They're Eating Us Out of House and Home!!

We have visitors that have been staying with us for several weeks now and they're eating us out of house and home!!  They stop by each year about this time on their way to the central and northern parts of the United States.  They are gold finches...

 

Also know as the Eastern Goldfinch, they winter in the southern United States where they are a dull, unimpressive, olive green small bird of only 4 - 5 inches in length.  They are easily recognized by their distinctive wing bars and as you can tell from the video, they are a social bird, congregating in large flocks.  They are granivores (grain eaters) and prefer thistle seed in the feeders, although they seem to have no problem with the sunflower kernels we have in the feeders for our regular birds.

www.flickr.com

 

In the summer, the gold finch is the only finch to go through a complete molt, changing to a bright lemon yellow.


male on the left, female on the right
www.wikipedia.com

Of course we don't get to see them when they are pretty; by then they have migrated up north. 

Last year, James and I were amazed by the number of gold finches wintering at Turkey Creek Garden! There were hundreds of them!!  We were going through about eight  pounds of seed per week.  But then, on closer inspection, James realized that they had brought their cousins with them - the pine siskin.

www.wikipedia.com

The pine siskin is member of the finch family.  They live in conifer forests and are also migratory, but their migration patterns are extremely sporadic explaining why we hadn't met this member of the finch family prior to year-before-last when suddenly they showed up in hordes.  Then last year we had none.

This year we again have a mixed group of gold finches and pine siskins.  Last week during the snow and ice, they consumed twenty pounds of seed!!!  We are forecasted to get more ice and snow tomorrow night, but I'm not sure our pocketbooks can afford it.....

This is just another reason for Spring to hurry up and get here.  It's time for the Yankees to take their hungry multitudes back and let our chickadees, house finches, and cardinals get back to normal.

                                                                                                         Love ya'll,
                                                                                                         Shelli

I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment,

while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt

 that I was more distinguished by that circumstance

 that I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn. 

 ~Henry David Thoreau