Attract Goldfinches to Your Backyard!

Watching Goldfinches at feeders is one of the great pleasures of backyard birding. Seeing these bright yellow acrobats feed upside down at your finch feeder is more fun than having Cirque du Soleil in your backyard. We think so, anyway!

Goldfinches, especially in midsummer when they’re at their busiest and most brilliant yellow, provide some of nature’s best entertainment for backyard birders. Join in the fun! With the right seeds in the right feeders, they will flock to your backyard!

Your feeder can be especially attractive to nesting Goldfinches, because:

• Goldfinches nest later than all the others and only have one brood. Other backyard birds are on their second (or third!) brood by now (end of July).
• They’re vegetarians and native food plants may not be ready yet. Here’s your opportunity to provide extra incentive to attract Goldfinches! With the right seeds in the right feeders, these vivid and entertaining birds will flock to your backyard!
• In fact, these birds are very strict vegetarians. A Goldfinch would only eat an insect if it flew directly into its mouth!

Why aren’t my Goldfinches ‘gold’?

If you’re not seeing bright yellow Goldfinches in your backyard, it doesn’t mean Goldfinches aren’t visiting you! You might need to look a little more closely to recognize them. Because depending on the time of year, their feather color may not be the vivid, eye-popping yellow you expect! If your Goldfinches are looking a little ‘patchy’ with irregular feather colors from yellows to browns, do not worry. This is absolutely normal.

American Goldfinches molt their body feathers twice a year.

Why do Goldfinches molt twice a year? Essentially, it’s a seasonal wardrobe change! During the molting process, you’ll see Goldfinches with a ‘patchwork’ of feather colors, like the three images above. Molting only takes a few days—less than a week—so keep watching and you’ll see some of Mother Nature’s magic! Another reason to obsess over Goldfinches, if you needed one.

About Goldfinch Colors and Molting

When trees and shrubs lose their foliage, Goldfinch feather colors transition into muted, dull colors that help Goldfinches blend into the Winter background. But, when getting ready for mating and nesting season? Hello, Shiny Yellow! Male Goldfinches shed dull body feathers one-by-one as vivid, glossy yellow feathers grow in to take their place.

When you’ve had enough with a dreary Winter that seems to be dragging on forever, seeing Goldfinches with glints of bright, sunshine yellow is a reason to cheer! Spring is here!

A few tips on attracting and feeding Goldfinches:

food

Nyjer seeds, hulled Sunflower seed kernals

• Nyjer seeds in a nyjer feeder is a magnet! Ask about The Backyard Naturalist’s special Finch Favorite no-filler blend.
• Sunflower seeds, particularly hulled kernels, are also a favorite.
• Too many House Sparrows cleaning out your feeder? Get an “Upside Down” feeder to deter them, as the feeding ports are under the perches… Goldfinches will very happily feed upside down to enjoy your seeds!
• Got hungry squirrels raiding your feeder?  Get a “Squirrel Buster” squirrel-proof Finch feeder..
• Rake the area beneath your feeders often to remove debris. Help keep ground feeders healthy!

water

Fresh water in a clean bath

• Water, water WATER! Keep your bird baths accessible, clean and fresh. Keep an eye out for Goldfinch juveniles learning to use your bath for the very first time— a true joy to witness!

shelter

Plant thistle, milkweed, other natives

• If you want to encourage Goldfinches to nest in your backyard, plant their favorite nesting material and native food sources. Timing is everything for nesting Goldfinches, as they breed later than other birds. What are they waiting for? According to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “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.”
• Do less yard work! Don’t deadhead the plants in your gardens. Goldfinches will do that task for you as they forage for themselves and their babies!
• Grow wild! Avoid using pesticides in your garden that kill even the beneficial native insects. As vegetarians, Goldfinches may not want to eat them, but other birds are feeding ONLY insects to their babies! By cultivating a healthy native insect population in your backyard, you’re restoring a little patch of natural habitat for wildlife. (Here’s info on how to make your backyard into a microhabitat. Hint: It’s a whole lot of doing absolutely NOTHING.)

Your Goldfinches will reward your efforts with their glorious presence:

• Vivid and entertaining acrobatics at your ‘upside down’ feeders.
• Juvenile Goldfinches feeding voraciously at your feeders. Juveniles look like duller females, with tan on black wing bars and they sound squeaky. Really squeaky!!!
• Help with your yard work! They will gladly deadhead the plants in your gardens.
• The splash and flash of bright yellow at your bird bath will make you smile. Every time!

Share your Goldfinch sightings, videos and photos with other Goldfinch fans on our Facebook page! Keep us posted!