28 July 2022
Is there a bright yellow bird with black wings in your vegetable garden poking among the salad greens? Or perhaps a drab female or juvenile bird (shown below)?
American goldfinches (Spinus tristis) nest in July so they are very busy bringing food to their young.
Their favorite choice is thistle seed, above, but they will occasionally taste reddish salad greens like Swiss chard, below.
Don’t worry for your garden. Goldfinches only take a nibble.
Find out more about the “Salad Birds” in this vintage article:
(photos from Wikimedia Commons; click on the captions to see the originals)
Funny you should post this today. Yesterday I saw some movement in a window box of yellow Profusion zinnias and thought it was a chipmunk. It was a goldfinch and he proceeded to pluck off flowers petals like he was checking to see if someone loved him or not. Very amusing. Guess he had a nestful to feed.