American Goldfinch

Hi,

This is my first time on this forum. I would like to know if anyone out there loves the American Goldfinch? It is my favorite bird and the two in my yard are bright yellow. They are really loving my Rudbeckia Indian Summer. I have seen them in the front and back yard. Everytime I run to get the camera , they are gone. I do not fill the bird feeders any longer. Had a possum in my back yard a month ago, digging in one flower bed--big time. I trapped him in a live animal trap and took him to a wooded park, 20 miles from my home. I have also had mice in my attic, three years ago and the exterminator told me not to fill the bird feeders in my back yard--as that would attract more mice . The mice are gone and the bird feeders are no longer filled.

We of course LOVE the American Goldfinch! I don't have that many here because of such a large population of House Finch but do see a few everyday at the 4 thistle feeders I now have up.
That's ashame you had to take down your feeders but there are plenty of plants & flowers that they like.
The bright yellow ones are the males and the duller ones are females.
Heres some info on them.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/American_Goldfinch.html

Welcome to the Bird Watching Forum!!

Thanks Pelletory,

I did not know the bright yellow ones are the male. I have tons of flowers for them to enjoy and I have also seen them on my Zowie Zinnas. Thanks for the Hyperlink. I will check that out now. Still trying to get a picture of these beauties!!!!

Lovely photo, Betty - and you will find more lovers of goldfinches than you can imagine on this forum!!!!! Hope you can get a picture soon.

Here's three visiting my sunflower seed feeder a few days ago.

pelletory

This is so funny!!!LOL! I just went on that Hyperlink and played the sound of a Goldfinch singing and my two cats were sitting right by me and they got this look on their face like ----there is a bird in this room and I must find him now!!! It was so funny to see their reaction!!!!! One cat was sleeping and she perked up in a second.

Murmur,

Oh thanks so much for that picture. Is there any way you could send that to me in a 4-6--so I could frame it. It made my day. I cannot put seed in my feeders because of possums visiting my yard or more mice to deal with. I could send you a SAE and the money to cover having the picture printed. I am not kidding. That is a great shot and the American Goldfinch is my favorite. My picture would not look that good anyway because they are mainly on my Indian Summer which is Bright Yellow--just like they are. I am a new member so I do not know how to go about giving you my address.

Betty, I will d-mail you, then you can just d-mail back with your address - no need to pay me for postage. I'm honored that you like it so much!!!

I really shouldn't feed the birds either because of rodent issue, but my cats catch most of them (and, fortunately, very rarely a bird).

It is good to see gold finches in their summer color. All I ever see is their winter colors.

Murmur

I just D-Mailed you.

fchisolm,

That too is a great picture. How do you take close up shots of birds? Do you have a really great zoom on your camera , so you don't have to get so close?

Betty.....I use a lense that zooms to 300mm. But the main thing is that I feed them outside my storm doors and windows. So I do get close. About two meters away.

fchisolm,

That is so exciting. I will just have to enjoy the pictures posted. I cannot fill my bird feeders because of other visitors to my yard.

fchisolm, that is one outstanding photo!!!!!!

Murmur...thank you.

We love goldfinches, too.Here a pic of some on our thistle socks last winter We had two of the very large socks, and the goldfinch would just cover them. I loved watching them bickering to get a feeding spot.

Wow, I've never had that many Goldfinch! I think I have 2 pairs visiting me now.

Nice pic Dee!

Dee, that's a wonderful photo!!! Here's one of a group of them, too, but not nearly as many as you had at one time!!!

Not many in this photo, but I got a kick out of how some of them seem to be yelling at each other!

I only see them in their winter plumage also...but they are so adorable!

This pic is not as close, but you can still see all goldfinches chowing down at the feeders.
Dee

Thanks for all the great shots of the goldfinch. I am just loving the photos. Please send more for all of us to enjoy. These birds are one of God's loveliest creations!!!!

Here's a male enjoying a bloom ... even after the stem bent over!

A male & female enjoying an evening in the garden ...

last one ...

OMG, Those pics are GORGEOUS!!! Great job Linda!!

Thanks! I had a good time watching/shooting them a few nights ago ... they were definitely enjoying the rudebekia and zinnias ... finding lots of things to eat.

Hello, I'm new at the forum as well. I love goldfinches, they're like the harbringers of summer. Up here, the males only turn bright gold when the weather is warm.. is that the case down there, as well?

Linda, marvelous photos - you've had me grinning from ear to ear!

NorthCoastGirl, that is the same out here in the West - it's always so exciting when they turn bright gold!!!

Linda,

Thanks for the great shots ----I really enjoyed them all!!!!!

Beautiful shots, Linda!

Just to be different . . .

Here's one of our European Goldfinches:

Way to show us and our goldfinch up, Resin! Beautiful!

I know they are really neat, so much different than ours. How do they compare size wise?

Same size (and closely related, same genus Carduelis). One other advantage of ours - they don't go drab in the winter ;-)

Resin

Well, I can only speak for myself but I happen to like their winter colors.

Resin,

That is a beautiful shot of your goldfinch. You are lucky they do not go drab in the winter. But Pelletory enjoys their winter colors, and more do I am sure.

As long as they keep singing that sweet song of theirs, I enjoy them! They're like chickadees that way, such a sweet song.
But they're some thistle-eatin' little buggers!
Isn't it cool to see all the bird offerings from around the globe?

I love their squeaky little song! I wish I had more here but I have too many House Finch and their very agressive at the thistle and other feeders. I put up a third thistle feeder and am now seeing a second pair of Goldfinch coming around.
I also like the winter colors because their less challenging to take pics of in full sun.

heyutsmejudy,

Yes it is so exciting!! I am new to this forum and loving the pictures being posted. I took this picture last spring of two baby robins in my Canadian Hemlock. We named them Goldie and Scottie after my parents.

That's a wonderful pic Betty! They are so sweet!