Johnsons's Garden Centers Text File document - copyright 2005
PDF file available at http://www.johnsonsgarden.com/newsletter/birdsquirrels.html

Go For The Gold
April 2005
Mike Hargrove, Johnson's West 13th Store Manager

    Early spring is the best time to see the American Goldfinch in your
yard. Wichita and southern Kansas are on the northern part of the
goldfinch's wintering territory and the southern part of their summer
breeding territory, so at this time of year you'll find more goldfinches
in our area than any other season.

    Their numbers will keep building until the middle of May and then
just as the males are about to complete the change into their courting
plumage, they leave town and head out to the countryside for their
nesting season.

    Goldfinches build their nests with the down of wild thistle and feed
their young the seeds of sunflower and thistle so they need to be in
areas where those food sources are abundant.

    You can enjoy this finch in your own backyard by offering it black
oil sunflower and nyjer in finch tubes. Many people get frustrated
feeding nyjer (commonly referred to as thistle) because they make some
common mistakes when offering it to the birds. If you live in town, the
best time to feed nyjer is October through mid May when the goldfinches
and pine siskins are here.

    Nyjer is such a small seed that it can dry out and lose its oil
content and nutritional value, so make sure any seed you buy is this
year's crop. Since it is imported from Africa and Asia, the new crop
arrives in October and November each year. Once the seed is put in a
feeder it starts to absorb moisture and will last for no more than six
weeks until a mold forms and it looses its appeal to the finches. So
replace your seed every six weeks. (Right now the finches are emptying
my feeders in about six days!)

    It is a good idea to give the feeder a good shake every time you
walk by it to make sure the seed still flows in the feeder. There are a
lot of finch feeders out there that have a solid brick of nyjer caked in
them from seed a year old or more.

    If you have never tried feeding the goldfinches, now is the time to
get started with a finch feeder and nyjer.