A dangling goldfinch

September

Sunflowers are nice to look at but they also act as a ready-made bird feeder once they go to seed. American Goldfinches have been hanging onto the sunflowers by our porch, plucking seeds from the big, drooping heads.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

“Goldfinches are among the strictest vegetarians in the bird world, selecting an entirely vegetable diet and only inadvertently swallowing an occasional insect.”

The birds are also more active this time of year than other species, having waited to breed until plants, such as thistle and others, go to seed.

Previously on TNOT: Following the Sun and Goldfinch remarks.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 at 12:03 pm by Mike Risinit. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Category: American goldfinch, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, sunflowers, Uncategorized

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One Response to “A dangling goldfinch”

Tony Wildish September 3rd, 2009 at 1:16 pm
I’ve never seen an American goldfinch before, but our European goldfinches are pretty much the same in their tastes. I’m growing sunflowers on my terrace now for them and other birds, but I won’t let them have them straight away. I’m going to cut the heads off when they’re ready and save them for winter, then put them out.

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