Goldfinch in the heart of the city.
I live in the heart of downtown Portland. I’m blessed with a small — maybe 25′x25′ — yard where my wife and I grow flowers and a few veggies. I grew up outside of town where everybody feeds the birds. But we never see any in town, except pigeons and gulls. That’s why I was thrilled to see a pair of goldfinches pulling seeds from our stand of cup plants a couple of days ago. This is a picture of the female who is a bit duller in color.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology says:
- American Goldfinches breed later than most North American birds. They wait to nest until June or July when milkweed, thistle, and other plants have produced their fibrous seeds, which goldfinches incorporate into their nests and also feed their young.
- Goldfinches are among the strictest vegetarians in the bird world, selecting an entirely vegetable diet and only inadvertently swallowing an occasional insect.
