Subject: Re: goldfinches
Date: Jul 2 08:55:29 1996
From: Dennis Paulson - dpaulson at mirrors.ups.edu


>All of a sudden we have started to see American goldfinches here on the Key
>Peninsula. Have they started to bunch and drift south or have we just been
>missing them before? Also Friday afternoon we had a major hit of warblers
>(three species) and warbling vireo at the same time at our bird bath. Are
>they beginning to form into mixed flocks this early? The males were still in
>fine breeding plumage - no confusing fall look to them!
>
>G. H. Stout
>Gig Harbor, WA

Migration may get under way as soon as a pair of birds finishes breeding.
And the end of breeding might come about from the loss of eggs or young
just as easily as from successful fledging of their offspring. So it can
start quite early (e.g., those sandpipers that are flooding in to Iona
Island).

Goldfinches are late breeders, and they may not have even started. They
are closely associated with thistles; perhaps these plants are starting to
produce seeds in your area.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 206-756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 206-756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416