See American goldfinches by your own window

If you long to see a bright yellow and black goldfinch, getting one or more to visit your backyard feeder is not that difficult. All you need is a bag of thistle seeds.

The males are yellow with black trim and the females are olive-toned yellow. Watch for them.

The adult birds put on a show as they gather seeds from thistle and zinnias, cosmos, bee balm, liatris, and coreopsis.

Goldfinches love thistle seeds, also known as nyjer, and sunflower seeds. The seed makes up almost their entire diet. They will regularly visit backyard feeders and appreciate having a birdbath close by.

Backyard birders see them across most of the United States and southern Canada.

They are among the latest nesting birds. In late summer, they collect thistledown to line their nests and raise four to six young, feeding them a partially digested substance called “canary milk.”

Both the male and female feed the baby birds.

Goldfinches may sing “per-chick-o-ree” with each flap of their wings as they fly. In winter, they may sing “se-mee, se-mee” and other pretty twittering songs.