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Finches: ~~~~~There are several species of finches that frequent Minnesota feeders. Finches enjoy sunflowers and thistle. You can feed thistle to finches without worrying about feeding larger birds, as thistle is unappealing to most larger birds and squirrels. ~~~~~One of the most colorful of the finches is the American goldfinch. These males of this species are a bright yellow color with black tipped wings and crown, while females are a duller, brownish yellow. Goldfinches are around all winter, but change color to a drab olive green. Goldfinches are one of the only birds that feed seeds rather than insects to their young. For this reason, they are the last birds to nest. They have only one brood a year during July, when all of the native plants are finally going to seed.

~~~~~The purple finch is another bird you may see at your thistle and sunflower feeders. They’re slightly larger than other finches and have deep reddish purple plumage across their head, upper breast, and back. Their lower breast and stomachs have slight streaking. ~~~~~The house finch is very similar in appearance to the purple finch. They tend to be slightly redder in color than the purple finch. The house finch is actually a non-native species to Minnesota- they originated from areas west of the Rockies and east of the Appalachians. Agriculture and development opened up the rest of the United States to them, and their range spread. Another contributing factor may be that, before the federal migratory bird act was put into place, people across the U.S. had kept them as pets. Once that act was passed, pet shops released them into the wild- leading to a population that now spans across most of the U.S. They haven’t presented many problems like some non-native species do, so they are not yet considered invasive.