Goldfinches, with their colourful feathers and cheerful songs, can be encouraged to visit gardens daily by growing one common flower: sunflowers. According to Lori Vanover from Birds & Blooms, sunflowers are among the best plants for attracting goldfinches because sunflower seeds are one of their favourite foods.
Why Goldfinches Love Sunflowers
Lori Vanover explained: “Sunflowers are one of the best plants for attracting goldfinches, because sunflower seeds are one of their favourite foods! Leaving spent flower heads in place is a wonderful thing to do for wildlife.” Sunflowers are large, making it easy for goldfinches to cling to the flower and extract seeds without much effort. These seeds are high in calories, providing the energy goldfinches need to forage in hot weather.
In late summer, goldfinches can struggle to find enough food due to dry weather, which causes wildflowers to die off and insects to bury deeper in the soil for moisture. Providing a natural food source like sunflower seeds is especially beneficial during this time.
Other Plants Goldfinches Love
If you cannot mow your lawn, letting grass grow can help goldfinches, as they use dandelions and milkweeds for nest-building material. They also love thistles, eating the seeds and using the plant to build nests in late summer to early autumn. Another simple plant to grow is purple coneflower, which goldfinches enjoy eating seeds from and is readily available at gardening centres.
Goldfinches are currently in breeding season, so they are busy raising young and making regular trips to find food. Adult goldfinches mainly eat seeds, but they feed their chicks insects for extra protein. By planting sunflowers and leaving spent flower heads, you can ensure goldfinches visit your garden daily.
