![]() ![]() We felt that the few that were seen here 30 years ago may just be heading back to their native homeland. That was back in about 1940.Ī small number of them began nesting here, but their numbers are not very high. When the federal wildlife authorities learned of this, many pet-shop owners just released these captive birds into the wild. Apparently, some had been captured and were being sold in pet shops in the east. This is a species native to the far west. It was 1986 when we saw the first house finches in Door County. Their winter migrations can vary greatly from year to year. Last winter I saw a lot of purple finches in the yard and at the feeders. She watched it splash around and said, “It looks like he was dipped in raspberry juice!” Their color is rosier than that of the similar house finch. ![]() I remember a comment made by the grandmother of my late husband, Roy, when she saw a male purple finch in their backyard bird bath. These six-inch beautiful singers do visit feeders and bird baths. The purple finch nests mainly in conifer trees in open conifer or mixed woodlands. They are replaced by the Cassin’s finch in the mountains of the western United States. They nest all across Canada, but only in the eastern part of the northern U.S. Purple finches are also native, and many migrate south during the winter, mainly in the eastern part of the country. They may join flocks of pine siskins and common redpolls during the winter because these birds all eat weed seeds during the “off-season.” These five-inch goldfinches are found coast to coast in the United States from southern Canada to the near south. ![]() Brown-headed cowbirds prey upon them easily. The nest is lined with fine plant fibers and can sometimes be so tightly woven that it may hold rainwater. Females prefer to place the nest in the fork of a branch in deciduous trees anywhere from 1 to 30 feet above the ground. Goldfinches nest in woodland edges along weedy or cultivated fields, as well as in suburbs. Some thistle species are native, but some are noxious weeds that need to be controlled. They nest quite late in the season because thistle down – the long, fine hairs that the plant produces as it goes to seed – are used in the nest. Thistles are very important in the life of American goldfinches. Some people have purchased thistle seeds, and no birds will eat them, so I have not been using those in my feeders. We used to feed them Niger thistle seeds in small, hanging mesh bags, but the seeds can become dried to the point where finches do not eat them. When they arrive in the yard, they come in all at once, and then, when frightened, they are gone in an instant. We have found seed debris on the snow below birch trees, indicating visits from these traveling flocks. But as April begins, the males develop a brilliant yellow body color and black crown feathers.Ī favorite winter food for goldfinches is the seeds of paper birches. Some people who feed birds may not recognize the goldfinch during the winter because its plumage is quite drab, with light brown to pale yellow feathers. This winter, many goldfinches visited my feeders, sometimes 20-30 at a time. Three species are most common in our area: the purple finch, house finch and American goldfinch. There are a half dozen species that are native mainly to the western parts of the United States, but a few occasionally show up in Wisconsin during migration seasons. True finches are in the Fringillidae (frin-JIL-eh-dee) family. A male American goldfinch shows his breeding-season colors as he eats thistle seeds. ![]()
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