Don't forget to feed goldfinches in August

There's nothing that represents August more than the American Goldfinch. Although they are visible through spring and early summer, goldfinches are now busy at tube feeders and flower gardens looking for seed to nourish their fledglings.

Goldfinches build nests, lay eggs and raise young in late summer. By waiting to begin the reproductive cycle after other birds, goldfinches are assured a plentiful supply of seeds on mature native plants. It is their preference for seeds that likely explains this behavior. An added benefit for them is that they avoid that period when female brown-headed cowbirds are looking for nests in which to deposit eggs.

Visit an overgrown field in late summer or early fall, and you will likely find the highly adaptable goldfinches foraging on the seed heads or clinging to the plant stems of wild field plants. The beautiful vocalization of the American Goldfinch makes it easy to understand why they are often referred to as our “wild canaries.”

Gregarious goldfinches travel in small flocks except during nesting season. Nests contain thick walls of tightly woven plant material forming a cup lined with thistle or milkweed down. They are so tightly constructed that goldfinch nests actually have been found filled with water after a heavy downpour.

The male is easily recognizable by its bright yellow coloration during spring and summer. By winter, the male's feathers change to a duller, brownish olive. The female is brownish olive all year long. 

American Goldfinches are 100 percent herbivores. You can attract them to your tube feeder by stocking it with hulled sunflower seed and millet, and especially Nyjer. (Nyjer is commonly called "thistle.") The goldfinch's conical bill is a sure sign of a seed-eater. The birds are so focused on seed for food that they even feed their nestlings regurgitated seeds.

Goldfinches love water and will often be the first to splash in puddles after a rainstorm. 

The orange centers coneflowers mature into seed 

When planting your garden for next spring, keep goldfinches’ food needs in mind. Common garden flowers whose seeds goldfinches enjoy include coneflower, aster, bachelor’s buttons, cosmos, flaxseed, grasses and zinnia. If you have plants in your garden, let the flowers develop to seed.

By the way, fall is an ideal time to buy and plant perennial flowers. Garden retailers are eager to reduce their stock before winter. In addition, plants are using their energy to develop strong root systems before cold weather sets in. The flowers and leaves might not look so attractive right now, but you'll be rewarded next spring.