A favorite bird gets friendly

It’s difficult not to wax precious when discussing American goldfinches. Let’s face it. They’re adorable. Sporting a perfect combination of bright yellow, black and white, the males decorate a thistle seed feeder like an array of constantly moving five-inch ornaments. When they’re disturbed, they fly away with a high-pitched twitter that sounds more like a giggle than a cry of fright.

Here in Missouri, goldfinches stay all year. As cooler weather arrives, the males lose their bold coloration and look more like the females and juveniles. It’s a different kind of beauty but more in keeping with the changing season. Like the females all year round, the males take on a soft, yellow-brown suede look with off-white wing bars.

In the spring, especially, when the young goldfinches are still too stupid to recognize the threat a human might pose, they’ll sometimes let me come within inches. This nonchalance is perhaps the best indication that the bird is a juvenile. Adult females and juveniles resemble each other, but the older females possess a life-extending lack of trust. I sometimes wonder, when I’m sitting on the porch step, letting a young bird dance around my feet, if I’m perhaps opening it to an unfortunate encounter down the road. Maybe I should give it a good scare — serve as a surrogate meanie, so to speak.

I agree. Thanks, Colin.

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