I have been watching the American Goldfinch population growing slowly at the
feeders in the back yard for about three weeks. The first week we had one
lonely male in breeding plumage. Last week the count went to four males
and one female. Over the weekend the count went to 6-7 males and three
females. Hard to count them as they commute back and forth across the
street between two sets of feeders. While grilling salmon on the deck for
Mothers' Day brunch I watched a male and female pair perform a 'feeding each
other' act which sounds like the description I read about Cedar Waxwings in
this list. Would this behavior be considered unusual for a Goldfinch
pair? I did not actually see any food being passed but they went back and
forth 3-4 time before flitting off to the finch feeder. I was later
surprised to see them landing on the feeders on a 6 1/2 foot arbor within
about 6 feet of my wife while she was planting Dahlia bulbs. They were in
and out continually in the half hour she worked in one spot.
My two year old grand daughter thinks they are pretty neat. I'm trying to
get her started much earlier than I.

Steve Aubert
email: steve.aubert at metrokc.gov
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