Goldfinches are like ketchup: First non'll come and then a lot'll. Apologies to Ogden Nash, who initially wrote, "The Catsup Bottle — First a little and then a lottle." And to Richard Armour, who ...

Many people are surprised to learn the American goldfinch is with us in Minnesota year-round. It's a case of mistaken identity. In winter, goldfinches are in their somber plumage, mostly brown and ...

The American goldfinch loves to eat thistle seeds. Thistle seeds found at garden centers for birds are sterile and are not the invasive thistles that will take over gardens and lawns. (Submitted photo ...

December ended with nary an American goldfinch arriving in my yard. On New Year’s Day, a lone bird showed up. Soon, a dozen more goldfinches stopped by. And later, more than two dozen joined the party ...

Several mornings a week, I rise early and head out to my favorite patch of late blooming flowers. It’s a large patch of tall, bright yellow flowers. At this time of year there isn’t a lot of flowers ...

During a recent live bird presentation to Nature Day Campers at Chippewa Nature Center, Barb and Joe Rogers of Wildlife Rescue Association asked children to name their favorite bird. One favorite was ...

We may have to get a second mortgage to feed the horde of American goldfinches in our yard. Multitudes of the birds have besieged our birdfeeders since the series of freezes. As our naturalist mentor, ...

Thistles are a marvelous group of plants. Botanists place them all as members of the sunflower (or aster) family, which is a truly gargantuan group with over 20,000 species. The thistles are always ...

“Asters, Groundsels, and especially Thistles, afford most familiar examples of a hairy or downy pappus; those of thistles, &c. in autumn sailing about in every breeze.” — Asa Gray, “How Plants Grow,” ...