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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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by Blck-shouldered Kite
on Wed Nov 25, 2015 10:18 pm
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by Homer
on Wed Nov 25, 2015 11:11 pm
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by elauer
on Thu Nov 26, 2015 7:31 am
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by James Vellozzi
on Thu Nov 26, 2015 9:46 am
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by Blck-shouldered Kite
on Tue Apr 05, 2016 4:54 pm
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by Blck-shouldered Kite
on Tue Apr 05, 2016 4:56 pm
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Posts: 2669
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by Blck-shouldered Kite
on Tue Apr 05, 2016 4:57 pm
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Posts: 2669
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by david fletcher
on Tue Mar 28, 2017 2:32 pm
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