I visited the North Carolina Museum of Art a few weeks ago to see what I could find flying amid the annual sunflower bloom.
These American Goldfinches put on quite a show! It was great to spend a few hours out there in the field watching them feed on the flower seeds.
During the spring and summer adult males sport bright yellow plumage with a black forehead.
The females are dressed in softer tan-yellow tones and matte olive back.
When wintertime arrives the males lose their bright yellow feathers and turn towards a dusky wheat color.
Primarily seed eaters, they’ll also eat aphids and caterpillars in the summer while raising their brood. That being said, they prefer to eat the seeds of Ragweed, Thistles, Sweet gum, Sunflower, Dandelion, Alder, and Goldenrod flowers.
You can attract these vibrantly colored birds to your own yard by offering them Thistle and Nyjer seeds in a specialized feeder.
With the seeds contained within a tight wire mesh, finch feeders let you present their favorite food in a way that mimics how they would extract seeds in the wild.
Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame SLR, the @canonusa
#5Ds