Spring is just the beginning of the nesting season for our backyard birds. Some birds will produce numerous broods over the entire summer season and some birds will wait until mid-summer to start nesting. Multiple Broods Extend the Nesting Season For instance, American Robins can produce 3 or 4 broods from May through August. Each brood can take up to…
Goldfinches are the latest nesting songbird in Minnesota. Unlike most of our songbirds, they do not feed their young insects or larvae as their diet is strictly vegetarian. As a result, Goldfinches delay nesting until milkweed, thistle and other plants produce seeds in an effort to ensure that there will be plentiful food sources to feed their young. Typically in…
One of the latest nesting songbirds, American Goldfinches don’t get started on nesting until late June or early July. This appears to be timed with the life cycle of the late blooming thistle plant which provides both nesting material and food for goldfinches. This correlation between the thistle seed ripening and goldfinch nesting may explain why goldfinches seem so much…