Have you noticed your thistle feeders being drained at an alarming rate the last couple weeks? American Goldfinches are just now raising their broods. And anecdotal evidence shows that they are becoming an extremely successful species, so there are lots of little beaks to feed! The reason they wait until late summer to breed is that their primary food supply in nature is thistle (nyjer if you buy it in bags). They are also quite fond of the down from the thistle to line their little nests with. That plant doesn't have seed until this time of year in the Goldfinch's breeding range.
As you can see from the photo, I always let some of the volunteer sunflowers grow around my feeders in the spring so there are also plenty of sunflower seeds for them. They love those, as well. If you look closely, you can see one of the males hanging over the top edge of a flower to get to a tasty seed. This is sort of a "Where's Waldo?" excercise, though, since the male American Goldfinches are just about the color of a sunflower!
You can continue your scavenger hunt of the photo to find the House Sparrows, the House Finches and the female Goldfinches all over the shot. When I accidently thumped the window with my camera, the sky around the feeders turned brown with birds! So keep your feeders full for the finches!
