Critter Corner: Goldfinch

Goldfinches get their name from the vibrant, lemony color of the plumage they wear
during spring and summer further north. By the time they come South for the winter, they are a
a metallic shade that to my eyes mimics gold much more closely. They travel in loose flocks
with other winter finches, and can be distinguished by their dark wings (brown in females and
black in males) with two white bars and white edging on the flight feathers. Their tails also
have a distinctive notch at the end. As they forage for seeds, they communicate constantly
with each other in musical warbles and trills. Their cheerful chirps and constant motion bring
life to a winter garden and keep me (and my cats) enthralled during the dreariest part of the
year. I frankly should have written this article during our snow days but was too enchanted
watching them and refilling my feeders.
Goldfinches are exclusively granivorous, meaning their diet consists almost entirely of
seeds. While most passerine songbirds rely on insects during the breeding seasons of spring
and summer, Goldfinches remain steadfast seed eaters year-round. This is possibly an
adaptation to deal with nest parasitism by the Brown Cowbird, the young of which are reared
by unsuspecting songbird parents of other species.
Goldfinches are adapted perfectly to what John James Audubon called “wantoning on
the wildflowers.” Their feet are very nimble and sensitive, allowing them to hang upside-down
from flowers, removing seeds or even holding them down. In his seminal Birds of America,
Audubon relays how they use their agile limbs and cunning to escape a sticky situation:
There is a trait of sagacity in this bird which is quite remarkable, and worthy of the notice
of such naturalists as are fond of contrasting instinct with reason. When a Goldfinch
alights on a twig imbued with bird-lime expressly for the purpose of securing it, it no
sooner discovers the nature of the treacherous substance, than it throws itself
backwards, with closed wings, and hangs in this position until the bird-lime has run out
in the form of a slender thread considerably below the twig, when feeling a certain
degree of security, it beats its wings and flies off, with a resolution, doubtless, never to
alight in such a place again; as I have observed Goldfinches that had escaped from me
in this manner, when about to alight on any twig, whether smeared with bird-lime or not,
flutter over it, as if to assure themselves of its being safe for them to perch upon it.
Gardening for wildlife is a year-round activity (or sometimes, non-activity). During the
Spring and Summer, towering Goldenrod and Ironweed wave their majestic purple and gold
flowers like flags in the wind. Glittering hordes of native pollinators like sawflies and groundnesting
bees sparkle on the blooms throughout the long hot Louisiana summers in a
mesmerizing display. When the flowers go to seed and the pollinators pass on, it’s tempting to
cut them down and move on the next exciting thing (in my yard, it’s hummingbird season).
However, leaving the flower heads standing offers a big reward in the fall and winter: passing
migrating songbirds are drawn to the abundance of seeds in my yard and insects hiding in the
stems. Sources of liquid water at various heights and a variety of shrubs to retreat to make my
yard an oasis in Mid-City Baton Rouge for nearly 60 different species of birds. Not bad for a
third of an acre!