Goldfinches will keep coming back to your garden if you grow sunflowers, according to Lori Vanover from Birds & Blooms. Sunflower seeds are one of their favourite foods, and leaving spent flower heads in place is a wonderful thing to do for wildlife.
Why Sunflowers Attract Goldfinches
Sunflowers are large, making it simple for goldfinches to grip onto the flower and remove seeds with minimal effort. These seeds provide substantial nutrition and are rich in calories, giving goldfinches the energy they need to forage in warm weather.
It is one of the finest ways to offer goldfinches a natural food source in late summer, when they may struggle to locate insects and other sustenance due to the heat.
Other Plants Goldfinches Favour
Goldfinches are also fond of dandelions and milkweeds, which they use as prime material for nest-building. Leaving a few weeds growing throughout your garden may encourage them to construct a nest nearby.
They also have a particular passion for thistles, eating the seeds and using the plant to build nests from late summer through to early autumn. Purple coneflowers are another option, as goldfinches enjoy eating their seeds, and the plants are readily available at garden centres.
It is extremely common for goldfinches to visit gardens in summer, so planting these flowers now will help ensure you see these spectacular birds gracing your garden each day.
