Goldfinch Acro-BAT-ics

One fun thing about this Audubon BirdCam is the fact that I can study the Winter plumage of our visiting Goldfinches. They usually flit about so quickly it is sometimes difficult to judge whether one is a male or female at this time of year.

Now, I can get them side by side every now and then and compare the feather patterns. For example, here is a male and a female right next to one another. The males have the yellow shoulders and the females are more drab.



My other favorite sight is when they hang upside down to feed even though they could easily feed from the port right in front of their face.



I need to study why this is sometimes preferred. Lots of fun to watch!