Goldfinches are like ketchup: First non'll come and then a lot'll. Apologies to Ogden Nash, who initially wrote, "The Catsup Bottle — First a little and then a lottle." And to Richard Armour, who ...

Many people are surprised to learn the American goldfinch is with us in Minnesota year-round. It's a case of mistaken identity. In winter, goldfinches are in their somber plumage, mostly brown and ...

Bird-feeding, if done properly, can help these birds survive. Black-capped chickadees, for example, have a much higher winter ...

My grandmother reveled at the sight of bright yellow birds with black caps that attended the zinnias in her garden each summer. Wild canaries, she called them. What she didn’t know is that the only ...

One of San Diego County’s most delightful and colorful birds is the lesser goldfinch. They are highly social little rockets of color that will bring joyful chatter to your backyard bird feeder. While ...

Several mornings a week, I rise early and head out to my favorite patch of late blooming flowers. It’s a large patch of tall, bright yellow flowers. At this time of year there isn’t a lot of flowers ...

The American goldfinch loves to eat thistle seeds. Thistle seeds found at garden centers for birds are sterile and are not the invasive thistles that will take over gardens and lawns. (Submitted photo ...

I watched three goldfinches feeding on a tube feeder in our backyard a few days ago. If any of the three were adult males, they had exchanged their brilliant yellow garb of summer for muted shades of ...

Lesser goldfinches (spinus psaltria) are tiny, stub-billed songbirds with long, pointed wings, and short, notched tails. Males are bright yellow below with a glossy black cap and white patches in the ...

Thistles are a marvelous group of plants. Botanists place them all as members of the sunflower (or aster) family, which is a truly gargantuan group with over 20,000 species. The thistles are always ...

How to identify: Lesser goldfinches are tiny, stub-billed songbirds with long, pointed wings and short, notched tails. Males are bright yellow below with a glossy black cap and white patches in the ...