of birds to line their nests and cushion their eggs. Just this morning I saw a chickadee with a beakful!

Am I the only one who thinks dandelions are pretty?
by Grandma Pearl

White-Throated Sparrow-Morphed with Yellow Spots above Lores
by Grandma Pearl

This White-Throated Sparrow sports bright yellow

spots above the lores; and white and black stripes on its head. Yellow spots denote the morphed version. The white throat is easily visible in this picture. These sparrows love to forage on the ground for seeds and small insects. Their call sounds like 'sweet, sweet, Canada, Canada, Canada.' Measuring about 6 1/2" they prefer to flock and roost in thickets or hedges at night.