It's easy to attract the American Goldfinch to your garden. Just put up a thistle feeder and within a few days, these beautiful yellow and black finches will find them. They are about the size of a sparrow. My grandfather calls them wild canaries. Indeed, the bright canary-yellow plumage of the male Goldfinch reminds you of a cheerful, tropical bird.
Goldfinches are just as sociable as canaries.
They travel in loose flocks of several dozen and readily accept seeds from neighbourhood feeding stations. By far, their favorite food is Niger thistle. They do love sunflower seed, especially the homegrown seed heads from which they'll even hang upside down to extract the tender hearts. Goldfinch are unusual in that they nest in late summer. Females are a duller yellow in color.