Tag: American goldfinch

Trying to protect birds.

I’ve had a problem with songbirds, especially American Goldfinches, flying into my living room windows – the fixed portion and the casement windows on each side of it. Thankfully I’ve never seen one killed.

I bought a kit with a roll of clear tape which has small dots embedded every 2”. You install a length of tape the length (or width) of your window, use the supplied mini squeegee to press it down, peel off the clear tape and the dots are left behind on the glass. Move over 2”, install another length, repeat until the entire window has dots spaced 2” apart. The dots are a visual cue that this is a solid that you can’t fly through.

This is a huge, huge problem, particularly during migration seasons, in cities with reflectorized windows on mid- and high-rise buildings. Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP Canada).

https://flap.org

Before. To a bird this casement window looks like open air.


 And after.

I do hope this helps.

Cheerful . . . colour.

During an exceptionally lengthy spell of chilly, cloudy, drizzly March-like weather in early May, continuing to feed the birds provides a welcome and cheerful spot of physical, emotional, psychological colour.

Feeding birds.

Feeding songbirds during a snowfall. American Goldfinch (left) and House Sparrow (right).

Perches.

An American Goldfinch perches on the shepherd’s crook which supports two bird feeders below it.

Blizzard.

I’m under a Blizzard Warning. Although the snow has stopped falling, it’s blowing and drifting. It’s -15C (5F) with a wind chill of -27C (-16F). A tough time for songbirds, so I’m liberally scattering seed as well as keeping the bird bath plugged in.

Attempted.

An American Goldfinch attempted to share a perch at the feeder with a House Finch. The House Finch didn’t budge, so the goldfinch had to leave and wait its turn.

Highlighted.

Highlighted by late afternoon sun, an American Goldfinch feeds.

A molting American Goldfinch and a fledgling perch on a sunflower just outside the kitchen window. I deduced it as a fledgling because it exhibited begging behaviour just before taking this photo, which may appear to be a little out of focus – I shot it through the window screen.

As attractive.

I mix whole shelled sunflower seed into what goes in the feeders. In wet weather I watch how much of this I put out, since it spoils so quickly.

For American Goldfinches, it’s as attractive a food as the in-shell sunflower.

Clings.

A molting American Goldfinch clings to the nyger seed feeder.

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