I learned an interesting thing on the Cornell site:

Goldfinches do not eat insects at all. Most seed eating birds eat insects especially when feeding nestlings (hummingbirds and our Cardinals do that). But Goldfinches do not. So they stated on that site that when cowbirds lay their eggs in a finch nest, the nestling dies within 4 days, since no insects are provided for them. I found that very interesting.

Today I have a chickadee taking the new cotton fluff.

Here is what the fluff is.....seems far more popular this season than the cotton I gave last spring (from my supplement bottles).
They will not take polyester I discovered long ago.
This is what I found Ebay...

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While this nesting cotton is made for their special holder, it works fine in my wire corncob holder too. It appears this fluff has shorter strands in it so it is easier for the birds to pluck it out. They are super busy this morning doing so. The finches are arriving in pairs... but it is difficult to tell with the chickadees, as the males and females look almost identical.

This morning I managed to catch a female goldfinch approaching a chickadee at the fluff dispenser. The goldfinch is on the left. It was totally an accident as I was focused on the chickadee only. The goldfinch is coming in for a landing... they fly in bursts, flap flap, cruise, etc...so her wings are folded in the photo.

I am very taken with birds' nests. I have for years used them as subjects for my drawings.

Here is one example: I don't know what type of bird made this nest, as I found it on the ground upNorth in the woods after a storm. It was quite small, so I thought it was a warbler...since we have many of those up there. This nest had lichen and birch bark woven into it...so I know it came from the boreal forest up there.

Various Goldfinches incorporate fluff of many types differently in their nests. This Google search shows some techniques they use. Some of them use alot if a good supply of clean fluff can be found.

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