In midsummer, a breeding male American Goldfinch is a scrap of pure yellow with a black cap and wings, bouncing across Michigan fields in deep, rollercoaster flight. In winter the same bird turns drab olive — so different that many feeder-watchers assume their goldfinches left and some new species arrived. They're here all twelve months.
Goldfinches are among the latest nesters in Michigan, waiting until late June or July when thistle and milkweed go to seed, providing both nest lining and abundant food. They are almost entirely vegetarian, a rarity among songbirds.
Seeds, seeds, and more seeds — thistle, sunflower, birch, alder, and grasses. At feeders they specialize in nyjer (thistle) tube feeders and often feed hanging upside down. Even nestlings are raised on regurgitated seed rather than insects.
Nowhere — they stay in Michigan but molt into dull olive-brown plumage. Watch the nyjer feeder in January: those drab little birds are the same goldfinches, waiting to turn yellow again in April.
They time nesting to the seed crop. Thistle and other composites go to seed in late June and July, supplying nest material and the seed diet they feed their young. It also helps them dodge cowbird parasitism.
A nyjer (thistle) tube or sock feeder is the classic. They'll also take hulled sunflower chips. Keep the seed fresh — goldfinches abandon nyjer that has gone stale or damp.
Yes, in any month. Numbers are highest from April through July. Winter is often the easiest time to find them, with bare branches, open sightlines, and snow cover concentrating birds at reliable food.
Male goldfinches molt completely out of the lemon-yellow and black plumage each fall, spending winter in olive-buff that closely matches the female. They are the only finch in Michigan with a full second molt each spring, so the bright yellow returns in April and May.
A charm — one of the older collective nouns that birders do occasionally use, borrowed from the European Goldfinch. Winter flocks at feeders are loose and constantly shifting, and goldfinches often travel with siskins and redpolls.
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