American Goldfinches, a father and one of his fledglings.


Posted by Blck-shouldered Kite on Wed Nov 25, 2015 8:19 pm

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American Goldfinches are social, nomadic granivores.  The pair in the image belongs to a group of 20-30 AGF's that has been frequenting my place in southern Maine for the last 5-6 years. Before their arrival, I knew little of AGF life history.  These handsome little birds are serious about their regimented life, never moving alone, always as a group and haggling over food within an apparent pecking order.  If I do rarely see a single AGF at a feeder, it is sick with finch conjunctivitis and unable to follow the group, because it is losing its eyesight.  

Bird feeders can pass disease between individuals and so it's essential that I periodically empty and clean the feeder with a weak bleach solution and a thorough rinse...even in winter. 

Upon fledging of the young, and until they are independent, the job of feeding them falls exclusively on the father.  The babies jostle with each other to get in front of him, all the while flailing their wings and peeping. He is immensely patient with his rambunctious babies.  Here, a fledgling has just knocked two of its siblings off this twig and taken their places. Minutes before, a fledgling attempted a landing on its father's head. :?   After a day or two of clambering, the peeping stops, as the fledglings realize it takes less energy to pluck the seed from the same feeder they have been watching their father take it from. 

Hope you enjoy, and thanks for your time.

D610 with 80-400 AFS @ 400mm.  ISO 2000, 1/2500 @ f8 with fill flash. 

Robert King
http://itsaboutnature.net


Last edited by Blck-shouldered Kite on Thu Nov 26, 2015 8:40 am, edited 17 times in total.

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by Cynthia Crawford on Wed Nov 25, 2015 9:07 pm
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I love your story and the photo is such a charming illustration! Looks like the youngster is being taught a lesson.We had a cheerful flock of goldfinches here too, till it got a bit colder-now only a few stayed. They make such delightful twitterings-I look forward to their return.

Thanks for posting this!
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by Blck-shouldered Kite on Wed Nov 25, 2015 10:18 pm
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Thank you Cynthia and yes, I have not seen them for about 3 weeks and over a month before that. I hope they stay away until late winter. As you know, it gets very cold here in January.
 

by Homer on Wed Nov 25, 2015 11:11 pm
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Love the story behind the picture.
 

by elauer on Thu Nov 26, 2015 7:31 am
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Beautiful capture.
 

by James Vellozzi on Thu Nov 26, 2015 9:46 am
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Does tell a story..
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by Blck-shouldered Kite on Tue Apr 05, 2016 4:54 pm
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Homer wrote:Love the story behind the picture.
Thank you so much for appreciating  that Homer.


Last edited by Blck-shouldered Kite on Tue Apr 05, 2016 4:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 

by Blck-shouldered Kite on Tue Apr 05, 2016 4:56 pm
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James Vellozzi wrote:Does tell a story..
Thank you so much James and hope you found that story interesting.  Nature is fascinating.
 

by Blck-shouldered Kite on Tue Apr 05, 2016 4:57 pm
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elauer wrote:Beautiful capture.
Thank you so much for your comment elauer :)
 

by david fletcher on Tue Mar 28, 2017 2:32 pm
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Not seen you for a while Rob. Hope well.
Make your life spectacular!

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