The other day I was sitting on my front porch, admiring my little garden. I have the classic summer crops, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, herbs, and peppers as well as a variety of different native and pollinator flowers. My zinnias and cosmos have really taken off recently and I love the color they add to the landscape. And apparently, I’m not the only one! I was so delighted to see a bright yellow and black bird take a moment to stop in my garden.
This visitor was the American Goldfinch! The eye-catching yellow with a black tail, wings, and crown is only present on male birds during the spring and summer months, AKA breeding time. At other times of the year, the males are light brown with striped black wings, and females are a duller yellow with the same striped black wings.
Thistle and sunflower seeds are a couple of the goldfinch’s favorite foods, but they love to consume the seeds of some of the colorful flowers I love to plant. Zinnias, cosmos, asters, coreopsis, and coneflowers are all in my garden and successfully attracted a goldfinch! While deadheading zinnias, for example, is a great way to increase the number of blooms, it is important to leave some spent flowers to develop seeds to feed birds. It is very tempting to cut everything back at the end of the season, but consider leaving seed heads for birds to eat. Milkweed is another pollinator plant that serves as the host plant for the Monarch butterfly but also provides seeds for goldfinches.
July and August are nesting season for goldfinches, and although you may see them feeding in your yard, they are unlikely to nest nearby. They prefer overgrown wild spaces and build their nests in low shrubs or trees.
Have you seen any goldfinches this year? Keep your eyes out, and think about adding some of their favorite foods to your garden.
Source: georgiawildlife.com
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