Goldfinch Diet

The American goldfinch (Spinus tristis) is a common bird seen at feeders and in fields, eating a variety of seeds. The American goldfinch is the state bird of Washington, Iowa and New Jersey, which shows you how large its distribution is across the United States. The goldfinch's diet affects many aspects of its life, including how many broods of chicks it has the time to raise.

  1. All Seeds

    • The goldfinch is one of the most ardent vegetarians of all birds, eschewing insects and other animal matter for a steady diet of seeds. The goldfinch will seek out places where seeds are easily accessible, living in and near weedy meadows and fields where they can find the seeds of such plants as asters, sunflowers, thistles and trees. The only time a goldfinch eats a bug is if it accidentally ingests it while in the process of gobbling up seeds.

    Features

    • The beak of the American goldfinch has a conical shape, which allows the bird to pick the seeds it eats directly out of the seed heads of assorted plants such as thistles and trees like elm and alder. The goldfinch male has brilliant yellow plumage that helps attract females; these colors are a result of certain compounds found in the seeds the birds devour.

    Late Start

    • Because the goldfinch eats literally nothing but seeds, it waits longer in a breeding season than most birds do before they start a family. The seeds of weeds that the goldfinch uses to eat and to feed its young do not become abundant until the middle or latter part of the summer. This makes it impossible for the goldfinch to have more than one brood of young each year. The goldfinches, according to the "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds," remain in large flocks while other birds are busy nesting.

    Effects

    • While the clearing of woodlands and forests often hurts many bird species as they lose habitat, these actions help expand the range of the American goldfinch. The wide-open areas soon fill up with weeds, creating a setting that offers the goldfinch more dietary options as the weeds produce edible seeds. In addition, backyard bird feeders that provide seeds for the goldfinch are of great benefit to the goldfinch, ascertains the Chipper Woods Bird Observatory website.

    Considerations

    • Goldfinches will avoid backyards where feeders offer seeds that are not fresh and clean, and they will pursue better options elsewhere. The flocks of goldfinches will fly as far as five miles a day to find suitable feeders with their favorite seeds, such as thistle, sunflower seeds and niger. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology says that the brown-headed cowbird, a bird that lays its eggs in other bird's nests and allows them to raise their young, make a huge mistake when they lay eggs in a goldfinch nest. The goldfinches will bring the baby cowbird only seeds, a diet that that species cannot survive on, and the cowbird chick will die.