Goldfinch Feeding Frenzy

  This is the week my wife enjoys watching the Goldfinch feed.  We have two medium size(30') River Birch trees which the kitchen window overlooks.  In spring, the trees produce seed pods or catkins and for about a week, the American Goldfinches come and go, eating their fill.  They have a quick bouncy flight and will chase each other with impressive acrobatic skill between the branches.
They have very agile feet which the creator designed so they can hang practically upside down while eating.  They congregate in large numbers and seem to be very social birds.

 The male is a vibrant yellow in the summer but an olive color during the winter months.  The American goldfinch range is from Canada to Mexico but year round only from about Alabama to Chicago(north to south).  They love bird feeders and are attracted to almost any seed especially nyger seed.  They would also be attracted to any bird friendly garden containing thistle, dandelion, coneflowers and other plants that provide both nesting material and food.

      Our main source for their food are the River Birch trees, two in the back and two in the front yard.  The riverbirch is a favorite for us as well.  They have a beautiful bark which peels away in slightly different colors.  They love wet areas but can survive modest droughts.  In the catkins are tiny nutlets with small wings on each side.  Usually, if there are limbs down after a storm, they are only twigs.  We joke about the comparison from the large pecan trees at our previous farm.  A small storm could create days of work from fallen limbs.

    Matthew 6:26 would be a good verse to close with, "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable they they?