Posted on 09/19/2004 9:25:02 PM PDT by Mo1
Gran, do goldfinches lose their color in the fall?
lol - Gran = the font of wisdom.
Sorry, guys, this one just cracked me up. (She knows a bunch, but Goldfinch coloring?)
Did you google it, Libby?
I just figured she might know since she feeds birds too. No, I didn't google it. I was being lazy.
Thoes looks like Treraza ancestors!
;-) It's Friday evening - you're allowed to take shortcuts.
Hell, maybe she does not when/or if they change colors.
Big Blue Cheers up there.
Libby, what's a Goldfinch????
Kidding,..but I'm not even sure we have them here.. I think we do but they are beyond my scope as far as seeing any. I know we have wild Canarys, and the females are much lighter than the males, but if we have Goldfinches, they probably are smart enough to get the hell out of here before they have time to change color. ;)
Oh.. and someone seems to have misplaced my bird book again.. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
I had lots of goldfinches throughout the summer. The little boys are such a bright, pretty yellow. The females and the babies are dullish yellow mixed with a grayish brown. Then most of them seemed to disappear for nearly 2 weeks. There were one or two at the feeders occasionally, but that's about it. Then, almost as suddenly as they had left, there were bunches of them again, and there seem to be more all the time, but none of them are the bright yellow. They're all the dull yellow and gray-brown. I'd hate to think those sweet little birds came to a bad end. I know some birds' feathers change in the fall to blend with surroundings. I am hoping maybe that is the case.
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Actually, I guess the females can come in the bright yellow too.
Those birds do not look familiar to me. If we have them, I haven't seen them around our yard. I didn't feed the birds much this summer like they say is best, but I have so many flowers that are seeding all the time that they come for those anyway.
What I haven't seen much this year is Blue Jays. Some years they take over the area and some years they are scarce. I have Cardinals that nest every year down by the pool and stay, and lots of Wild Canary's. I wonder if the Cardinals drive off the Jays? Seems like since they've been here the Jays are scarce. I know they are related, so maybe they are un-kissing cousins?
Do you know anything about that??? lol
....and it seems they DO change colors. I feel better now.
I didn't have goldfinches either till I put up a finch feeder, then I had all kinds of them. They're really neat. Have the house finches too. I think they pretty much are only attracted byt either thistle or niger seeds.
Try putting out some peanuts. Jays LOVE peanuts.
Nice link.. thanks. I wonder if the Goldfinch is what I call Wild Canary? I know we have both, but they are very similar in looks. Do they dip and dive a lot and are always in pairs?
I don't want the darned Jays.. they are so noisy and steal all the other birds babies. Mean, nasty birds, lol. I had them in flocks so big you couldn't hear yourself think.
In fact I just realized another thing. I haven't seen any Grackles this year either. They used to come in huge swarms and cover the whole yard back and front. One year when we were away it was windy and they covered the whole house in crap when they lit in the back tree off the deck. He said the sound of it all was unreal. What a mess! My son told me about it and it was all still there when we came home later in the year. He said all he could think of was the movie The Birds with Tippy Hendron.. 8(
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Holy cow.
*grrrr*
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