Educate Yourself About the Lesser Goldfinch and Other Goldfinches
Lesser Goldfinch
The Lesser Goldfinch has a black cap, tiny and stocky body, bright yellow underside, black or greenish back, short rounded wings with white patches, dark underwing, and a short tail with large white patches. Its length is 3-4in (9-11cm) Its wingspan is 8in (20cm) Its voice is a song more phrased than that of the American Goldfinch, its note is a sweet plaintive “tee-yee tee-yee” rise and fall. Their eggs are pale blue with no markings, with 2-3 clutches consisting of 4-5 eggs. The female incubates for about 12 days and fledging time is not known. Both male and female feed their young. The female is soft olive green with subdued yellow.
The adult Lesser Goldfinch, the smallest of the finch family witch can be found in southern Texas have black backs, while adult males in other areas have green backs. In dry regions small flocks can usually be found near water sources like streams, and are also common in open woods, brushy areas, in lovely backyards, and bird feeding gardens of southwestern states.
Goldfinches feed mostly on different seeds like pigweed, dandelion, wild sunflowers, goldenrod, burdock, and thistle seeds, but they also like to munch on tree buds from the cottonwoods, and some berries. One study made in California, showed that 55% of the Lesser Goldfinches diet consisted of thistle seeds. You can also find them feasting on an occasional caterpillar or aphids witch they will also feed to their young.
The Lesser Goldfinch and other goldfinches only nest once, very late in the season, unlike other birds witch usually are very busy during spring and summer time, at raising young nestling's. So, most of the time you will find these common little backyard birds flitting from one seed patch of dandelion puffs to another, visiting your hanging bird feeders, in relatively large numbers.
The Lesser Goldfinch is very attracted to salt deposits, (you can buy a saltblock form your neighborhood feed store for a few dollars), and water sources like dripping faucets, and your clean bird baths, in your lovely bird feeding garden.
The female goldfinch usually chooses the nest site in late summer, placed on a horizontal branch of a streamside willow, sycamore, or cottonwood, about 5ft (1.5m) to 30ft (30m) above the ground. She uses woven plant fibers, and soft grass for building materials of the tidy nest, and makes it extra cozy by lining it with plant down, and cotton. During the incubation witch last for about 12 days, she relies on the male to feed her, and will be begging for food just like the other nestlings.
Usually the pair will stay together for the rest of the winter, but when their young ones leave the nest, they will join other flocks, and remain with it for the rest of the year.
If you like to attract the Lesser Goldfinch and other goldfinches, to your lovely bird feeding garden and backyard, plant trees like alder, elm, maple, and birch. You can also plant coneflowers, sunflowers, cosmos, zinnias, coreopsis, and tickseeds in your garden. Fill your hanging bird feeders with black-oil sunflower seeds, hulled sunflower seeds, and nyger seeds (special tube ones for nyger seeds).
Another way to provide a salt source is to mix equal parts of salt and wood ashes and pour the mixture over a log and let it sit to dry.
