Two Finches

     American goldfinches and house finches are beautiful, permanent resident birds in southeastern Pennsylvania, as well as throughout much of North America.  These related species of small birds have much in common, including pretty feathering on the males, eating seeds the year around, males have lively, lovely songs, being adapted to human-made habitats, coming to feeders the year around and raising young on lawns, adding more interest to them. 
     Goldfinch males in summer are bright yellow with black wings, tails, and jaunty, black caps on their foreheads.  Being colored that way appeals to female goldfinches, but repels other males of their kind during the breeding season.  Males are especially attractive among the blue flowers of chicory, the hot-pink blooms of thistles and the lavender blossoms of purple coneflowers when they eat the seeds of older, already pollinated blossoms on those plants.  And they are pretty in the shallows of streams and ponds where they ingest alga and duckweed.         
     Female goldfinches the year around, and young of the year, are olive all over, with slightly darker wings and tails, which allows them to blend into their surroundings for their own protection.  Males in winter assume the coloring of females and young.  All goldfinches bound along in energetic, roller-coaster flight while uttering cheery notes.
     Goldfinches don't nest until July when thistles develop seeds, each with a fluffy, white parachute per seed that carries it away on the wind.  Goldfinches eat thistle seeds, making the fluff float away on the breezes.  Females use those parachutes to line their dainty, little nurseries tucked onto twigs of shrubbery and young trees in fields and suburban areas near patches of thistles.  Goldfinches feed their young a porridge of pre-digested thistle and other kinds of seeds. 
     Male house finches have gray-feathered bodies with darker streaks and deep-pink on their heads, chests and backs.  Females and young of this species are gray all over, with darker streaks.
     Males have pretty songs they sing early in spring.  These finches build cradles of fine grass in the sheltering, needled boughs of young spruces, firs and arborvitae, and in the protective niches on buildings.  They don't compete much with goldfinches for nesting sites.
     House finches are originally from the American west.  But many of them were captured to be sold as cage birds in the east, which was illegal several years ago.  Rather than be caught with caged house finches, shop keepers in New York City released them, the birds found each other, reproduced and now they are scattered throughout much of the eastern part of the United States, adding to the beauty of its avifauna.
     Look for these finches in lawns and gardens through each year.  They are attractive and interesting, making those human-made habitats more enjoyable.