Goldfinches are pretty little birds that come in varying shades of yellow, black, brown, and white. If you’re an avid backyard bird watcher, you may be wondering how to attract these birds to your yard. You may be asking, what do goldfinches love to eat? Keep reading as we list some of the top foods goldfinches favor so you can keep your birdfeeder and yard well stocked.
What You'll Learn Today
1. Seeds
Goldfinches eat more seeds than anything else. For this reason, they are classified as granivores, or grain-eating animals.
These birds love all different kinds of seeds, but some of their favorites are sunflower seeds and thistle seeds. They also commonly eat grass seeds, aster seeds, and teasel seeds.
If you are trying to attract goldfinches to your yard, consider leaving out sunflower seeds and nyjer seeds. Nyjer seeds closely resemble thistle seeds and are a favorite among goldfinches, as they provide essential fats and nutrients the birds need.
Check out this video of a goldfinch feeding on a sunflower:
2. Berries and Fruit
In addition to their strong preference for seeds, goldfinches also appear to have a sweet tooth. They satisfy this by eating various fruit and berry varieties, both in the wild and in gardens and orchards.
Goldfinches love berries of all kinds, which are not only a tasty source of water and nutrients but also are filled with seeds. Other fruits they enjoy include cherries, apples, pears, plums, and peaches.
Sometimes you’ll even see goldfinches eating fruit blossoms, especially early in the season. The blossoms are soft, delicate, and mildly sweet, providing a tasty treat for the birds.
3. Weeds
Goldfinch culinary interests aren’t limited to seeds and fruits. They also eat many different kinds of weeds that they find growing in the wild and in untamed portions of backyards.
Some favorite weeds include dandelions, ragweed, lavender, cosmos, and goatsbeard. They may eat the seeds, flowers, leaves, or other plant fibers from these and many other plants.
Goldfinches prefer the soft, succulent parts of plants, which are a good source of both water and fiber. That said, they sometimes eat bits of immature tree bark and may be seen pecking lichens or moss out of the hard bark of mature trees.
4. Tree Buds
As noted, goldfinches prefer the soft parts of many different kinds of plants. In addition to seeds, weeds, flowers, fruits, and even tree bark, they sometimes snack on tree buds.
Goldfinches seem to prefer evergreen buds as well as the buds of specific deciduous trees. Some of their favorite trees to snack on include pines, hemlocks, birches, alders, and spruces.
Tree buds often serve as an essential food source, especially early in the season when other foods are not yet plentiful. Migrating goldfinches often snack on tree buds as they make their way toward their summer breeding grounds.
5. Tree Sap
Goldfinches can’t break through the hard outer bark of mature trees to reach the sap inside. That said, once other animals or humans have created holes where sap oozes out, goldfinches will take advantage of this tasty treat.
Goldfinches typically prefer eating sap from birch, maple, and beech trees. This sap is filled with sugar and nutrients, both of which provide energy for traveling birds early in the season.
Goldfinches’ cone-shaped beaks easily fit inside small holes, making it easy for them to extract the oozing sap. The tasty liquid is easy to digest and often plentiful during late winter and early spring.
6. Grasses
Grasses are a common and readily available food source in many parts of the goldfinch’s native range. These birds will eat many different types of grass, especially if other food sources are unavailable.
In addition to enjoying grass seeds, goldfinches will eat the grass itself as well. They often enjoy the soft inner parts of grass but may also eat the outer leaves.
Though grass is not a favorite food source among goldfinches, they will eat it if they are hungry. And it’s not uncommon to see them snacking on grass seeds any time of year, even when other seeds and food options are available.
7. Flower Nectar
Along with tree sap and fruit, goldfinches enjoy other sweet treats when they can get them. One of the most abundant options in summer and early fall is flower nectar.
Goldfinches enjoy drinking from all different kinds of flowers–whatever is available to them. They use their small beaks to poke down into the flowers and extract the nectar.
Like tree sap, nectar is easy to digest and provides many essential nutrients. The sugar content in nectar can also give the birds bursts of energy.
8. Insects
Adult goldfinches eat plants and plant materials almost exclusively. However, goldfinch babies need a diet high in protein to help them grow; they get this protein primarily from insects.
Goldfinch parents will capture small flying insects such as flies, beetles, aphids, and gnats while foraging for their usual food sources. They will eat these insects and regurgitate them, in turn feeding the bug sludge to their babies.
Goldfinches may occasionally feed on insects at other times of the year as well, but they may not do so intentionally. It is thought that they may sometimes accidentally ingest the bugs that hang around their feeding sites when searching for their more typical plant-based foods.
9. Worms
Goldfinches rarely eat worms of any kind except in the summer, during breeding season. Adult birds may feed regurgitated worms to their babies along with insects.
These worms may include earthworms but more commonly consist of above-ground options. They may eat all different kinds of caterpillars, cutworms, and even centipedes or millipedes on rare occasions.
Like other types of insects, worms are filled with protein to help baby birds grow, and they are large enough to provide robust meals. They may also contain a higher water content than many of the insects on baby goldfinches’ diets.
10. Termites and maggots
Occasionally, insects and worms may not be readily available. In these circumstances, goldfinch parents may eat and regurgitate termites and maggots for their babies.
Termites may be more common than other types of insects in some regions, making them an essential food source for young goldfinches. Since flies are widespread and common, their larvae, maggots, may also be easy to find even when other insects are scarce.
Both termites and maggots have soft bodies and plenty of protein. This, along with their water content, makes them an excellent choice for goldfinch parents looking to feed their growing babies.
Conclusion
Goldfinches eat a wide variety of foods. Though they prefer many different kinds of seeds, they also enjoy weeds, tree buds, sap, nectar, fruit, and more. Though they are not typically carnivorous, they will also eat insects, worms, termites, and maggots to feed to their young.
