If you long to see a bright yellow and black goldfinch, getting one or more to visit your backyard feeder is not that difficult. All you need is a bag of thistle seed.
The males are yellow with black trim and the females are an olive-toned yellow. Watch for them.
The adult birds put on a show as they gather seed from thistle and zinnias, cosmos, bee balm, liatris and coreopsis.
Goldfinches love thistle seed, also known as nyjer, and sunflower seeds. Seed makes up almost their entire diet. They will regularly visit backyard feeders and appreciate having a birdbath close by. Backyard birders see them across most of the United States and southern Canada.
They are among the latest nesting birds. In late summer, they collect thistle down to line their nests and raise four to six young, feeding them a partially digested substance called "canary milk." Both the male and female feed the baby birds.
Goldfinches may sing "per-chick-o-ree" with each flap of their wings as they fly. In winter, they may sing "se-mee, se-mee" and other pretty twittering songs.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.
