Tag Archives: goldfinch

Field Notes

American Goldfinches in NC

By Sally Siko

The American Goldfinch is a year round resident of North Carolina although some folks may not recognize them in a few weeks.
This is because the Goldfinches will molt out their cheerful yellow feathers and into a toned down olive colored plumage making them almost unrecognizable to the casual observer.



Seasonal appearances aside, Goldfinches are a familiar sight to many here in the Tarheel state as they are a frequent visitor to our feeders.
If you don’t get these guys visiting your backyard often enough, here are a few tips to entice these beauties to stay a bit longer.



*Plant sunflowers, thistle and zinnias in your garden. This natural food source will attract all sorts of other bird species too!

*Fill your feeders with Nyjer & thistle seed which is the Goldfinch’s favorite food.

*Use a mesh tube or soft sock style feeder which allows the finches to cling to the feeder’s side.

*Place a bird bath in your yard so that they’ve got a clean water source from which to drink & bathe.

As the months roll on and the weather chills, your neighborhood Goldfinches will appreciate the buffet that you offer, rewarding you with close up looks at these beauties too!

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my beloved full frame 50MP beast, the mighty @canonusa #5Ds

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes, Out There with the Expert

American Goldfinches at the NCMA in Raleigh

Got out for a quick trip to the NC Museum of Art this past weekend to check out what birds were flying around the Art Park fields.


Although the flowers seemed to be sparse this year, there were a ton of American Goldfinches feeding on the Zinnias and Sunflowers which added a nice pop of color to start off the morning.
Aren’t they beautiful?



The American Goldfinch is a year round resident of North Carolina although some folks may not recognize them once winter arrives. This is because the Goldfinches will molt out their cheerful yellow feathers and into a toned down olive colored plumage making them almost unrecognizable to the casual observer.



Seasonal appearances aside, Goldfinches are a familiar sight to many here in the Tarheel state as they are a frequent visitor to our feeders.
If you don’t get these guys visiting your backyard often enough, here are a few tips to entice these beauties to stay a bit longer.

*Plant sunflowers, thistle and zinnias in your garden. This natural food source will attract all sorts of other bird species too!

*Fill your feeders with Nyjer & thistle seed which is the Goldfinch’s favorite food.

*Use a mesh tube or soft sock style feeder which allows the finches to cling to the feeder’s side.

*Place a bird bath in your yard so that they’ve got a clean water source from which to drink & bathe.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the full frame beast of an SLR, the mighty @canonusa
#5Ds

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes, Out There with the Expert, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

American Goldfinches at the N.C. MuseUm of Art, Raleigh, NC

Yesterday, I decided to make a quick trip to the sunflower field at the North Carolina Museum of Art to see what was in the area after the remnants of tropical depression Sally passed over.
It was still sprinkling lightly as I pulled into the parking lot and I briefly considered waiting in the car for the rain to stop. Then I decided that this was probably the best time to be out here because the less than stellar weather conditions would deter other people from arriving, thus I’d have the Art Park mostly to myself.



Walking down the grassy hill, I could hear the sounds of happy birds from quite a distance. By the time I reached the sunflower field, I now understood what the feathered ruckus was about.
The plants were looking brown and faded but there were a ton of American Goldfinches feeding on the bounty of seeds still enshrined within the sunflower’s wilted heads!



One of my favorite moments was watching this male Goldfinch feeding one of his youngsters. The “little” (ok he was big lol) one was cheeping for a meal every 10 seconds and kept his Dad on the run for a refill of seeds.
They were not alone though…
This was but one scene repeated throughout the entire field, as scores of dutiful parents scrambled to feed their brood. It was really neat to see so many of these birds all in one place!

Interestingly, this beautiful little finch breeds far later that most of our songbirds.
The peak of goldfinch nesting occurs July through August and can even stretch into early September.
But why though?
This unusually late nesting season coincides with the time that our native thistle flowers will have matured and donned their characteristic soft white down. The thistle is particularly important to the American Goldfinch because the birds eat the seeds and line their nest with the down.
Pretty cool, huh?!

PS. Rainy days rock for bird photography. Cloudy, diffused light is awesome plus raindrops look cool in photos 🙂

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame SLR, the @canonusa
#5Ds

Field Notes, Instagram Birding, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Spending time with American Goldfinches at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh

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Is there any more cheerful sight on a late summer morning then an American Goldfinch snacking on flower seeds? I captured a few portraits of these little ones at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh a couple of weeks ago and couldn’t believe my luck in getting these pretty images. Did you know that this gorgeous bird is known to be the only member of the finch family that sheds off all its feathers twice in a single year? You can distinguish the male American Goldfinch from the female because he is the one having the canary yellow plumage and jet black cap. (Pics 1,2,&3) The female is olive yellow on her neck and breast during summer. (Pics 4&5) Both the male and female Goldfinches change to an almost identical color pattern after a complete molting during the fall. Interestingly, one of the males I found here was missing his distinctive black cap. Where the black is supposed to be, it’s that yellow color that’s covering the rest of his body. (Pic 6) The odds are that this because he’s a juvenile in molt, however his overall bright yellow color leads me to think that there is some sort of other thing going on here with his unusual plumage pattern. There are several different forms of plumage abnormality centred on altered amounts of pigment. These include the following… Leucism and albinism -where there is loss of the pigment melanin. Melanism -which the amount and/or distribution of dark-colored melanin pigment is often elevated. Erythrism -where a chestnut-red pigment replaces certain other pigments. Flavism -where there is an excess of yellow pigment. Perhaps this male is affected by a touch of flavism given the bright yellow feathers on his crown have replaced the black plumage typically observed with this species. Tbh though, I’m not sure. What do you think about his missing black cap? Please share your thoughts on this bird below 🙂 Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame SLR, the @canonusa #5Ds

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