Devouring the thistle seed hardly describes what this American Goldfinch was doing to the thistle patch. It was literally tearing each blossom apart and the thistledown (the soft feathery material that protects the fruiting part of a thistle) was going in all directions. The seeds are small so it takes lots of thistledown to find enouch seed to make a sizeable lunch! Goldfinch facts: The genus name for the goldfinch, Caruelis, is from the Latin word carduus, which means “thistle”. Goldfinches are very dependent on thistles for food and even use thistledown to line their nests.

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